A systematic appropriation of social technologies for educational activities: Empirical study of Australian lecturers

Abstract

The use of Online Social Networking (OSN) for teaching and learning is a phenomenon observed in many countries today. However, how academics use and appropriate social technologies in higher education is still not well understood. In particular, the systematic appropriation processes of the social technologies have not been discussed much in the literature. This paper offers an empirical study concerning the way lecturers appropriate social technologies based on interviews with fourteen lecturers in seven Australian universities. The findings discovered two appropriation approaches, namely systematic-procedural and non-systematic-ad hoc process. There are also two key reasons for using socia..