ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to reveal a set of new results obtained from an ongoing investigation focused on the way that the particular characteristics which are inherent to 'wannabe' digital nomads' activities contribute to the sustainability of the whole digital nomad ecosystem. In line with the premise of this research, we assume the importance of understanding the impacts that are being felt in the personal knowledge management ecology practices and routines of digital nomads as experienced by a specific online population (i.e., Reddit user base), together with a deep and wide examination of their preferences and expectations regarding the technology-mediated work-life issues that exert a direct influence on the digital nomad community. To this end, we gathered and further processed text posts and comments from users in the '/r/digitalnomad' subreddit. From a sociotechnical standpoint, the empirical data extracted from this sample population about the wannabe/how to be digital nomad symbiotic ecosystem can provide insightful information for researchers worldwide about future design-level interventions. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
This paper presents new results concerning experimentation focused on the theme of environmental sustainability, carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a virtual world based on the 3D platform Opensimulator. An educational environment, the “Sustainability Hub” island, has been developed where students and teacher find paths relative to exploitation of georesources, climate change, environmental sustainability indicators, and circular economy. Four schools located in different Italian regions were involved, with a total of 650 students, with ages between 11 and 13 years. Students have been divided into two groups, each experiencing the virtual world using a different mode. Tests and questionnaires have been administered to evaluate the acquisition of knowledge about sustainability topics as well as the users’ level of interest for the activity and topics. From the analysis of data obtained from the teachers and students involved, we find that this virtual word was a useful and effective tool to teach sustainability in distance learning mode and, especially during COVID-19 lockdowns, it allowed the acquisition of new knowledge and interest among students. The need of a desktop or laptop personal computer, rather than tablets, and/or sometimes poor bandwidth of home internet connections, was found to be an important issue to consider for the development of distance learning activities. © the authors, 2021. All Rights Reserved.