Wendy Rowan

University College Cork | UCC · Department of Business Information Systems

Purpose The dropout rates of open e-learning platforms are often cited as high as 97%, with many users discontinuing their use after initial acceptance. This study aims to explore this anomaly through the lens of affordances theory, revealing design–reality gaps between users' diverse goals and the possibilities for action provided by an open IT ar...

Health social networks (HSNs) allow individuals with health information needs to connect and discuss health-related issues online. Political-technology intertwinement (e.g. GDPR and Digital Technology) highlights that users need to be aware, understand, and willing to provide electronic consent (eConsent) when sharing personal information online. T...

Advancements in data storage and computation have brought new opportunities for corporations to better understand consumer behaviour online. Principal among this is the widespread adoption of ‘surveillance capitalism’ practices, where data analytics are utilised to profile users and promote desired outcomes for commercial gain. Nevertheless, the et...

Recorded usage rates of open e-learning platforms are often low, with many users discontinuing their use after initial acceptance. One often cited reason for this acceptance-discontinuance anomaly is the design-reality gap between users’ diverse needs and the designed features of an open e-learning platform. To explore the challenges of user contin...

The internet is a disruptive technology that continues to define our modern world. However, numerous ethical challenges remain for internet governance going forward, e.g. surveillance capitalism, terrorism and radicalisation. The ‘pragmatic’ school of thought in open science advocates for collaboration between diverse stakeholder groups (e.g. citiz...

The internet is a disruptive technology that continues to define our modern world. However, numerous ethical challenges remain for internet governance going forward, e.g. surveillance capitalism, terrorism and radicalisation. The ‘pragmatic’ school of thought in open science advocates for collaboration between diverse stakeholder groups (e.g. citiz...

Information Systems (IS) research is often conducted under the assumption that technology use leads to positive outcomes for different stakeholders. However, many IS studies demonstrate limited evidence of having engaged with the stakeholders that they claim benefit and speak on behalf of. It is therefore not surprising that examples abound of wher...

Hear our voice! The digitalization of life has transformed what we believe, how we think, feel and act. Much of this digitalization of life has been brought to citizens by large companies focused on connecting us via internet platforms. But, what do citizens need or wish for from the internet? Questions have been raised around the privacy, securit...

With the proliferation of eHealth resources promoting health data storage, analysis, and dissemination, it is important for individuals to understand the implications of sharing their highly sensitive personal health information (PHI) online. However, uncertainty remains about the level of individual awareness and understanding when sharing PHI on...

Gamification has been successfully used to achieve desirable outcomes by influencing peoples’ behaviours in areas such as marketing [1] and health campaigns [2]. Open eLearning environments such as massive open online courses (MOOCs) have the potential to increase education for all. However, there is strong evidence that people can disengage and no...

Project Ireland 2040 is planning to invest heavily into upgrading Irish homes to renewable energy sources. From 2021, 45,000 homes per year will be using renewable heat via government driven support schemes. But how is the Irish landscape currently placed in terms of energy consumption and consumer energy consciousness? In this review, energy consu...

The use of technology is intimately linked to our social and psychological being. One the one hand, the rapid adoption of advanced technologies seems to suggest that we are progressing towards a new post-humanist era, where the lines between technology and the human race are becoming increasingly blurred. Yet, news streams continuously report on ca...

Online services have the power to persuade us. When we join Health Social Networks (HSNs) we share our personal health information (PHI) with people who we perceive to be like minded or experiencing things similar to us. However, this PHI can also be shared with third parties such as pharmaceutical companies, health insurers, and advertising compan...

Check: I accept the terms and conditions and privacy policy statements associated with this technological artefact! The informed consent process is becoming more of a challenge with the emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) as data may be collected without the digital health citizen being aware. It is argued in this paper that the first phase for u...

In an online world, the distinction between public and private is becoming increasingly blurred with rising concerns about the privacy and security of personal health information. The aim of this study is to explore electronic consent (eConsent) on a Health Social Network (HSN) – PatientsLikeMe - to improve both the form and accessibility of contra...