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Article
Publication date: 3 November 2014

Larry Richards

The purpose of this paper is to present a case for a change of educational system, rather than a change in the current system. A rudimentary framework for an alternative…

183

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a case for a change of educational system, rather than a change in the current system. A rudimentary framework for an alternative educational system is proposed.

Design/methodology/approach

Cybernetic and educational literature supports an alternative approach to education. Design principles are identified for an alternative system.

Findings

For the desirable integration of curricular and pedagogical principles to be realized in an educational system, a non-hierarchical organizational structure is required. The icosahedral structure that embeds Stafford Beer's syntegration process provides such a default structure. Such a structure would be subversive in the current society.

Social implications

The implementation of the proposed system of schools could transform society by offering an alternative way of thinking about the structure of organizations like schools, as well as political and economic organizations. In so doing, fully participative democratic processes could be realized and sustained.

Originality/value

The use of the icosahedral structure as a framework for creating a system of schools world-wide is new and has value for anyone contemplating alternative educational systems.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 43 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 3 November 2014

Special Issue

449

Abstract

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 43 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Article
Publication date: 23 September 2013

Sandra Braman

This article aims to present an analysis of ideas and practices regarding governance of and by the network design process by participants in the technical design process during

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to present an analysis of ideas and practices regarding governance of and by the network design process by participants in the technical design process during the first decade (1969-1979) as recorded in the technical document series that provides both the medium for and the history of that design process, the Internet RFCs.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was conducted via a comprehensive inductive and adductive reading of all of the publicly available documents in the series from its launch in October of 1969 through the close of 1979.

Findings

The findings show that internet designers were well aware that the infrastructure they were building was social as well as technical in nature. They were concerned about both governmental constraints on the design process (governance of) and about how protocol compliance could be achieved (governance by the network design process). As do informational states, network designers developed governance tools that affected the identity, structure, borders, and change in social, informational, and technological systems. The dual faces of network governance reveal tensions between the network political and the geopolitical.

Originality/value

This work contributes to our understanding of the interactions between the social and the technical in the course of the internet design process as it was expressed in concerns about governance by others and of others brought up in the course of resolving technical design problems. Methodologically, the research provides a model of one approach to analyzing the development of governance mechanisms and specific policies along sociotechnical boundaries.

Details

info, vol. 15 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6697

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 July 2010

Lyn Robinson and Mike Maguire

The paper aims to review Deleuze and Guttari's concept of the rhizome as a model for information organisation.

2099

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to review Deleuze and Guttari's concept of the rhizome as a model for information organisation.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a critical review of selected literature.

Findings

The rhizome concept is a promising model for understanding hyperlinked information services. It may be of practical value, particularly if it can be integrated with more traditional forms of information organisation. More research, conceptual and practical, is needed before this can be achieved.

Research limitations/implications

The literature review is not comprehensive, and the conclusions are open‐ended.

Originality/value

This is the only paper to review the rhizome concept in this way.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 66 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 6 May 2019

Paul Kocken, Eline Vlasblom, Gaby de Lijster, Helen Wells, Nicole van Kesteren, Renate van Zoonen, Kinga Zdunek, Sijmen A. Reijneveld, Mitch Blair and Denise Alexander

There is considerable heterogeneity between primary care systems that have evolved in individual national cultural environments. Models of Child Health Appraised (MOCHA) studied…

Abstract

There is considerable heterogeneity between primary care systems that have evolved in individual national cultural environments. Models of Child Health Appraised (MOCHA) studied how the transfer of models or their individual components can be achieved across nations, using examples of combinations of settings, functions, target groups and tracer conditions. There are many factors that determine the feasibility of successful transfer of these from one setting to another, which must be recognised and taken into account. These include the environment of the care system, national policy-making and contextual means of directing population behaviour – in the form of penalties and incentives, which cannot be assessed or expected to work by means of rational actions alone. MOCHA developed a list of criteria to assess transferability, summarised in a population characteristics, intervention content, environment and transfer (PIET-T) process. To explore the process and means of transferability, we obtained consensus statements from the researchers on optimum model scenarios and conducted a survey of stakeholders, professionals and users of children’s primary care services that involved three specific health topics: vaccination coverage in infants, monitoring of a chronic or complex condition and early recognition of mental health problems. The results give insight into features of transferability – such as the availability and the use of guidelines and formal procedures; the barriers and facilitators of implementation and similarities and differences between model practices and the existing model of child primary care in the country. We found that successful transfer of an optimal model is impossible without tailoring the model to a specific country setting. It is vital to be aware of the sensitivity of the population and environmental characteristics of a country before starting to change the system of primary care.

Details

Issues and Opportunities in Primary Health Care for Children in Europe
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-354-9

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 November 2014

Tirumala Rao Vinnakota, Faisal L Kadri, Simon Grant, Ludmila Malinova, Peter Davd Tuddenham and Santiago Garcia

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and clarify possible distinctions between the terms “cyberneticist” and “cybernetician” with the intention of helping the growth of the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and clarify possible distinctions between the terms “cyberneticist” and “cybernetician” with the intention of helping the growth of the cybernetics discipline in new directions.

Design/methodology/approach

After the American Society for Cybernetics ALU 2013 conference in Bolton, a small group of conference participants continued the conversations they had begun during the event, focusing on the comparison of the terms “cyberneticist” vs “cybernetician”. The group felt the need for clearer distinctions drawn (or designed) between the terms, in order to sustain the discipline of cybernetics and to support its growth. The aim of providing these distinctions is that theory should feed into practice and practice should feed into theory, forming a cybernetic loop, so that the discipline of cybernetics is sustained while growing. The conference participants had conversations between themselves, and came up with multiple perspectives on the distinction between “cyberneticist” vs “cybernetician”. The distinctions drawn mirror the distinctions between Science and Design: the science of cybernetics contrasted with the design of cybernetics.

Findings

The findings of this paper consist of recommendations to understand and act differently in the field of the discipline of cybernetics. In particular, a clear distinction is suggested between the terms “cyberneticist” and “cybernetician”. It is also suggested that in order for cybernetics to grow and be sustained, there should be a constant flow of developments in theory of cybernetics into the practice of cybernetics and vice-versa.

Originality/value

The authors believe that some people (called “cyberneticists”) should work on the science side of cybernetics, making strong contributions to the understanding and development of cybernetics theory. Others, (called “cyberneticians”) should work on the design side of cybernetics, to contribute through their actions and through the development of cybernetics practice. The result of this will be a self-organization that evolves naturally between theory and practice of cybernetics, leading to better learning of cybernetics, and in the process, sustaining it through continued growth. In this direction, the paper proposes several radical suggestions that may not be to the liking of traditionalists, but may be better received by the scientists and designers of cybernetics who can make a difference to the growth of the discipline of cybernetics.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 43 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 April 2023

Luke Tredinnick

This article analyses the structure of hypertext and the world wide web through the contrasting metaphors of the network and the rhizome and applies that analysis to the epistemic…

Abstract

Purpose

This article analyses the structure of hypertext and the world wide web through the contrasting metaphors of the network and the rhizome and applies that analysis to the epistemic challenge presented by fake news.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a critical and theoretical study of the development of concepts in information science. It outlines the limitations of the network metaphor and analyses the ways in which it has influenced both the development and critical understanding of the World Wide Web and its wider social and cultural consequences. The paper develops an alternative description of the ontological structure of the Web in terms of interrupted and dissipated energy flows.

Findings

The paper argues that the Web is better described as a dynamic reorganization of the socio-cultural system that has no determinate boundaries and which is constituted properly in the spaces between technologies and the spaces between persons.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to and extends research into the rhizomic nature of hypertext and the Word Wide Web and in understanding the role of metaphor in descriptions of hypertext and the web.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 79 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 September 2020

Todd J.B. Blayone, Olena Mykhailenko, Svetlana Usca, Anda Abuze, Ihor Romanets and Mykhailo Oleksiiv

Emerging forms of digitalisation are placing new demands on workforce entrants around the globe. This study, catalysed by innovation programs in Ukraine and Latvia…

Abstract

Purpose

Emerging forms of digitalisation are placing new demands on workforce entrants around the globe. This study, catalysed by innovation programs in Ukraine and Latvia, conceptualises, measures and compares key facets of dispositional readiness of university students in two post-Soviet nations for digitalised work.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data, addressing technology attitudes and personal–cultural orientations (PCO), were collected by project teams at universities in Ukraine and Latvia and delivered to the authors for analysis. The authors defined three characteristics of digitalised work, conceptually positioned five of the measured constructs as readiness factors and generated readiness profiles for the two national student cohorts. Investigation of significant differences between the groups was conducted using an Independent Samples T-Test. A composite profile was produced for comparing the overall dispositional readiness of both groups for digitalised work.

Findings

The factor-level profiles showed similar patterns of dispositional alignment and misalignment with digitalised work. For example, technology optimism and learning interest were reported by large percentages of Ukrainians and Latvians and tolerance for unstructured work by small percentages. However, significant differences were found in group levels of technology optimism, technology anxiety, ambiguity intolerance and empowered decision-making. In each case, the Ukrainian profile appeared more strongly aligned with the target.

Practical implications

The global digitalisation of work requires students, educators, human resource professionals and business leaders to rethink workforce readiness assessment and adapt (re)training programs. Technology enthusiasm and learning interest should be regarded as crucial measurable attitudes motivating technical skills development. Also, cultural orientations should be positioned alongside personality traits and digital skills as factors shaping successful human–computer interaction.

Originality/value

This study initiates a new sociotechnical and cross-cultural trajectory of technology readiness research from data generated in two post-Soviet contexts. Moreover, it positions several measurable dispositions as factors influencing student readiness for digitalised work.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1986

DAVID CORSON

This article proposes that both the new critique of organisation theory in education and the “new” sociology of education overlook, in their respective knowledge claims, a…

Abstract

This article proposes that both the new critique of organisation theory in education and the “new” sociology of education overlook, in their respective knowledge claims, a fundamental disposition in the human species to view the phenomenal and the metaphysical worlds in a hierarchically structured way. We perceive organisational and epistemological structures much more consistently than some theorists would allow. This consistency is due to the effects of two types of semantic primitives which operate to constrain our world views and whose influence we bypass only with difficulty and only by dint of rigorous intellectual effort. After reviewing some of the various epistemological claims that are made both about educational organisations and about the knowledge that concerns educational organisations, the article discusses the two types of semantic primitives that seem to impinge upon our world views: universal semantic primitives; and acquired semantic primitives. Implications for human perspectives on the world and for theory in educational administration are drawn from the discussion. Methods for escaping the constraints of these two types of primitives are proposed.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1985

Alison Buscain

The following paper is based on some research work carried out by the author while studying at the Centre for Information Science, City University, London in 1982. The original…

Abstract

The following paper is based on some research work carried out by the author while studying at the Centre for Information Science, City University, London in 1982. The original work concentrated on the Prestel system, but has for the purposes of the present paper been broadened out as far as possible to encompass videotex in general. A fairly extensive literature review has also been carried out to bring the coverage up to date.

Details

Aslib Proceedings, vol. 37 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0001-253X

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