AJIC Issue 29, 2022

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    AJIC Issue 29, 2022 - Full Issue
    (2022-06-30)
    Articles on digital vaccination records; defining decentralisation in permissionless blockchain systems; copyright flexibilities for combatting COVID-19; value creation and socioeconomic inclusion in maker communities; public-speaking anxiety among novice university instructors; and interactions between primary school teachers and parents during COVID-19.
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    AJIC Issue 29, 2022 - Full Issue - Print-on-Demand
    (2022-06-30)
    Articles on digital vaccination records; defining decentralisation in permissionless blockchain systems; copyright flexibilities for combatting COVID-19; value creation and socioeconomic inclusion in maker communities; public-speaking anxiety among novice university instructors; and interactions between primary school teachers and parents during COVID-19.
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    Digital Vaccination Records: Exploring Stakeholder Perceptions in Gauteng, South Africa
    (LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2022-06-30) Moonsamy, Wesley; Singh, Shawren
    Electronic health (eHealth) is one of the focus areas of the South African Department of Health (DoH), with the ultimate goal being the development of an electronic health record (EHR) for every citizen. A commonly used subset of eHealth data, vaccination records, is still not yet fully digitised in South Africa. This study aimed to determine the perceptions of key stakeholders (doctors, nurses, parents, and school administrators) about a digital system for vaccination records for minors in South Africa’s Gauteng Province. Using a prototype online, cloud-based vaccine records management system created during the research, called e-Vaccination, quantitative and qualitative interaction-related data from 118 participants was collected using a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire. The questionnaire was based on Lund’s (2001) USE user perception framework, which considers usefulness, satisfaction, ease of use, and ease of learning. This study found that the participants supported the use of the digital vaccine records management system, with an emphasis on five identified factors: user friendliness, graphical design, practicality, user experience, and usability. Accordingly, this article recommends that policymakers and system designers carefully consider these factors in the design and development of South Africa’s digital vaccination records management system.
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    Defining Decentralisation in Permissionless Blockchain Systems
    (LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2022-06-30) Bezuidenhout, Riaan; Nel, Wynand; Maritz, Jacques
    The term decentralised as a description of the architecture, operation, and governance of permissionless blockchain systems has become ubiquitous. However, in these contexts, the term decentralised has no clear definition. Blockchain ecosystems are complex, and thus it is essential to address confusion among stakeholders about their nature and promote understanding of the intentions and consequences of their implementation. This article offers a theoretical definition of the term decentralised in the context of permissionless blockchain systems. It is proposed that five inextricable and interconnected aspects are required, at a minimum, to warrant a claim that a permissionless blockchain system is decentralised. These aspects are disintermediation, a peer-to-peer network, a distributed blockchain data structure, algorithmic trust, and open-source principles. The relationship between the five aspects is discussed, and it is argued that decentralisation is not binary but exists on a spectrum. Any variation in one or more aspects may impact the system’s decentralised nature as a whole. The researchers identify areas where further investigation in this field is required and propose instances where the knowledge garnered may be used.
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    International Copyright Flexibilities for Prevention, Treatment and Containment of COVID-19
    (LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2022-06-30) Flynn, Sean; Nkrumah, Erica; Schirru, Luca
    Most policymaking attention with respect to intellectual property barriers to COVID-19 prevention, treatment and containment has been focused on patents. This focus is reflected in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement, adopted on 17 June 2022, which provides a limited waiver of TRIPS rules on compulsory licences for production of COVID-19 vaccines. The original WTO proposal for a TRIPS waiver, however, explicitly applied to all forms of intellectual property, including copyright. This article outlines the numerous ways in which copyright can create barriers to addressing COVID-19. It also provides a description of international copyright treaty provisions that permit uses of copyright materials in response to the barriers identified, despite the exclusion of copyright from the final TRIPS waiver.
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    Value Creation and Socioeconomic Inclusion in South African Maker Communities
    (LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2022-06-30) Armstrong, Chris; Kraemer-Mbula, Erika
    In socioeconomic environments affected by high and persistent income inequalities and unemployment, there is a need for participative approaches to innovation in support of socioeconomic inclusion. This article explores the features of collective action, in support of socioeconomic inclusion, identified in South African maker communities. Drawing on data from interviews with participants in seven maker communities, the study explores the kinds of value that participants experience through being part of these communities. Value creation is assessed in terms of the five overlapping cycles of value that Wenger et al. (2011) propose are present in successful communities and networks: immediate value, potential value, applied value, realised value, and reframing value. The study finds that all five value cycles are present in the experiences expressed by the South African maker community participants. The value is found to be particularly pronounced in the immediate valueand applied value cycles. In respect of socioeconomic inclusion, the findings point to strong currents of social inclusion in the immediate value cycle, and strong elements of both social and economic inclusion in the applied value, realised value, and reframing value cycles.
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    Exploration of Public-Speaking Anxiety among Novice Instructors at a Ghanaian University
    (LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2022-06-30) Coker, Wincharles
    Glossophobia, or the fear of public speaking, has been researched more among students than among their instructors. This interpretive case study focuses on the latter group by examining their lived experience with public-speaking anxiety. The research involved 12 newly employed assistant lecturers at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), a Ghanaian public university. Data were collected through in-situ direct observation during instructional hours and in-depth interviews with the participants. The study identifies three main causes of anxiety among the participants, namely (1) unpreparedness and/or lack of adequate preparation; (2) fear and diffidence; and (3) perceived intimidation by the audience. The study also finds that these public-speaking challenges can be overcome through frequent practice, active engagement with the audience, and adequate preparation.
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    Challenges for Foundation Phase Teachers in Interacting with Parents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Mangaung Primary Schools, South Africa
    (LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2022-06-30) Grobler, Annemie
    The sociocultural theory of learning acknowledges parents as integral role players in the process of their children’s learning. As in many other parts of the world, when South African schools moved to remote online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers became increasingly dependent on the agency of parents. Using an interpretivist lens and a qualitative approach, this study probes the experiences of Foundation Phase teachers in South Africa’s Mangaung Municipality in their interaction with parents in 2020, during the pandemic lockdowns. The findings point to the following challenges during the pandemic, as perceived by the teachers: difficulty in communicating with parents; difficulty in working with parents to support learning; and insufficient parental commitment. The findings also point to shortfalls in respect of three dynamics—collaboration, feedback, and trust—as being central to the perceived challenges. The study concludes with a call for improved relations between Foundation Phase parents in teachers, regardless of whether the teaching and learning are occurring remotely or in-person, in order to optimise the sociocultural dynamics at play in children’s schooling.