Acculturation in Context: Knowledge Sharing Through Ubiquitous Technologies

Abstract

In this paper, we present plans for a retooled ubiquitous computer system that works towards facilitating knowledge acquisition and knowledge dissemination between learners during the process of acculturation. Focused on the foreign population of JAIST (Japan Advanced Institu te of Science and Technology - a Japanese post graduate university in Japan), the system provides a platform on which to study the behaviour of participants, and also the process of acculturation dynamically in context. In addition, the study works toward s understanding the feasibility of using such ubiquitous systems as possible support mechanisms in the future. In the current global environment, human beings via their own experiences acculturate at different speeds, and with different levels of success. By incorporating ubiquitous technology into the environment in which people are acculturating, we provide a new way to analyse the process of acculturation dynamically, and provide assertions as to how the system may benefit users in the future.