Skip to content The Open University
Dr Daisy Mwanza-Simwami

Dr Daisy Mwanza-Simwami

Lecturer

The Open University Institute of Educational Technology IET Academic Team

+44 (0)1908 652610
x 52610

Daisy's Blog

Profile



I am a Lecturer at The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology. My work is grounded in the multi-disciplinary field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Within HCI, my research centers on Methods for informing Systems Design and Evaluation. I am currently focused on the design and use of Networked, Distributed and Mobile Technologies to support learning.

I primarily uses Activity Theory to conceptualise human practices and interpret acquired insights as part of the Systems Design and Evaluation processes. I developed the Activity-Oriented Design Method (AODM) for HCI Research and Practice as part of her PhD. AODM is designed to guide the requirements capture and data analysis processes of Computer Systems Design and Evaluation. You can download my PhD Thesis in pdf . A hard cover book version of this thesis is available for borrowing from the Open University Library and the British Library - (search under the 'Integrated Catalogue'). Follow the links to view some of my Publications and Research Activities.

Qualifications

 2002 - PhD in Human Computer Interaction, Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University, UK

Thesis Title: Towards an Activity-Oriented Design Method (AODM) for HCI Research and Practice

1998 - MSc in Human Computer Interaction - Computing and Electrical Engineering Department, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK

1996 - BSc (Hons) Information Technology, Institute of Information Technology, University of Salford, UK.

Teaching Interests

PhD Supervision

2007 to 2009 Co-Supervising PhD Thesis (with Prof. Josie Taylor of the Open University, UK)

Student Name: Ms Eladyr da Silva1998 to 2009

Research title: Tutors' Perceptions about their Practice and Identity Formation in a Distance Education Programme in Brazil.

Current status: Completed and Awarded PhD

---

16th May 2009 to May 2012 - Supervising a Doctor in Education Research Student

Student Name: Mr Derek O’Reilly.

Research title: Children’s learning and internet safety: An investigation into the effectiveness of using quarantining techniques as a method for securing primary school children’s learning on the internet

---

15th May 2010 to May 2013 - Supervising a Doctor in Education Research Student

Student Name: Dr Michael Flavin.

Research title: Creating creativity: Enabling disruptive technologies in Higher Education learning and teaching

---

PhD External Examiner

2009 September - PhD Thesis External Examiner

Student: Mr Patient Rambe, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Thesis title: The impact on academic relations and learning: A case of using social networking software in University settings

---

2008 August - PhD Thesis External Examiner

Student: Mr KA Masters, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Thesis title: The diffusion of the internet amongst South African primary care doctors: an activity systems view

---

Expert Evaluator for Research Grant Applications

2008 - July to August, Expert Evaluator of Research Grant Applications to the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa. Area of focus: Mobile learning

--

Teaching on OU Undergraduate and Postgraduate Courses

May 2010 to May 2011 tutoring and supervising a dissertation on an OU MSc Module = D845 Research Methods Dissertation in Social Sciences 2010E (Research Methods for Educational Technology strand)

Student name: Ms Claire Englund

Dissertation title: The impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on teaching practice in higher education

---

2009 to 2010 - Course Team Member on the OU's H807 Course

Innovations in E-learning course, part of the Masters in Online and Distance Education

---

2008 to 2010 - Associate Lecturer on the OU's H809 Course

Practice-based research in educational technology course, part of the Masters in Online and Distance Education

 ---

Research Interests

 

  • Next generation of Technology Enhanced Learning
  • Activity Theory
  • Systems Design and Evaluation Methods
  • Evaluating usability + usefulness of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in learner activities
  • Learning in an Open World (i.e. Educational Practices, Open Educational Resources, Content Management, Metadata and Standards Informal learning)
  • Work based learning
  • Lifelong learning 

Current Research Projects

 

  • QTEK II Project  (2007 - 2009) with Agnes Kukulska-Hulme and John Pettit , OU funded project
  • Content Management Project  (2007 - 2008) -  With Mrs Matete Madiba of Tshwane University of Tecchnology, Pretoria, South Africa, British Council funded project.
  • Lab@Future Project - whilst working for the Univeristy of Helsinki (2002 - 2005), EU funded project
  • MOBILearn Project - whilst at the Open University (2002), EU funded project
  • MANTCHI Project - whilst working at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland, EU fuded project

 

Publications

Authored Book
Mwanza, Daisy (2011). Activity-Orientated Design Method (AODM): Towards an Activity-Oriented Design Method for HCI Research and Practice. Germany: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing GmbH & Co. KG,.
Book Chapter
Mwanza-Simwami, Daisy (2009). Using activity-oriented design methods (AODM) to investigate mobile learning. In: Vavoula, Giasemi; Pachler, Norbert and Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes eds. Researching Mobile Learning: Frameworks, tools and research designs. Oxford: UK: Peter Lang Verlag, pp. 97–122.
Baudin, Veronique; Faust, Martin; Kaufmann, Hannes; Litsa, Vivian; Mwanza, Daisy; Pierre, Arnaud and Totter, Alexandra (2005). The Lab@Future Project: ‘Moving towards the future of e-Learning’. In: Courtiat, Jean-Pierre; Villemur, Thierry and Davarakis, Costas eds. Technology Enhanced Learning. IFIP International Federation for Information Processing, 171/2005. Boston: Springer Boston, pp. 3–18.
Conference Item
Mwanza-Simwami , Daisy; Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; Clough, Gill; Whitelock, Denise; Ferguson, Rebecca and Sharples, Mike (2011). Methods and models of next generation technology enhanced learning - White Paper. In: Alpine Rendezvous 2011, 28-29 March 2011, La Clusaz, France.
Mwanza-Simwami, Daisy; McAndrew, Patrick and Madiba, Matete (2008). Fostering Open Educational Practices in cross-cultural contexts. In: IST-Africa 2008 Conference Proceedings, 7 - 9 May 2008, Windhoek, Namibia.
Mwanza-Simwami, Daisy (2007). Concepts and methods for investigating the disruptive nature of technological systems used to support learning: A focus on mobile devices and distributed virtual environments. In: Proceedings of Computer Assisted Learning (CAL '07) Development, Disruption & Debate - D3, 26-28 Mar 2007, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Mwanza-Simwami, Daisy (2007). Concepts and Methods for investigating learner activities with Mobile Devices: An Activity Theory Perspective. In: Beyond Mobile Learning Workshop, 21-23 Jan 2007, Villars, Switzerland.
Baudin, Veronique; Faust, Martin; Kaufmann, Hannes; Litsa, Vivian; Mwanza, Daisy; Pierre, Arnaud and Totter, Alexandra (2004). The LAB@FUTURE Project - Moving Towards the Future of E-Learning. In: Proceedings of Technology Enhanced Learning Workshop at IFIP World Computer Congress, 22-27 Aug 2004, Toulouse, France.
Courtiat, Jean-Pierre; Davarakis, Costas; Totter, Alexandra; Mwanza, Daisy; Faust, Martin and Kaufmann, Hannes (2004). Evaluating LAB@FUTURE, a Collaborative E-Learning Laboratory Experiments Platform. In: European Distance and E-Learning Network Annual conference (EDEN 2004), 16-19 Jun 2004, Budapest, Hungary.
Mwanza, D. and Engeström, Y. (2003). Pedagogical Adeptness in the Design of E-learning Environments: Experiences from the Lab@Future Project. In: Proceedings of World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2003, 7-11 Nov 2003, Phoenix, USA.
Mwanza, Daisy (2003). Reflections on Methods for applying Activity Theory to CSCW research and practice – The AODM Approach. In: 8th European Conference of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, 14 Sept 2003, Helsinki, Finland.
Mwanza, Daisy (2003). Methodological perspectives on applying activity theory to CSCL research and practice. In: Computer Support for Collaborative Learning (CSCL 2003), 14-18 Jun 2003, Bergen, Norway.
Mwanza, Daisy and Bertelsen, Olav W. (2003). Methods for applying Activity Theory to HCI Design. In: Human-Computer Interaction INTERACT '03: IFIP TC13 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, 1-5 Sept 2003, Zurich, Switzerland.
Sharp, Helen; Taylor, Josie; Löber, Andreas; Frohberg, Dirk; Mwanza, Daisy and Murelli, Elena (2003). Establishing user requirements for a mobile learning environment. In: Conference proceedings of Eurescom 2003, 29 Sept- 1 Oct 2003, Heidelberg, Germany.
Mwanza, Daisy (2001). Practical Perspectives on Activity Theory. In: International Conference on Communication, Problem Solving and Learning ICCPL '2001, 25 - 29 Jun 2001, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
Mwanza, Daisy (2001). Challenges of designing for collaborative learning in an organisation. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Computers and Learning, 2-4 Apr 2001, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
Mwanza, Daisy (2001). Changing Tools Changing Attitudes: Effects of introducing a computer system to promote learning at work. In: Euro-CSCL 2001, 22 - 24 Mar 2001, Maastricht, The Nertherlands.
Mwanza, Daisy (2001). Where Theory meets Practice: A Case for an Activity Theory based Methodology to guide Computer System Design. In: Proceedings of INTERACT’ 2001: Eighth IFIP TC 13 Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, 9-13 July 2001, Tokyo, Japan.
Journal Article
Mwanza-Simwami, Daisy (2011). AODM as a framework and model for characterising learner experiences with technology. Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society (Je-LKS), 7(3), pp. 75–85.
Mwanza-Simwami, Daisy; Engeström, Yrjö and Amon, Tomaz (2009). Methods for evaluating learner activities with new technologies: Guidelines for the Lab@Future Project. International Journal on E-Learning, 8(3), pp. 361–384.
Mwanza, Daisy and Engestrom, Yrjo (2005). Managing Content in e-Learning Environments. British Journal of Educational Technology, 36(3), pp. 453–463.
Mwanza, D. (2002). Conceptualising work activity for CAL systems design. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 18(1), pp. 84–92.
Other
Jones, Ann; Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes and Mwanza, Daisy (2005). Special Issue of JIME on Portable Learning: Experiences with Mobile Devices. The Open University, UK.

Blog posts


11Mar

Mobile Instant Messing and Collaborative Learning


0 comment(s)

22Jun

Technology enhanced learning in informal settings


0 comment(s)

Other Interests

  • Web services and web hosting. I am currently managing the website for 'My Home Town' - a Non Govermental Organisation poised to reduce poverty in members' communities.
  • Use of Web 2.0 for learning

 

last updated 01-Feb-2012