Generating a sense of community in a graduate educational setting through persuasive technology

ABSTRACT

This study posits Blogs and Podcasts can be used to persuade students in one school to have more sense of community among their group. We designed and developed the WordPress MU based artifact, SISATSpace, to extend students' conversations and foster academic and friendly relationships. SISATSpace might be consider as a persuasive tool, medium, and social actor. The results from this study show that the system can change the attitude and behavior of the community at SISAT into one that fostered a psychological sense of community amongst its members.

REFERENCES

• 1: D. Andrews , J. Preece, A Conceptual Framework for Demographic Groups Resistant to Online Community Interaction, Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences ( HICSS-34)-Volume 7, p.7013, January 03-06, 2001
• 2: Bourgeois, D. T. and Horan, T. A. 2007. A Design Theory Approach to Community Informatics: Community-centered Development and Action Research Testing of Online Social Networking Prototype. The Journal of Community Informatics 3, 1 (2007) Special Issue: Community Informatics and System Design.
• 3: Bryk, A. S. and Driscoll, M. E. 1988. The High School as Community: Contextual Influences and Consequences for Students and Teachers. Madison, Wisconsin: National Center on Effective Secondary Schools, University of Wisconsin, ED 302 539.
• 4: Chavis, D. M. and Newbrough, JR. 1986. The Meaning of "Community" in Community Psychology. Journal of Community Psychology. 14, 4 (Oct. 1986), 335--340.
• 5: Chipuer, H. M., and Pretty, G. M. H. 1999. A review of the Sense of Community Index: Current uses, factor structure, reliability, and further development. Journal of Community Psychology. 27, 6, 643--658.
• 6: Dalton, J. H., Elias, M. J., Wandersman, A. 2006. Community Psychology: Linking Individuals and Communities. Wadsworth Publishing; 2 edition (June 28, 2006)
• 7: Martin Ebner , Andreas Holzinger, Lurking: An Underestimated Human-Computer Phenomenon, IEEE MultiMedia, v.12 n.4, p.70-75, October 2005 [doi>10.1109/MMUL.2005.74]
• 8: B. J. Fogg , Jonathan Grudin , Jakob Nielsen , Stuart Card, Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do, Science & Technology Books, 2002
• 9: Fogg, B. J., Soohoo, C., Danielson, D., Marable, L., Stanford J., Tauber, E. R. 2002. How Do People Evaluate a Web Site's: Results from a Large Study. A Consumer Reports WebWatch research report, prepared by Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab, Cordura Hall 226, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., 94305.
• 10: Lazar, J., and Preece, J. 1999. Implementing Service Learning in an Online Communities Course. Proceedings of the 1999 Conference of the International Association for Information Management (1999). 22--27.
• 11: Long, D. A., and Perkins, D. D. 2003. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Sense of Community Index and Development of a Brief SCI. Journal of Community Psychology, 31, 279--296.
• 12: Malone, T. and Lepper, M. 1987. Making Learning Fun: A Taxonomy of Intrinsic Motivation for Learning in Snow, R. E., and Farr, M. J. (eds.) Aptitude, Learning, and Instruction (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum, 1987)
• 13: McMillan, D. W. 1996. Sense of community. Journal of Community Psychology. 24, 4, 315--325.
• 14: McMillan, D. W., and Chavis, D. M. 1986. Sense of community: A definition and theory. Journal of Community Psychology. 14, 1, 6--23.
• 15: Clifford Nass , B. J. Fogg , Youngme Moon, Can computers be teammates?, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, v.45 n.6, p.669-678, Dec. 1996 [doi>10.1006/ijhc.1996.0073]
• 16: Blair Nonnecke , Jenny Preece, Lurker demographics: counting the silent, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, p.73-80, April 01-06, 2000, The Hague, The Netherlands [doi>10.1145/332040.332409]
• 17: Jane W. Perschbach , Gertrude W. Abramson, Blogging: an inquiry into the efficacy of a web-based technology for student reflection in community college computer science programs, Nova Southeastern University, 2006
• 18: Preece, J., Nonnecke, B., and Andrews, D. 2004. The top 5 reasons for lurking: Improving community experiences for everyone. Special Issue of Computers in Human Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. 20, 2 (2004).
• 19: Royal, M. A. and Rossi, R. J. 1996. Individual-Level Correlates of Sense of Community: Findings from Workplace and School. Journal of Community Psychology 24, 4 (October 1996): 395--416.
• 20: Sarason, S. B. 1974. The psychological sense of community: Prospects for a community psychology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• 21: Self, C. S. 1996. Credibility, in Salwen, M., Stacks, D. (eds.) An Integrated Approach to Communication Theory and Research (Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1996).
• 22: Wright, S. P. 2004. Exploring Psychological Sense of Community in Living Learning Programs and in the University as a Whole. Dissertation, Digital Repository at the University of Maryland, University of Maryland (College Park, Md., June 2 2004).

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.3 Group and Organization Interfaces
          Subjects: Web-based interaction

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY
      K.4.3 Organizational Impacts
          Subjects: Computer-supported collaborative work

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors, Theory

Keywords:
blogs, persuasive technologies, podcasts, sense of community, web 2.0