Increasingly, multimedia content—from music, movies, games, news, books, and digital art to sharable educational material, e-government services, and e-health services—is delivered over broadband networks. With technological advances, cloud computing applications, and social networking approaches, many exciting applications are emerging to deliver this content as Interactive Digital Media (IDM). Understanding the Interactive Digital Media Marketplace: Frameworks, Platforms, Communities and Issues presents the results of a large, industry-oriented, multi-national research program. This research seeks to discover usable business models, technology platforms, market strategies and policy frameworks for the emerging global digital economy, particularly for digital media researchers and industry entrepreneurs who wish to reach users around the world.

Academic Writing, Real World Topics fills a void in the writing-across-the-curriculum textbook market. It draws together articles and essays of actual academic prose as opposed to journalism; it arranges material by topic instead of by discipline or academic division; and it approaches topics from multiple disciplinary and critical perspectives.With extensive introductions, rhetorical instruction, and suggested additional resources accompanying each chapter, Academic Writing, Real World Topics introduces students to the kinds of research and writing that they will be expected to undertake throughout their college careers and beyond. This concise edition provides all the features of the complete edition in a more compact and affordable format. Key Features: - Contemporary, cutting-edge readings on relevant topics - Extensive cross-referencing between the rhetoric and the reader to help students make connections - Full-length essays rather than excerpts - Chapter introductions that put readings in context and promote interdisciplinary connections - Sample student essays to demonstrate student contribution - “As You Read” guides to each chapter that encourage readers to locate points of contact among readings - Questions after each reading that enable comprehension, help students identify rhetorical moves, and prompt oral and written response

This paper attempts to jump out of the original interpretation framework of social science and to explain new communication phenomena in a novel way of philosophy of science. The paper believes that the development of the communication revolution, especially the recent information technology revolution, not only makes human being step into an advanced information society but also fundamentally changes the traditional communication methods. So, when traditional communication science is insufficient to interpret novel media phenomena, using the philosophy of science to explain these new communication phenomena is not only feasible but also necessary. This paper thinks that the so-called philosophy of science is the product of "transforming science knowledge into wisdom", including not only the concept and methodology of natural science, but also the humanistic understanding of modern science.

This book chronicles a 10-year introduction of blended learning into the delivery at a leading technological university, with a longstanding tradition of technology-enabled teaching and learning, and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Hence, both teachers and students were familiar with the idea of online courses. Despite this, the longitudinal experiment did not proceed as expected. Though few technical problems, it required behavioural changes from teachers and learners, thus unearthing a host of socio-technical issues, challenges, and conundrums. With the undercurrent of design ideals such as “tech for good”, any industrial sector must examine whether digital platforms are credible substitutes or at best complementary. In this era of Industry 4.0, higher education, like any other industry, should not be about the creative destruction of what we value in universities, but their digital transformation. The book concludes with an agenda for large, repeatable Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) to validate digital platforms that could fulfil the aspirations of the key stakeholder groups – students, faculty, and regulators as well as delving into the role of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as surrogates for “fees-free” higher education and whether the design of such a HiEd 4.0 platform is even a credible proposition. Specifically, the book examines the data-driven evidence within a design-based research methodology to present outcomes of two alternative instructional designs evaluated – traditional lecturing and blended learning. Based on the research findings and statistical analysis, it concludes that the inexorable shift to online delivery of education must be guided by informed educational management and innovation.

Social media has quickly become one of the most effective tools in reaching masses of people. As environmental issues are becoming more prevalent and frequently acknowledged, social media is playing an important role in sharing various environmental problems as well as suitable solutions. Environmental Awareness and the Role of Social Media is an essential reference source for individuals seeking to raise awareness of environmental issues through social media platforms. The book examines social media’s use in disaster awareness, sustainability promotion, and marketing environmentally friendly products from an international perspective. This book is an excellent resource for environmentalists, environmental activists, scientists, public figures, policy makers, academicians, and individuals interested in research focused on the impact of social media on issues that affect the entire planet.

Online platforms have widened the availability for citizen engagement and opportunities for politicians to interact with their constituents. The increasing use of these technologies has transformed methods of governmental communication in online and offline environments. (R)evolutionizing Political Communications through Social Media offers crucial perspectives on the utilization of online social networks in political discourse and how these alterations have affected previous modes of correspondence. Highlighting key issues through theoretical foundations and pertinent case studies, this book is a pivotal reference source for researchers, professionals, upper-level students, and consultants interested in the influence of emerging technologies in the political arena.

Academic Writing, Real World Topics fills a void in the writing-across-the-curriculum textbook market. It draws together articles and essays of actual academic prose as opposed to journalism; it arranges material topically as opposed to by discipline or academic division; and it approaches topics from multiple disciplinary and critical perspectives. With extensive introductions, rhetorical instruction, and suggested additional resources accompanying each chapter, Academic Writing, Real World Topics introduces students to the kinds of research and writing that they will be expected to undertake throughout their college careers and beyond. Readings are drawn from various disciplines across the major divisions of the university and focus on issues of real import to students today, including such topics as living in a digital culture, learning from games, learning in a digital age, living in a global culture, our post-human future, surviving economic crisis, and assessing armed global conflict. The book provides students with an introduction to the diversity, complexity and connectedness of writing in higher education today. Part I, a short Guide to Academic Writing, teaches rhetorical strategies and approaches to academic writing within and across the major divisions of the academy. For each writing strategy or essay element treated in the Guide, the authors provide examples from the reader, or from one of many resources included in each chapter’s Suggested Additional Resources. Part II, Real World Topics, also refers extensively to the Guide. Thus, the Guide shows student writers how to employ scholarly writing practices as demonstrated by the readings, while the readings invite students to engage with scholarly content.