Zones of use: A multimodal analysis of student views of tcehnology in their academic and communication network

Abstract

This paper considers the relationship between the social and the academic in students’ communication networks with reference to specific technologies: the computer and the cell phone. Previous research undertaken amongst South African university students’ has shown that technology both strengthens and weakens boundaries between the academic and social spheres. Using 38 student-drawn concept maps, this paper examines their communication networks utilising the concepts of zones of use and spheres of thinking. The analysis examines the participants’ location in their networks, the structure of the networks and the relationship between the physical and the virtual. The findings confirm strong boundaries between the social and the academic in terms of cell phone use, but find a weakening of boundaries with regards computers. Also it was found that learning management systems (LMS) are adapted for non-course related purposes rather than social software being appropriated for academic purposes.