Joan Soler-Adillon | Royal Holloway, University of London (original) (raw)

Papers by Joan Soler-Adillon

This paper presents a study on language use in both accessing and contributing to Wikipedia in a ... more This paper presents a study on language use in both accessing and contributing to Wikipedia in a context were users were expected to be able to read and write in at least three languages (Catalan, Spanish and English). Seventy-seven first-year audiovisual communication students made contributions to Wikipedia as part of the assessed work in the firstyear course titled “Digital Culture.” Before and after writing Wikipedia articles, the students responded to two questionnaires that enquired about their language-related habits when using the site and about their language choice for contributing to it. The results show how some interesting facts and patterns appear between the languages known and used in editing. Students favor the English edition of Wikipedia when consulting it despite the fact that this is the language they assess themselves as being less proficient at in reading. More generally, our research shows that multilingual Wikipedia users move seamlessly from one language edition to another, thus refuting the cliché that relates minority languages with exclusively local and self-referential topics. In relation to this, it brings to light some correlations between the students’ identification with either one or two main languages, and how this influenced both their choice of language in editing Wikipedia articles and the specific topics they decided to write about. Additionally, the study also offers relevant insight on what drives students to engage with such a task up to the point of making extra contributions to make sure their contributions might reach a larger audience.

Anàlisi, 2017

This paper presents a study on language use in both accessing and contributing to Wiki-pedia in a... more This paper presents a study on language use in both accessing and contributing to Wiki-pedia in a context were users were expected to be able to read and write in at least three languages (Catalan, Spanish and English). Seventy-seven first-year audiovisual communication students made contributions to Wikipedia as part of the assessed work in the first-year course titled " Digital Culture. " Before and after writing Wikipedia articles, the students responded to two questionnaires that enquired about their language-related habits when using the site and about their language choice for contributing to it. The results show how some interesting facts and patterns appear between the languages known and used in editing. Students favor the English edition of Wikipedia when consulting it despite the fact that this is the language they assess themselves as being less proficient at in reading. More generally, our research shows that multilingual Wikipedia users move seamlessly from one language edition to another, thus refuting the cliché that relates minority languages with exclusively local and self-referential topics. In relation to this, it brings to light some correlations between the students' identification with either one or two main languages, and how this influenced both their choice of language in editing Wikipedia articles and the specific topics they decided to write about. Additionally, the study also offers relevant insight on what drives students to engage with such a task up to the point of making extra contributions to make sure their contributions might reach a larger audience.

Hipertext.net, 2017

En las dos últimas décadas, la comunicación interactiva ha tomado un papel cada vez más important... more En las dos últimas décadas, la comunicación interactiva ha tomado un papel cada vez más importante en la mayoría de procesos comunicativos. Las empresas reclaman profesionales capacitados para liderar, idear y diseñar escenarios en los que los usuarios se informan a la carta, se comunican con el medio o aportan contenidos y experiencias que retroalimentan todo el engranaje. Para entender la comunicación digital, necesitamos un conocimiento sólido de sus ideas y conceptos principales. En este texto, presentamos una lista de tres -quizás ‘los’ tres- conceptos clave para entender y trabajar con medios digitales: Interactividad, participación e inmersión.

Hipertext.net, 2017

En les dues últimes dècades la comunicació interactiva ha pres un paper cada vegada més important... more En les dues últimes dècades la comunicació interactiva ha pres un paper cada vegada més important en la majoria de processos comunicatius. Les empreses reclamen professionals capacitats per liderar, idear i dissenyar escenaris en els que els usuaris s’informen a la carta, es comuniquen amb el mitjà o aporten continguts i experiències que retroalimenten tot l’engranatge. Per tal d’entendre la comunicació digital, ens cal un coneixement sòlid de les seves idees i conceptes principals. En aquest text, presentem una llista de tres –potser ‘els’ tres– conceptes clau per entendre i treballar amb mitjans digitals: Interactivitat, participació i immersió.

Hipertext.net, 2017

Over last two decades, interactive communication has taken an increasingly central role in most c... more Over last two decades, interactive communication has taken an increasingly central role in most communication processes. There is a demand for professionals who can design and lead on the implementation of scenarios in which users engage with information à la carte, becoming active communicators that generate content which feeds back into the system. In order to understand digital communication, we need a sound knowledge of its fundamental concepts and ideas. In this text we present a list of three –perhaps ‘the’ three– key concepts for understanding and working with digital media: Interactivity, participation and immersion.

Comunicar, 2018

Wikipedia es un recurso muy utilizado por estudiantes universitarios, pero no está necesariament... more Wikipedia es un recurso muy utilizado por estudiantes universitarios, pero no está necesariamente bien valorado en términos de fiabilidad, ni tampoco es visto como un entorno en el que hacer aportaciones de contenido. Este artículo presenta un proyecto de docencia e investigación que consiste en proponer que los estudiantes editen o creen artículos para la Wikipedia, y en comprobar si la experiencia modifica su valoración de la misma. Se realizó la experiencia en la Universidad Pompeu Fabra (España) y la Universidad de Niš (Serbia) con un total de 240 alumnos. Editaron artículos y respondieron dos cuestionarios, uno antes y otro después de la experiencia. Se compararon las respuestas mediante una serie de pruebas T para muestras emparejadas, a partir de las cuales pudimos comprobar que los datos mostraban un cambio significativo en su percepción sobre la fiabilidad y la utilidad de la Wikipedia y sobre la probabilidad de encontrar información falsa en ella. También cambió su apreciación de la tarea de editar artículos, que se valoró como interesante y representó un reto. En cambio, su valoración del prestigio social de la Wikipedia, tanto en el contexto univer- sitario como el general, no varió significativamente. Adicionalmente, las preguntas abiertas y el feedback informal permitieron recoger informaciones muy valiosas respecto a la valoración del conjunto de la expe- riencia.

Comunicar, 2018

Wikipedia is a widely used resource by university students, but it is not necessarily regarded as... more Wikipedia is a widely used resource by university students, but it is not necessarily regarded as being reliable and trustworthy by them, nor is it seen as a context in which to make content contributions. This paper presents a teaching and research project that consisted in having students edit or create Wikipedia articles and testing whether or not this experience changed their perceived value of the platform. We conducted our experience at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain) and University of Niš (Niš, Serbia) with a total number of 240 students. These students edited articles and answered two questionnaires, one before and one after the exercise. We compared the pre and post experience answers to the questionnaires with a series of paired samples t-tests, through which our data showed that students did significantly change their perception of reliability and usefulness, and of likeliness of finding false information on Wikipedia. Their appreciation of the task of writing Wikipedia articles, in terms of it being interesting and challenge also increased. They did not significantly change, however, their judgement on the social value of the platform, neither in the university nor in the general context. In addition, the open questions and informal feedback allowed us to gather valuable insights towards the evaluation of the overall experience.

This paper presents a first approach to the design of emergent behaviors and interfaces in the co... more This paper presents a first approach to the design of emergent behaviors and interfaces in the context of interactive arts. The main conceptual issues involved are presented, along with the metadesign challenge implied in designing something that, by definition, cannot be designed per se. Key examples are discussed and used as examples of successful attempts to gene- rate emergence in interactive art. Whilst the issue remains largely unsolved, these examples and the proposed theoretical framework are presented as a starting point towards the design of interactivity that can be regarded as being emergent.

Intensive use of new media in schools significantly affects the modernization, quality and develo... more Intensive use of new media in schools significantly affects the modernization, quality and development of the educational process, especially the teaching activities. However, the use of media in schools is mainly conditioned by several factors, among which are: the attitudes of teachers, their personal opinions on the media tools, and their level of skills for media use. Among the factors influencing the preferences of teachers, especially when it comes to implementing new or traditional media, is the experience of teachers. In line with this, the central issue and the main goal of this paper are to examine the correlation between the years of service of teachers and application of traditional or modern media in school. The starting hypothesis is that teachers with more years of experience prefer the use of traditional media (radio and television), while the younger part of the population of teachers is more directed towards the use of new media, especially the Internet. The work is part of a broader research, which used a sample of teachers from Central and Southern Serbia. The main instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire, which consisted of 32 questions. For the purpose of this paper, items that relate to the use of traditional and modern media were analyzed. Research results confirmed the initial hypothesis and showed that there are statistically significant differences in the attitudes of teachers towards the implementation of the media in relation to their years of work experience. The hypothesis that teachers with fewer years of work experience gladly use the Internet and new media, while older teachers rather use traditional media in teaching, was confirmed. Research findings suggest the need for systematic training of teachers, especially of those with more years of employment, enabling them in the use of modern media resources at the school.

The issues related to the potential of ICT tools in the education of young children are addressed... more The issues related to the potential of ICT tools in the education of young children are addressed by a significant number of authors. Consequently, the importance of the implementation of the modern ICT tools in educational work is pointed out because of its extensive impact on child development. The reasons for insufficient use of the ICT tools in kindergartens are analysed, indicating that their application is conditioned by a large number and variety of factors that may be general, conditioned by the social context and the degree of the computerization in a particular social context, or factors of a personal nature - which are determined by the attitudes and competences of teachers. The methodological part is dedicated to the interpretation of the results of the empirical research that is aimed at examining the attitudes of teachers in regard to the reasons for poor implementation of ICT tools in the educational work with young children. The main instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire that was specifically designed for the research purposes. The survey was conducted on a sample of teachers employed in preschool institutions in Serbia. Hypotheses are: (1) that educators believe that the potential of ICT tools are underutilized, especially in working with children; (2) that their views on the application of ICT tools are conditioned by dependent variables: education and years of service. Research results confirmed the hypotheses and pointed to a positive correlation between the studied variables. Specifically, it was found that there is a statistically significant difference in the attitudes of teachers about the reasons for poor implementation of ICT tools in kindergartens in relation to the qualifications and seniority. In conclusion, the research points to the need for systemic changes which would imply better ICT equipment in kindergartens, as well as the necessity of professional training programs for competence development of teachers in the field of new technologies application.

Durante los últimos años, el rol del profesional de la comunicación interactiva ha ido cambiando ... more Durante los últimos años, el rol del profesional de la comunicación interactiva ha ido cambiando paralelamente a las innovaciones tecnológicas y a la introducción de nuevas prácticas comunicativas. La irrupción de las tecnologías digitales propició la aparición del diseñador de interacción, una figura presente en muchos equipos de producción y redacciones digitales pero que continúa sin estar bien definida. En este artículo se presenta una aproximación a las características que definen este perfil profesional a partir de tres aportaciones: las competencias necesarias para desarrollar la tarea del diseñador de interacción, las salidas profesionales de los estudios universitarios centrados en esta figura y un estudio de casos en el ámbito del documental interactivo. La confrontación de los datos obtenidos mediante los tres métodos de análisis utilizados (estudio bibliográfico, análisis comparative y estudio de casos) permite trazar un amplio panorama que abarca las distintas percepciones que, de forma simultánea, se tienen de esta figura. Los diferentes enfoques ponen de relieve tanto la falta de consenso, como el eclecticismo y la inmadurez de los estudios sobre un ámbito profesional que sigue en proceso de evolución, adaptación y reafirmación veinte años después de su aparición.

This paper presents a conceptual analysis of some of the basic notions for the practice of intera... more This paper presents a conceptual analysis of some of the basic notions for the practice of
interactive art and the relations among them. A sound understanding of these notions is
essential for the creation of the aesthetics of artistically behaving systems. Interactivity, agency,
behavior and emergence are presented as the building blocks of this practice, understanding
that they are at least as important as the materials that physically instantiate the pieces and
installations that constitute the body of interactive art. Interactivity is defined and confronted to
the metaphor of the conversation and to the idea of designing interactive systems with artistic
purposes. The notions of agency, behavior and performativity are reviewed through the reading
of Andrew Pickering’s account for the ontology of Cybernetics and in relation to interactive art
practices. Finally, the concept of emergence and Peter Cariani’s emergence-relative-to-a-model
are presented as a theoretical framework with which the analysis and creation of unexpected
and non pre-designed behaviors in interactive systems can be based.

The subject of study of this investigation is the concept of emergence and its viability as a dri... more The subject of study of this investigation is the concept of emergence and its viability as a driving force for the creation of interactive artwork. Emergence appears in the literature as related to self-organization and novelty. For many authors it is the result of multiple local interactions among agents within a system, which generate phenomena that could not be understood, nor anticipated, through the analysis of the elements and their behaviors in isolation. For others, emergent phenomena are related to fundamental novelty and, thus, to creativity. These two formulations of emergence are reviewed in this thesis in the context of interactive art and communication. The focus of the study is on the interactive works of the artistic field known as Artificial Life Art. After reviewing the foundational concepts and proposing an approach to both emergence and interactivity, an analytical framework is presented in order to assess the presence of emergence in interactive systems, which in turn shall serve as a first step to designing systems that aim at generating interactive emergent behaviors.

Textual & Visual Media, 2014

En el presente artículo se analizan las características discursivas de los premiados audiovisuale... more En el presente artículo se analizan las características discursivas de los premiados audiovisuales interactivos Snow Fall y A Short History of the Highrise, del New York Times (en adelante NYT). El análisis permite constatar el asentamiento y madurez de dos
modelos de discurso interactivo que, a pesar de compartir elementos en común, como por
ejemplo el efecto de inmersión, responden a planteamientos claramente diferenciados. El primero, Snow Fall, despliega las posibilidades del parallax scrolling en el diseño de web-docs. El segundo, basado en la tradición narrativa videográfica, constituye probablemente el mejor ejemplo de formato interactive documentary desarrollado por el NYT y
la National Film Board de Canadá. Para el análisis se ha utilizado la herramienta «découpage
de audiovisuales interactivos» desarrollada durante los últimos años por los autores y presentada recientemente en el IV Congreso Internacional de la Asociación Española de
Investigación de la Comunicación AE-IC 2014 y en el Anuario Hipertext.net de 2014

Textual & Visual Media, 2014

This paper analyses the discursive characteristics of New York Times’ awarded interactive feature... more This paper analyses the discursive characteristics of New York Times’ awarded interactive features Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise. These projects allow us to state the maturity of two models of interactive discourse which, despite representing two different approaches, share a series of common features such as the immersive effect. Snow Fall is a paradigmatic example of the use of parallax scrolling in webdoc design. The video-based work A Short History of the Highrise represents a remarkable example of an interactive documentary developed by the NYT and the National Film Board of Canada. The analysis uses the ‘interactive decoupage,’ a framework developed by the authors for the study of interactive audiovisual work. This tool was recently presented at the IV Congreso Internacional de la Asociación Española de Investigación de la Comunicación AE-IC 2014 and at the 2014 issue of Hipertext.net

Emergence appears in the literature as related to self-organization and novelty. For many authors... more Emergence appears in the literature as related to self-organization and novelty. For many authors it is the result of multiple interactions among agents within a system, which generate phenomena that could not be understood, nor anticipated, through the analysis of the elements and their behaviors in isolation. For others, emergent phenomena are related to fundamental novelty and, thus, to creativity. These two formulations of emergence can be traced back to the experimental work of some key early cybernetic experimental devices by Ross Ashby, Grey Walter and Gordon Pask. As a group, the devices illustrate the potential of both formulations of emergence and of its combination. As such, they can help with the elaboration of a framework to understand emergence in the context of interactive art and communication, both to analyze its presence in interactive systems and to design systems that aim to generate them.

hipertext.net, Jun 2014

El epígrafe interactive storytelling, narración interactiva, se aplica a una serie de trabajos pe... more El epígrafe interactive storytelling, narración interactiva, se aplica a una serie de trabajos periodísticos en formato de reportajes audiovisuales e interactivos que están ganando cada vez más protagonismo en los cibermedios. En este artículo se propone la definición y descripción de un sistema de análisis, el découpage interactivo, en el que se establecen los parámetros a observar en la lectura de una aplicación audiovisual interactiva. El découpage interactivo es un sistema de análisis formal de audiovisuales interactivos que permite establecer una observación detallada de los aspectos que conforman cualquier audiovisual interactivo: la estructura que lo sustenta, los contenidos, las interfaces a través de las cuales se accede al mismo y los diálogos de interacción que propone. Se describen los distintos apartados que conforman el découpage así como las fases y procedimiento para su ejecución. La herramienta presentada aporta al investigador un documento que describe de forma detallada los elementos que los autores de un determinado audiovisual interactivo utilizaron para desarrollar el guión y producir el mismo. La posibilidad de confrontar el audiovisual interactivo con su descripción en forma de découpage permite al analista profundizar en la comprensión de los procesos creativos propios de los audiovisuales interactivos.

hipertext.net, Jun 2014

The epigraph “interactive storytelling” is applied to a series of journalistic pieces developed a... more The epigraph “interactive storytelling” is applied to a series of journalistic pieces developed as interactive audiovisual stories that are becoming increasingly prominent in cybermedia. This article suggests the definition and description of an analysis system, the “interactive decoupage”, where the parameters to observe when reading an interactive audiovisual application are established. The interactive decoupage is a formal analysis system of interactive audiovisual works which allows for a thorough observation of the aspects present in any interactive audiovisual work: structure, content, access’ interfaces and the interaction dialogues the work suggests. The different parts of the decoupage are described, as well as the phases and procedure to execute it. The tool presented allows the researcher to create a document that provides a detailed description of the elements used by the authors of an interactive audiovisual project to develop and produce its script. The possibility of confronting the interactive audiovisual work with its “decoupage” description provides the analyst with more insight into the creative processes of interactive audiovisual projects.

IV Congreso Internacional de la Asociación Española de Investigación de la Comunicación AE‐IC 2014 Bilbao "Espacios de comunicación", Jan 2014

Freixa, P., Sora, C., Soler-Adillon, J., Ribas, J.I (2014): "El découpage interactivo: una propue... more Freixa, P., Sora, C., Soler-Adillon, J., Ribas, J.I (2014): "El découpage interactivo: una propuesta metodológica para el estudio y análisis de aplicaciones audiovisuales interactivas". Bilbao "Espacios de comunicación". 23 de enero de 2014

Anàlisi, 2017

Hipertext.net, 2017

Comunicar, 2018

Textual & Visual Media, 2014

hipertext.net, Jun 2014

IV Congreso Internacional de la Asociación Española de Investigación de la Comunicación AE‐IC 2014 Bilbao "Espacios de comunicación", Jan 2014