• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.31-46
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• 2009

The purpose of the study was to find out which posts were answered in a text-based computer-mediated social support group. Specifically, the present study examined the effects of two variables on support-seeking behaviors: support-seeking strategies and gender. A revised typology of support-seeking strategies originally proposed in the Sensitive Interaction Systems Theory (SIST) model was employed for the study. Data were collected from the PTT psychosis discussion group, the largest BBS in the Chinese-speaking community, for a period of 30 months from February 2004 to July 2006. In general, the results indicated that posts with more asking, less crying and less hinting were answered more than posts with more hinting, more crying and less asking. However, although different support-seeking strategies did affect support-seeking behaviors, gender did not have an impact on which posts were answered.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.93-120
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• 2012

This paper aims to address the gains and losses of the CMC environment in Language learning. Data were attained from twelve middle school ESL students who took English as a second language class and twelve pre-service teachers taking ESL foundation course. This exploration describes the role of CMC focusing on its' advantages and disadvantages which language teachers need to consider. The findings revealed that the teachers, tasks, and other elements involved in the CMC environment provided several gains and losses for many areas of learning. This implies that CMC alone does not provide an optimal learning environment, but rather it is used as an essential tool in providing opportunities to enhance language learning. Several suggestions are made for teachers and pre-service teacher education how CMC instruction might be better designed. The paper concludes with some practical considerations for future research in the area of CMC.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.83-103
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• 2008

In the new web based learning environment which has recently emerged, a variety of new learning objectives and teaching methods suited to this learning environment have been adopted. Recently, web based project-based learning methods have received a great deal of attention from those wishing to improve learning performance. The objective of this study is to identify the impact of characteristics of communication media and instruction behavior on collaborative interaction and project performance through web based group projects. The characteristics of communication media were divided into richness, flexibility, and ease of use, and the characteristics of instruction behavior were divided into support and expression, which are independent variables. Collaborative interaction as a mediate variable, was divided into information sharing and negotiation. Project performance was the dependent variable. To verify the proposed research model empirically, an experiment was conducted in which learners participated in on-line and off-line courses with group projects. The group project was conducted virtual product development(VPD), and designed a web-site about the VPD. At the end of the project, a survey was conducted. Of the 270 students, 239 responded. The students were assigned to groups of 3 or 4 members, and represented different genders and levels of computer competence. The reliability, validity, and correlation of research variables were analyzed using SPSS 14.0, and the measurement model and the structural goodness-of-fit of the research model were verified through SEM analysis using Lisrel 8.54. We found important results as follows; First, richness and ease of use has positive impacts on each of sharing information and negotiation. This suggests that richness and ease of use are useful in sharing information which is related to the task and agreeing in opinions among group members. However, flexibility has not positive impacts on sharing information and negotiation. This implies that there is no great difference in performance of PC and information literacy of user. Second, support and expression of instructor have positive impacts on sharing information and negotiation. This indicates that instructors play an important role in encouraging learners to participate in the project and communicating with them, sharing information related to the project, making a resonable decision and finally leading them to improve a project performance. Third, collaborative interaction has a positive impact on project performance. This result shows that if the ability to share information and negotiate among students was improved then a project performance would be improved as well. Recently, in the state of revitalized web based learning, it is opportune that web-based group project is practically conducted, and the impact of characteristics of communication media and characteristics of instruction behavior on sharing information, negotiating among group members and improving a project performance is verified. On the basis of these results, we propose that forms of learning, such as web based project, could be one of solution which is to enforce interaction among learners, and ultimately improve learning performance. Moreover web-based group project is able to make up for a weakness which makes it difficult to make interpersonal relations or friendship among learners in computer mediated communication or web based learning.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.102-120
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• 2002

The purpose of study is to understand human-technology integration mechanism by using the study model that takes the core concept and motivation assumptions of technology acceptance model(TAM) into account. This study identifies three motivation mechanisms in adopting or using computer mediated communication(CMC) tool for work. The mechanism comprises with extrinsic, extrinsic motivation, and subjective norm pressure. One hospital with 430 beds and 367 human power was identified and we administered the questionnaire during their work hours. There is 32.4% response rate. The fitting index of the study model surpass the acceptable level, GFI = .980 for none-users, GFI =.986 for users, NNFI = .973 for none-users, and NNFI = .989 for users. In the case of none-users, perceived ease of use determines perceived usefulness that explains behavioral intention to use. As a result, adotpers' usage motivation is based on extrinsic motivation that does not consider their affective factor, attitude, in use of CMC. Users considers their attitudes as the mediating factor of all behavioral beliefs for using CMC continually. Thus, users are likely to depend their adoption behaviors on their affective factor. Moreover, users' behavioral intention is subject to pressures of use from other persons who are important to them, such as supervisor, director, or boss. Achieving human-technology integration in a hospital may cause cost saving and work efficiency. However, the success of information system should base on a profound understanding of employees' adoption behaviors in rejecting, adopting, using, continually using of IT, and organization culture in using IT.

• 한국노년학
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.31-47
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to analyze communication topics in Journal of Korean Gerontological Society from 1980 to 2009. Out of all published over one thousand articles, 54 articles were selected by content analysis. The published time, the number of authors, the author's institutions, type of communication and media, methodologies, and so on were analyzed for this study. The conclusion of this study are as follows; First, the articles regarding on communication published only one throughout in 1980's. However, the articles have been gradually published since 1990's. Second, the authors came mainly from universities especially those who are engaged in social welfare field. Third, the types of communication are concentrated on group communication. Interestingly enough, it is found that mass communication such TV, magazine, and internet were analyzing in-depth. Telephone is one of most important mediated human communication media. On the contrary, mobile phone and computer were researched on not for the usage but for the education purposes. Forth, in methodologies, authors are used mainly survey method and selected content analysis in all media research. In conclusion, the scholars of gerontology and communications should co-operate and help each other to promote aging and communication field.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.75-83
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• 2005

Cyberspace is on its way to experience dynamic change, hereby encompassing technical and social diversities and multiplicities. The internet, with a history of no more than 10 years, has drastically changed the way, meaning and conduct of our lives, the structure and function of society and communication. Even in psychology, in which the purpose is to scientifically look into the human mind and explore its behavior, the in-depth inquiry into the human behavior and psychological features of the cyberspace have become an increasingly important issue. Research suggests that psychological features and concepts brought about during the process of communication in cyberspace have been influenced by the digital mode following the analogue one, and by the online mode following the off line one. It also suggests that, with new issues peculiar to information society, cultural structures should be re-conceptualized, reconstructed and reevaluated in various fields. This approach to the changing role, meaning and style within society should be rearranged and referred to as cyber psychology.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.18
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• pp.99-130
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• 2002

This study examines whether cyberspace produced by computer mediated communication(CMC) would perform the public sphere through the agenda-setting process. By doing this, this study focused on how the cyberspace agenda is set and on how the characteristics of cyberspace and the mass media influence the cyberspace agenda-setting process. Through this study, the possibility of cyberspace as the public sphere is found although the characteristics of cyberspace decide this possibility. In particular, in order for cyberspace to contribute to enhancing democracy as a form of alternative media, the interaction among cyberspace, mass media and the off-line arena is a necessary condition. The interaction between cyberspace and mass media regarding the Sungsoo Women's Middle School violence case provides two very important points. First, cyberspace helps the individual agenda to be adopted by mass media as the media agenda. Second, mass media confirmed the credibility of cyberspace agenda through reporting. In addition, this study reveals that cyberspace would perform as the public sphere only when the interaction between on-line and off-line is provided.

• The Journal of Korean Association of Computer Education
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.31-41
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• 2000

Since the use of computer-mediated communication(CMC) systems has been steadily increasing in the teaching and learning environments, this study attempted to describe some of instructional strategies which can be employed as a medium of cooperative learning. One of the best way to conduct network-assisted instruction is to embed such a medium into cooperative learning. Network-assisted cooperative learning maximizes students' own learning and each other's learning using CMC, in which students can actively participate in their learning processes. The characteristics of CMC-transmission and search of information, interactivity, time and place independence-assist and enhance cooperative learning. In this study, the instructional strategies for cooperative learning via CMC are suggested as following: (1) choose the instructional goals, (2) structure positive interdependence, (3) select guidelines for grouping, (4) train cooperative skills to students, (5) set up the environments such as electronic bulletin-board, and (6) develop assessment tools. Finally, this study suggests that potentials of network-assisted cooperative learning can be realized by providing environments and thinking tools for cooperative learning. Appropriate theory and practice need to be followed up to support the cooperative learning systems.

• International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.5-26
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• 2017

A cross-cultural comparison of social networking structure on McDonald's Facebook fan sites between Taiwan and the USA was conducted utilizing the individualism/collectivism dimension proposed by Hofstede. Four network indicators are used to describe the network structure of McDonald's Facebook fan sites: size, density, clique and centralization. Individuals who post on both Facebook sites for the year of 2012 were considered as network participants for the purpose of the study. Due to the huge amount of data, only one thread of postings was sampled from each month of the year of 2012. The final data consists of 1002 postings written by 896 individuals and 5962 postings written by 5532 individuals from Taiwan and the USA respectively. The results indicated that the USA McDonald's Facebook fan network has more fans, while Taiwan's McDonald's Facebook fan network is more densely connected. Cliques did form among the overall multiplex and within the individual uniplex networks in two countries, yet no significant differences were found between them. All the fan networks in both countries are relatively centralized, mostly on the site operators.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.83-97
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of media symbol variety on group performance in virtual teams. Symbol variety is defined as the number of ways in which information can be communicated and includes Daft and Lengel [1986]'s multiplicity of cues and language variety. According to media richness theory and media synchronicity theory, the use of media with high symbol variety is assumed to facilitate and promote communications among virtual team members. Therefore, it is expected that the media symbol variety is positively associated with group performance in virtual teams. Furthermore, online relationship building is expected to mediate the impacts of symbol variety on the performance. To confirm the suppositions, a controlled lab experiment was conducted with 60 undergraduate students as subjects. In the experimental virtual teams, subjects were allowed to communicate with other members using text-based messenger with emoticons. Subjects in the control virtual teams were allowed to communicate using only text-based messenger. The direct impact of symbol variety on group performance in virtual teams was found insignificant. However, the online relationship was found to completely mediate the positive impact of symbol variety on group performance. The implications and limitations of this study are also discussed for future research.