In 1994 Orlikowski and Gash articulated Technological Frames of Reference as a systematic theoretical lens to examine technological developments in organisations. A decade later, in 2004, Davidson and Pai expressed concern that while the lens was widely cited in academic discourse, the incidence and adoption of the model as an analytical framework for socio-cognitive analysis and interpretation of Information Technology in organisations was very low.
As Technology Frame Research becomes more meaningfully applicable with our ever increasing attachment towards technology, I present a case study with the aim of augmenting research in the field. By employing a qualitative methodological framework based on technological frames I evaluate interpretations on the Internet embraced within a group of teachers before the implementation of the technology on campus.
Emerging data suggests how appropriated traits and embedded inclinations towards a technology justify the predisposition of diverse interpretations by one person reminiscent to the context it is being articulated in.
This paper reports a qualitative study designed to investigate the issues of cybersafety and cyberbullying and report how students are coping with them. Through discussion with 74 students, aged from 10 to 17, in focus groups divided into three age levels, data were gathered in three schools in Victoria, Australia, where few such studies had been set. Social networking sites and synchronous chat sites were found to be the places where cyberbullying most commonly occurred, with email and texting on mobile phones also used for bullying. Grades 8 and 9 most often reported cyberbullying and also reported behaviours and internet contacts that were cybersafety risks. Most groups preferred to handle these issues themselves or with their friends rather then alert parents and teachers who may limit their technology access. They supported education about these issues for both adults and school students and favoured a structured mediation group of their peers to counsel and advise victims.