Digital Culture @ Otago cuts across a broad range of research topics and approaches. Below is a sampling of the current research being undertaken by our members.
=======
“Competing Futures: Community building and the Gigatown competition in the south island of New Zealand.”
Project lead: Dr Holly Randall-Moon
Competing Futures provides data on community and participant views of the Gigatown competition (2013-2015). The project is focused on how the public and policymakers view, use and participate in the competition. It is concerned with understanding the relationship between a digital competition, broadband futures, and ideas of community in regional New Zealand towns. The research will also examine the relationship between social media and digital infrastructure in terms of the cultural and creative development of cities and towns. This project is funded by a grant from the University of Otago.
=======
“Effectiveness of Open-Source Tools in Supporting Student Learning”
Project leads: Dr Erika Pearson & Mr Adon Moskal
This is a mixed-methods study to evaluate both the reach and perceived effectiveness of open-source educational materials among first year students. This study asks whether, and to what extent, open source tools impact student engagement and retention of study materials. This study will collect both usage data (such as page views and site navigation behaviours) and self-report (surveys and an end-of-project focus group) to track both actual and perceived site behaviour and subjective levels of engagement across a normal study period (1 semester). By collecting this data, researchers will be able to better understand how the tools of instruction and content delivery can affect how students manage and perceive their own learning achievements.