Theorising sociomateriality in online learning: cutting through the complexity

The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the need to develop theory and practice in digital education. In this position paper, we expand on the research conducted in information systems (IS) on sociomateriality by applying it to online learning. The aim was to provide a theoretical underpinning for guidelines to reduce the complexity of social and material combinations in digital education. An overview of sociomateriality within IS research is provided, distinguishing between two sociomaterial perspectives to situate the research. A high-level review of student learning as the social and online learning as the material is applied to a four-quadrant model to unbundle the complexities within this space. Our perspectives are supported by feedback from a third-year information systems course that confirmed the merit of the model and broadened research in online learning. The model is further refined with a philosophical underpinning of Ackoff's four pursuits of humankind to provide recommendations for future interventions © Copyright the author(s);published under a Creative Commons NonCommercial 4.0 License

Are conspiracy theorists psychotic? A comparison between conspiracy theories and paranoid delusions

Introduction: Conspiracy theories are popular during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Conspiratorial thinking is characterised by the strong conviction that a certain situation that one sees as unjust is the result of a deliberate conspiracy of a group of people with bad intentions. Conspiratorial thinking appears to have many similarities with paranoid delusions. Objective(s): To explore the nature, consequences, and socialpsychological dimensions of conspiratorial thinking, and describe similarities and differences with paranoid delusions. Method(s): Critically assessing relevant literature about conspiratorial thinking and paranoid delusions. Result(s): Conspiratorial thinking meets epistemic, existential, and social needs. It provides clarity in uncertain times and connection with an in-group of like-minded people. Both conspiratorial thinking and paranoid delusions involve an unjust, persistent, and sometimes bizarre conviction. Unlike conspiracy theorists, people with a paranoid delusion are almost always the only target of the presumed conspiracy, and they usually stand alone in their conviction. Furthermore, conspiracy theories are not based as much on unusual experiences of their inner self, reality, or interpersonal contacts. Conclusion(s): Conspirational thinking is common in uncertain circumstances. It gives grip, certainty, moral superiority and social support. Extreme conspirational thinking seems to fit current psychiatric definitions of paranoid delusions, but there are also important differences. To make a distinction with regard to conspiratorial thinking, deepening of conventional definitions of delusions is required. Instead of the strong focus on the erroneous content of delusions, more attention should be given to the underlying idiosyncratic, changed way of experiencing reality.

Exploring Interdisciplinary Collaborative Online Learning Spaces through Sociomateriality in Cape Town, South Africa

With the rapid adoption of online learning spaces since the advent of COVID-19, more and more calls are being made in higher education to move from emergency remote teaching and learning to appropriate online education. Although much has been written about the designing of online learning from both a technological and pedagogical perspective, limited contemporary literature is available to understand the complexity of interdisciplinary collaborative online learning. This limitation is investigated in this paper that reports on the first iteration of a Design-Based Research (DBR) study. Within this iteration, a qualitative exploratory research design that applies an inductive approach between researchers from Information Systems (IS) and Urban Planning (URP) is discussed. The aim was to develop design principles for interdisciplinary collaborative online learning spaces. This paper reports on the data generated during a semester-long, inter-institutional, interdisciplinary student project that was embedded in co-creating social digital innovations for pressing environmental problems faced by marginalised communities in Cape Town, South Africa. The participants for this study are 38 Honours degree IS students and 22 Advanced Diploma URP students (N=60). Participants, individually and in groups, completed a total of three reflective structured questionnaires using Google Forms during the semester that generated the dataset for this paper. The theoretical framing that underpins this research study is sociomateriality. The attraction to sociomateriality is its ability to not merely shift attention from the human to the non-human but rather a focus on entanglements and the interrelated nature of components that constitute the learning space. This focus on entanglements is needed for an understanding of the complexities associated with interdisciplinary collaborative online learning. Engaging this complex learning space through the data has revealed four design principles namely: (1) creating immersive context-sensitive learning experiences, (2) designing opportunities to collaboratively (co)-construct knowledge, (3) focusing on the intra-action of socio-technical and socio-cultural entanglements and (4) foregrounding relationality as a tool to foster agency. It is argued in this paper that the aforementioned design principles are necessary for developing interdisciplinary collaborative online learning spaces that afford students a complex learning experience. Complex learning is considered fundamental in developing abilities in students to appropriately respond to the myriad 21st-century societal challenges that await.

[Are conspiracy theorists psychotic? A comparison between conspiracy theories and paranoid delusions]

BACKGROUND: Conspiracy theories are popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conspiratorial thinking is characterised by the strong conviction that a certain situation that one sees as unjust is the result of a deliberate conspiracy of a group of people with bad intentions. Conspiratorial thinking appears to have many similarities with paranoid delusions. AIM: To explore the nature, consequences, and social-psychological dimensions of conspiratorial thinking, and describe similarities and differences with paranoid delusions. METHOD: Critically assessing relevant literature about conspiratorial thinking and paranoid delusions. RESULTS: Conspiratorial thinking meets epistemic, existential, and social needs. It provides clarity in uncertain times and connection with an in-group of like-minded people. Both conspiratorial thinking and paranoid delusions involve an unjust, persistent, and sometimes bizarre conviction. Unlike conspiracy theorists, people with a paranoid delusion are almost always the only target of the presumed conspiracy, and they usually stand alone in their conviction. Furthermore, conspiracy theories are not based as much on unusual experiences of their inner self, reality, or interpersonal contacts. CONCLUSIONS Conspirational thinking is common in uncertain circumstances. It gives grip, certainty, moral superiority and social support. Extreme conspirational thinking seems to fit current psychiatric definitions of paranoid delusions, but there are also important differences. To make a distinction with regard to conspiratorial thinking, deepening of conventional definitions of delusions is required. Instead of the strong focus on the erroneous content of delusions, more attention should be given to the underlying idiosyncratic, changed way of experiencing reality.