This article aims at exploring the process of digital genre formation in general and weblogs in particular. While genre theory basically delimits genre features, it cannot handle their construction... Show More

This article aims at exploring the process of digital genre formation in general and weblogs in particular. While genre theory basically delimits genre features, it cannot handle their construction procedures. Approaching the weblog genre through the lens of Actor Network Theory (henceforth, ANT) provides practical tools for not only conducting a generic analysis of the blogging phenomenon but also following the network relations that shape the process of its construction. The results of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of a corpus of 497 blog entries by 39 A-list American political bloggers revealed that the key features of the weblog genre are relational effects of a process of interaction between a network of humans and non-human actors. Tracing all forms of negotiations and their effects shows how the actors involved in the formation of the weblog genre are assemblies or gatherings of myriad things brought together and linked through processes of translation. Therefore, foregrounding associations does not only deepen the exploration of the weblog genre but also furthers understanding of related, yet unexamined internet-based genre. It also draws attention to the affordances of the weblog technology and their effects in connection with a network of human and non-human entities.

With the increasing emphasis on developing graduate employability skills, termed as CoreLife Skills in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and growing use of technology in education; this research... Show More

With the increasing emphasis on developing graduate employability skills, termed as CoreLife Skills in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and growing use of technology in education; this research investigates the assemblage of CoreLife Skills through technological innovation in a vocational education and training (VET) institute in the UAE. This article draws on the concepts of the sociology of translation from an Actor-Network Theory as both methodological and analytical tool. The research unfolds the socio-material assemblages using existing frameworks: Levels of Teaching Innovation (LoTi) and HEAT (higher order thinking, engaged learning, authentic learning, and technology use). The research stirred the development of technology-enhanced learning and a CoreLife Skills development (TEL-CSD) framework for effective integration of technology to enhance students' CoreLife Skills. Based on the findings, two conclusions are drawn: CoreLife Skills cannot be developed independently of general learning and cognitive skills, and technology alone cannot promote CoreLife Skills.

This article further develops the stacked actor-networks (SAN) approach in modelling socio-economic and cultural dynamics. Following the Lee and Schiesser application of differential equation... Show More

This article further develops the stacked actor-networks (SAN) approach in modelling socio-economic and cultural dynamics. Following the Lee and Schiesser application of differential equation analysis in biological and social sciences, the authors used a basic SAN model. This model is composed of three subnetworks where each two subnetworks dominate over the third one to build a quantitative description that identifies three stable states in the dynamics of their interactions – cyclical development, linear, and exponential growth. Describing the latter, the notion of ‘technology growth' is introduced that bears on the pattern of hyper-fast growth.