Virginia Power's presentation at GO-GN, Galway, April 2019

1. Click and Connect:
Social Media Affordances & their influence on
user participation & comment generation in
OER repositories (ROER)
Research Overview for the GO-GN network
Presentation by
Virginia Power
Lecturer/PhD
student in
Information
Science &
Management
April 2019

3. Kigali Wire
http://tinyurl.com/y2ghjy2o
In the last 50 years with the rapid advance of technology, the advent of cheap global transportation
and more recently the birth of the internet and the world wide web, the world has become a more
connected, fragmented place.
David Gurteen, Conversational Leadership
https://conversational-leadership.net/world-is-hyperconnected/

4. https://edshelf.com/

5. Affordances
The notion of an 'affordance' was first conceived by James J. Gibson in the
late 1970’s. Gibson, a prominent perceptual psychologist, originally used
the term to describe "...the actionable properties between the world and an
actor [user]”
Gibson's definition essentially identifies the powerful relationship between
humans and things.

6. Social Media Affordances (SMA)
In human-computer interaction, we cannot rely on this natural relationship.
Donald Norman in his book Design of Everyday Things (2013) referred to the
affordances found in screen-based interfaces as 'perceived', on the grounds
that users form and develop notions of what they can do according to
conventions, constraints, and visual, auditory, and sometimes haptic (touch)
feedback.
Langlois (2014) in turn considers these features as ‘communicational actors’,
providing ‘meanings and meaningfulness’.

7. SMA – research focus
According to Bucher and Helmond (2017:12)
“….as software produced visual elements on an interface, features such as the
favourite and like button say and suggest things. What exactly these features
suggest–or afford–is not set once and for all. Clearly these features suggest
the action of clicking the button, but they also assign a variety of other
possibilities and interpretations.”
WHY and HOW a user chooses to interact with these features will inevitably be
subject to a diverse range of interpretation, current opinion, expectation and
digital or network literacy skills dependent upon the individual within a
commonality of purpose.

8. Research Questions
How can the future design and development of OER platforms
facilitate participatory practice and support the development of
digital and network literacies?
Which socio-cultural factors facilitate or inhibit the contribution of
user-generated comment within ROER?
Which socio-technical factors facilitate or inhibit the contribution of
user-generated comment within ROER?

9. Research Paradigm (Social Constructivist)
Ontological Perspective
No single reality - knowledge is a social reality, value-laden and it only comes to light
through individual interpretation in groups
Epistemological Perspective
Reality needs to be interpreted to discover the underlying means of events and activities
Theoretical Perspective
Pragmatist – solving problems; finding out is the means, change is the underlying aim
Connectivist Learning Theory – developing the connected/networked community online
Homan - Social Exchange Theory
Bandura - Self-Efficacy
Methodology
Mixed methods although priority for qualitative research through participatory action
research
Method
Cultural Probes approach
(Research Journal and Screencasts – Think Aloud protocol)

10. Research Methods – Cultural Probes
Cultural probes (or design probes) is a technique used to inspire ideas in a
design process. It serves as a means of gathering inspirational data about
people's lives, values and thoughts; an opportunity to capture attitudes and
social trends.
• Users should be given a variety of recording devices – in this research this
was a Research Journal (online word document) and screen casting
software using Think Aloud protocol
• Users were asked to talk about their experiences of ROER as they looked
for information
• Users were asked to reflect on their experience of each repository in the
study
• Aim is inspiration not information – seeking to explore beliefs and desires,
aesthetic preferences and cultural concerns.

11. Repository Focus – Rationale
Selected to provide access to a variety of social media affordances – in
particular those repositories that offered opportunities for free text
comments and reviews alongside other SMA
Three selected: OER Commons, Open Textbook Library and MERLOT
Although not an OER repository, Amazon was also specifically selected as a
‘control’ as likely to be most familiar to participants and exhibiting the widest
range of SMA

12. Research Methods - Tools

13. Data Collection – an overview
• July – September 2017 – Ethics approved and pilot study conducted
• October 2017 - Initial call for participants through online mailing lists
• November 2017 - Second call for participants
• December 2017 - Final call for participants December 2017
• From October to December 2017 - 69 potential participants returned
consent forms agreeing to complete
• 45 participants submitted all research data at collection close – February
2018 resulting in 65% final response rate

14. Participants
ACA –
Participants who described themselves in academic roles
DIG –
Participants who described themselves in technology/learning development roles
LIB –
Participants who described themselves in library or information services roles
OTH –
Participants who described themselves in academic consultant roles
ACA – 20% (n=9)
DIG – 22% (n=10)
LIB – 47% (n=21)
OTH – 11% (n=5)
Data cleaned in readiness for Nvivo 11/12:
• Coding convention established for all participant data – e.g. 001-OTH-F
• Redacted personal information
• PDF submissions transcribed (4 from each participant – up to an hour in total!)

15. Coding – Participants Responses
Grounded Theory approach

16. Coding – Participants Responses
• Decision taken to use Nvivo 11 for qualitative data analysis (now using Nvivo 12)
• Initial training undertaken in February 2018 and refreshed February 2019
• Learning curve but supportive colleagues!
• Coding required for both Research Journals and Screencasts
• Key source - http://help-nv11.qsrinternational.com/desktop/welcome/welcome.htm

17. Emerging Themes – so far!
Motivation/Demotivation – internal, external and personal factors
Quality & Trust – source, people, content
Repository/Source Valence – good, bad and ugly!
Purpose
Sense of Community (Social Capital & Habitus - Bourdieu)
Reputational Capital
Participation
Reciprocity
Culture Social Media Affordance Frequency (mentions)
Comments/Peer Reviews 74
Stars/User Ratings 58
Educational Level 55
Author Information 41
Search Features 37

18. Initial Motivational Findings
15 27 3
5 25 15
7 21 17
5 15 25
0 15 34
5 16 24
3 16 26
6 27 12
Autonomous Motivation (Intrinsic)
Autonomous Motivation (Extrinsic)
Autonomous Motivation (Integrated)
Controlled Motivation (Introjected)
Controlled Motivation (Extrinsic)
Demotivation
Demotivation
This was designed to look at initial
reactions to motivational factors NOT
engagement at this early stage

19. Initial Motivational Findings
15 27 3
5 25 15
7 21 17
5 15 25
0 15 34
5 16 24
3 16 26
6 27 12
60%
55%
47%
55%
75%
53%
58%
60%
ALL PARTICIPANTS

20. Research Soundbites
“I would contribute if I found a textbook to be
particularly useful. A way of contributing to the
success of the Open Textbook Library.”
Open Textbook Library (ACA)
“As a first time user, I didn’t feel the site was easy
to navigate, which would make me less likely to find
out how to leave a comment.”
MERLOT (LIB)
“I don’t think my opinion would be very useful to others as I
am not a real teachers (sic) with classes and a weekly
schedule. I only deliver occasional seminar and recommend
books to students. Also I can never remember/be bothered
to go back to the website and find the book again to leave a
review.”
Open Textbook Library (LIB)

21. Current Data Analysis Stage
Interrogation of a priori coding/detail
Social Media Affordances
Reflective Diary analysis
Screencast analysis
45 reflective diaries
180 podcasts
Time!

22. Research – moving forward
Activity Outputs Original Planned Date Revised Planned Date
Coding of research data 180 transcripts and 45 diaries
coded
July to December 2018 January to July 2019
Completion of 15 credit
module
4,000 words and viva voce January to July 2019 July to September 2019
Establish schedule of draft
chapters
Agreed schedule with DoS and
supervisory team
November 2018 May 2019
Thesis draft chapters Regular submissions to DoS and
supervisory team
January to July 2019 September 2019 to February
2020
Draft thesis produced Draft Thesis for PRa Progress
Review at Stage 3
September 2019 May 2020

23. Sketchnote by Tanmay Vora
http://qaspire.com/2015/01/23/3-cs-for-
learning-and-leading-on-social-media/

24. References
Bucher, T. and Helmond, A. (2017) The Affordances of Social Media Platforms. In: Burgess,
J., Poell, T. and Marwick, A. eds., (2017) The SAGE Handbook of Social Media. London and
New York: Sage Publications Ltd.
Charnaz, C. (2014) Constructing Grounded Theory. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Goodell, J. (2014) Open Education Resources (OER) Digital Ecosystem. Available from:
http://approaching100percent.blogspot.com/2014/06/open-education-resources-oer-
digital.html [Accessed 24 March 2019].
Internews: Center for Innovation and Learning (2015) Mapping Information Ecosystems to
support Resilience. Available from: https://www.internews.org/resource/mapping-information-
ecosystems-support-resilience [Accessed 24 March 2019].
Langlois G. (2014) Social Networking and the Production of the Self. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan US.
Norman, D. (2013) The Design of Everyday Things. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London:
The MIT Press.