bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Curriculum Development of an ICT4D Module in the South African Context
Authors: Khene Caroline
Published: October 2017

The significance of ICTs in supporting socio-economic development in developing countries is inevitable. As academics of information systems in developing countries, we cannot ignore the need for teaching and building the capacity of our students to become knowledgeable and skilled in Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) practice and discourse. Furthermore, it is vital to equip our students with the ability to apply their discipline knowledge in addressing some of the ICT discrepancies in current ICT4D practice in their own context. I introduced and teach the ICT4D module to the Honours level course at my university in South Africa. This paper explores the factors that have influenced and shaped the development of the ICT4D module curriculum in the South African context I teach in, using a qualitative ethnographic lens and theoretical study. This provides a practice lens to motivate for and support the introduction of an ICT4D module in tertiary curricula in developing countries.
Characterizing Big Data Management
Authors: Rossi Rogério , Hirama Kechi
Published: October 2017

[The final form of this paper was published in the journal Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology.] Considering that big data is a reality for an increasing number of organizations in many areas, its management represents a set of challenges involving big data modeling, storage and retrieval, analysis and visualization. However, technological resources, people and processes are crucial dimensions to facilitate the management of big data in any organization, allowing information and knowledge from a large volume of data to support decision-making. Big data management must be supported by technology, people and processes; hence, this article discusses these three dimensions: the technologies for storage, analysis and visualization of big data; the human aspects of big data; and, in addition, the process management involved in a technological and business approach for big data management.
eQETIC: a Maturity Model for Online Education
Authors: Rossi Rogério , Notargiacomo Mustaro Pollyana
Published: October 2017

Digital solutions have substantially contributed to the growth and dissemination of education. The distance education modality has been presented as an opportunity for worldwide students in many types of courses. However, the development of digital educational platforms requires different expertise to its development including knowledge areas such as pedagogy, psychology, computing and digital technologies associated with education that allow the correct development and application of these solutions. To support the development of such solutions with satisfactory quality indicators, this research presents a model dedicated to quality of online educational solutions grounded in an approach that considers the continuous improvement of processes. The model features three maturity levels and six common entities that address the specific practices for planning and developing this type of solution, targeting quality standards that satisfy their users, be they students, teachers, tutors, or others involved in the development process and use of these kind of educational solutions.
Social Networks in which Users are not Small Circles
Authors: Al-Fedaghi Sabah , AlMeshari Heba
Published: October 2017

Understanding of social network structure and user behavior has important implications for site design, applications (e.g., ad placement policies), accurate modeling for social studies, and design of next-generation infrastructure and content distribution systems. Currently, characterizations of social networks have been dominated by topological studies in which graph representations are analyzed in terms of connectivity using techniques such as degree distribution, diameter, average degree, clustering coefficient, average path length, and cycles. The problem is that these parameters are not completely satisfactory in the sense that they cannot account for individual events and have only limited use, since one can produce a set of synthetic graphs that have the exact same metrics or statistics but exhibit fundamentally different connectivity structures. In such an approach, a node drawn as a small circle represents an individual. A small circle reflects a black box model in which the interior of the node is blocked from view. This paper focuses on the node level by considering the structural interiority of a node to provide a more fine-grained understanding of social networks. Node interiors are modeled by use of six generic stages: creation, release, transfer, arrival, acceptance, and processing of the artifacts that flow among and within nodes. The resulting description portrays nodes as comprising mostly creators (e.g., of data), receivers/senders (e.g., bus boys), and processors (re-formatters). Two sample online social networks are analyzed according to these features of nodes. This examination points to the viability of the representational method for characterization of social networks.
Taxonomy of Students’ Use of The iPad in Education: A Pilot
Authors: Eyal Liat
Published: October 2017

This study attempts to present the variety of possible uses for iPads, in the learning process. The objective is to evaluate a unique implementation model that was tried out at a teacher training college in Israel. The methodology is based on a qualitative research paradigm. The findings show that students’ use the iPads in various contexts: (a) for ongoing personal use; (b) for planning lessons; (c) for active integration in the classroom; and (d) for reading and developing content and games. These findings are summarized in a chart that shows the different uses as levels in a hierarchical taxonomy. Analysis of the iPad’s pedagogical uses may shed light on the various skills students need to acquire in order to become teachers in 21st century. In addition, understanding the various iPad uses and their frequency can affect decision-making at the level of policy in the field of implementation of the use of mobile technologies in educational institutions.
Higher Order Optimal Stable Digital IIR Filter Design Using Heuristic Optimization
Authors: Singh Sidhu Balraj , S. Dhillon J.
Published: October 2017

This paper proposes the innovative methodologies for the robust and stable design of optimal stable digital infinite impulse response (IIR) filters using different mutation variants of hybrid differential evolution (HDE). A multivariable optimization is employed as the design criterion to obtain the optimal stable IIR filter that satisfies the different performance requirements like minimizing the magnitude approximation error and minimizing the ripple magnitude. HDE method is undertaken as a global search technique and exploratory search is exploited as a local search technique. The proposed different mutation variants of HDE method enhance the capability to explore and exploit the search space locally as well globally to obtain the optimal filter design parameters. The chance of starting with better solution is improved by comparing the opposite solution. Here HDE has been effectively applied for the design of higher order optimal stable band-pass, and band-stop digital IIR filters. The experimental results depict that proposed HDE methods are superior or at least comparable to other algorithms and can be efficiently applied for higher order IIR filter design.
The Teacher Technology Integration Experience: Practice and Reflection in the Classroom
Authors: Ruggiero Dana , J. Mong Christopher
Published: October 2017

Previous studies indicated that the technology integration practices of teachers in the classroom often did not match their teaching styles. Researchers concluded that this was due, at least partially, to external barriers that prevented teachers from using technology in ways that matched their practiced teaching style. Many of these barriers, such as professional support and access to hardware and software, have been largely diminished over the last twenty years due to an influx of money and strategies for enhancing technology in primary and secondary schools in the United States. This mixed-methods research study was designed to examine the question, “What technology do teachers use and how do they use that technology to facilitate student learning?”
K-12 classroom teachers were purposefully selected based on their full-time employment in a public, private, or religious school in a Midwestern state in the United States, supported by the endorsement of a school official. There were 1048 teachers from over 100 school corporations who completed an online survey consisting of six questions about classroom technology tools and professional development involving technology. Survey results suggest that technology integration is pervasive in the classroom with the most often used technology tool identified as PowerPoint. Moreover, teachers identified that training about technology is most effective when it is contextually based in their own classroom. Follow-up interviews were conducted with ten percent (n=111) of the teachers in order to examine the relationship between teachers’ daily classroom use of technology and their pedagogical practices. Results suggest a close relationship; for example, teachers with student-centric technology activities were supported by student-centric pedagogical practices in other areas. Moreover, teachers with strongly student-centered practices tended to exhibit a more pronounced need to create learning opportunities with technology as a base for enhancing 21st century skills in students. Teachers indicated that external barriers do exist that impact technology integration, such as a lack of in-service training, a lack of available technology, and restricted curriculum, but that overcoming internal barriers, including personal investment in technology, attitude towards technology, and peer support, were a bigger indicator of success. Recommendations are made for restructuring professional development on strategies for contextualizing technology integration in the classroom.
From a Traditional to a Networking Organization: The Role of Information and Communication Technologies
Authors: Andrzej Kisielnicki Jerzy
Published: October 2017

The development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) resulted in transforming the traditional hierarchical organizations into networking flexible ones. In the circumstances of identifying a new type of organizations, the notions as ‘organization’ and ‘synergy’ should be revised. The organizations with individual elements that build up a network have altered their attitude towards the problem of a global optimum. Individual elements that can be called ‘junctions,’ strive to optimize local optima instead of the traditionally approached global optimum. The article offers a hypothesis that a networking organization is formed when all its elements gain profits. What is needed to form it is the consensus of all the constituent elements. The management of networking organization is supported by the contemporary ICT tools that help to manage the network. Intellectual capital is the most important element of a networking organization. A new organizational form is becoming fully competitive against traditional organizations with the fixed position in the market. A comparison of the model of business functioning of a traditional and a networking organization has been made. The model shows what economic conditions should be met to form networking organizations. It presents as well practical examples of relations between traditional and networking organizations. The suggested further research into the issue has been outlined in the text.
QR Code Based Patient Medical Health Records Transmission: Zimbabwean Case
Authors: Dube Sibusisiwe , Sihwa Siqabukile , Nyathi Thambo , Sibanda Khulekani
Published: October 2017

In Zimbabwe the health care delivery system is hierarchical and patient transfer from the lower level to the next higher level health care facility involves patients carrying their physical medical record card. A medical record card holds information pertaining to the patient’s medical history, pre-existing allergies, medical health conditions, prescribed medication the patient is currently taking among other details. Recording such patient information on a medical health card renders it susceptible to tempering, loss, and misinterpretation as well as susceptible to breaches in confidentiality. In this paper, we propose the application of Quick Response (QR) codes to secure and transmit this sensitive patient information from one level of the health care delivery system to another. Other security methods such as steganography could be used, but in this paper we propose the use of QR codes owing to the high proliferation of mobile phones in the country, high storage capacity, flexibility, ease of use and their capability to maintain data integrity as well as storage of data in any format.
User Satisfaction and the Availability of Health Information
Authors: Bozan Karoly , Datta Pratim
Published: October 2017

Electronic health records (EHR) are the digitized longitudinal health records of an individual that is shared across agencies and providers. The low use rate of EHR system is partially attributed to the lack of interconnectedness with other data sources and limited patient health information availability. A survey of health professionals was conducted to investigate the relationships between availability of health information, its portability and user satisfaction with health record systems. The study found through structural equation modeling that there is a positive relationship between these variables. It was also found that different stakeholders must be able to see their own version of each of the variables for satisfaction.
The Use of Graphics to Communicate Findings of Longitudinal Data in Design-Based Research
Authors: Francis Krista , Jacobsen Michele , Friesen Sharon
Published: October 2017

Visuals and graphics have been used for communicating complex ideas since 1786 when William Playfair first invented the line graph and bar chart.  Graphs and charts are useful for interpretation and making sense of data.  For instance, John Snow’s scatter plot helped pinpoint the source of a cholera outbreak in London in 1854 and also changed understandings of how germs were spread. While popular in the field of information graphics, rarely are graphs beyond the bar chart found in educational research articles. When present, the graphs do not necessarily enhance the findings of the data. Nor do educational research methods textbooks promote or instruct how to create visual representations to aid with interpretation and communication of findings. This paper attempts to address this void by sharing our processes for creating meaningful visual graphs for communicating multi-dimensional statistical findings more effectively. A working hypothesis was that carefully crafted visual graphics would convey our longitudinal research findings more effectively to broader audiences than existing forms. Three visuals were constructed from survey data three-year longitudinal design based research study of teacher and student learning in a one-to-one laptop school. The study focused on learning designs that changed and improved student learning experiences and outcomes by adopting inquiry approaches to teaching that incorporate meaningful uses of technology.  In field tests, our audiences found the visuals were useful for interpreting the findings. More and more frequently, academics are required to communicate their findings to broader audiences.  A well-designed and well-constructed graph(ic) can provide a means for effective communication of complex, multi-dimensional statistical data.  Such effective communication is beneficial for both an academic audience as well as for broader audiences.

The authors presented this paper that was previously published in JITE: Research
Contributory Indices to Cybercrime Activities in Nigeria
Authors: Kolawole Akinyokun Oluyomi , Kayode Alese Boniface , A. Oluwadare Samuel , O Iyare Mary , Babatunde Iwasokun Gabriel
Published: October 2017

The arrival of Internet has turned the world into a global village where geographical location or distance has to some extent ceased to be a major obstacle to communication and movement of goods and services. This development has also brought with it cybercrime and its level of sophistication. A lot of measures and institutions are being put in place to minimize the incidence of cybercrime in different countries; also, efforts are being made to identify the contributing factors to cybercrime. This research however, adopts a factor analytic approach to formulate the indices that may contribute to the perpetration of cybercrime. A total of seventy three (73) indices were formulated and used to design a structured questionnaire which was administered on five classes of respondents, using purposive and simple random sampling techniques. The data obtained were analyzed by means of factor analysis by principal component using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Ten factors were extracted and subjected to orthogonal rotation using promax. The contributing factors identified in this study could assist stakeholders to combat the menace of cybercrime.
A User Centered Approach to Managing Privacy in Online Social Networks
Authors: Ghemri Lila
Published: October 2017

Since their initial introduction in the early 90’s, the popularity of web based online social networking sites has been growing exponentially, encompassing millions of users. As these social networks continue to grow and become more popular, users’ different social circles (friends, family, and colleagues) are very likely to collide, as they all coexist under the same infrastructure. Considering the different levels of relationships between a user and their social circles, concerns about privacy arise. How does a user conceal private data? Who has access to it? And what is the most effective way in managing it? Many different approaches have been taken by online social network providers to give users more control over their data, but these methods have not always been affective, resulting in the misuse of the data or unintentional disclosure. We propose a new framework that aims at reducing risks of privacy violation by giving the user better and more intuitive ways to manage their social circles and control who accesses what type of data.
An Exploration of the Views of Teachers Concerning the Effects of Texting on Children’s Literacy Development
Authors: Wray David
Published: October 2017

Texting, or text messaging, refers to the use of mobile phones to type and send brief, electronic messages over a telephone network. Because such messages are limited to 160 characters and are typed on a small phone keypad, texters tend to employ a great many abbreviations in conveying their messages. This has led to widespread spelling adaptations, for example, “BRB” (be right back), “LOL” (laughing out loud), and “CUL8ER” (see you later).
The research in this paper aimed to examine the views and opinions held by teachers about the impact of texting on children’s literacy development. Twenty-seven primary teachers were interviewed in depth and a number of key themes emerged. These teachers did express some negative view about the impact of texting, and of technology use generally, upon their students’ literacy, although many also mentioned some positive effects. A majority did feel concerned about the effects of textisms, but these feelings were tempered by a range of other factors. None of them blamed the use of textisms exclusively for declining levels of student literacy, suggesting also that the impact of student “street slang” was a significant influence as was the fact that many of their students spoke English as an additional language.
These outcomes suggest that the media portrayal of this issue has been over-simplistic at best.
Fostering Problem-Solving in a Virtual Environment
Authors: Morin Danielle , D.E. Thomas Jennifer , George Saadé Raafat
Published: October 2017

This article investigates students’ perceptions of the relationship between Problem-Solving and the activities and resources used in a Web-based course on the fundamentals of Information Technology at a university in Montreal, Canada. We assess for the different learning components of the course, the extent of perceived problem-solving skills acquisition including research, creativity and critical thinking skills. The course entailed two categories of learning, namely resources-based and interactive components. The study aimed at answering the following questions: 1) To what extent do students understand the definitions of Problem-solving, Research, and Creative Idea Generation skills, and Critical Thinking skills? (2) What is the relative contribution of the various learning components (activities and resources) of the course to the perceived acquisition of Problem-Solving, Research, and Creative Idea Generations skills, and Critical Thinking skills; (3) Is the understanding of the definitions correlated with the perceived contributions of the learning components (activities and resources) of the course to the skills development? (4) To what extent is perceived Problem-solving skill acquisition explained by the acquisition of the other three skills?
Online vs. Face-to-Face Delivery of Information Technology Courses: Students' Assessment
Authors: Said Hazem , Kirgis Lauren , Verkamp Brian , J Johnson Lawrence
Published: October 2017

This paper investigates students’ assessment of on-line vs face-to-face delivery of lecture-based information technology courses. The study used end-of-course surveys to examine students’ ratings of five course quality indicators: Course Organization, Assessment and Grading Procedures, Instructor Performance, Positive Learning Experience, and Perceived Success. The study analyzed five semesters of students’ ratings and found no significant differences in the overall ratings of the course quality indicators between the on-line and face-to-face courses. There were differences between the overall ratings of the course quality indicators, with instructor performance and course organization receiving the highest ratings. More importantly, there was a significant interaction between the course quality indicators and the course structure. Examination of this interaction indicated that the course organization, the assessment and grading procedures, and the students’ perceived success in the course, were higher in on-line courses, while instructor performance was better in face-to-face courses. These findings suggest different ways to improve both the on-line and face-to-face courses. Finally, the most surprising outcome was that students perceived greater success in on-line courses. However, this result needs further exploration in future studies.
Rethinking the Structure of Student Recruitment and Efforts to Increase Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Doctoral Education
Authors: A. Griffin Kimberly , Muniz Marcela
Published: October 2017

While researchers, institutional leaders, and policymakers have made significant progress towards increasing undergraduate student diversity in the United States, diversity in graduate education has been less often studied and a more challenging goal on which to make progress. This qualitative study explores the roles and work of graduate diversity officers (GDOs) in student recruitment activities with a focus on how race and issues of diversity manifest and influence this process. Interviews with fourteen GDOs at 11 different research universities in the United States highlight the phases in the graduate recruitment process, the manner in which diversity is considered at each stage, and GDOs’ perceptions of their ability to shape this process. Findings suggest that GDOs are important institutional agents in diversification efforts; however, faculty engagement and broad institutional commitment are required to increase diversity in graduate education due to GDOs’ often limited involvement in the admissions stage of the recruitment process, where race becomes the most salient in decision making.
The Voice of PhD Candidates and PhD Supervisors. A Qualitative Exploratory Study amongst PhD Candidates and Supervisors to Evaluate the Relational Aspects of PhD Supervision in the Netherlands
Authors: Woolderink Marla , Putnik Katarina , van der Boom Hannerieke , Klabbers Gonnie
Published: October 2017

PhD trajectories are important to universities, as these contribute to the increase in knowledge and output. Therefore, they aim to decrease the completion time and dropout.
This article reports on our survey amongst PhD candidates and supervisors of the Graduate School CAPHRI, Maastricht University, The Netherlands. We investigated interpersonal aspects of coaching and (implicit) assumptions on skills and competences.
Both groups consider personality, knowledge, skills, communication and coaching the major factors contributing to a successful PhD trajectory. PhD candidates consider responsiveness and respectful, good-quality feedback by supervisors important and suggest regular assessment of their performance. Supervisors consider flexibility, openness for feedback, taking initiative and being a team-player as good qualities for PhDs. Supervisors indicate struggling with offering support versus independence during different stages of the PhD trajectory.
The study shows that a good match between PhDs and supervisors is essential for a successful PhD trajectory, and we advise that both discuss and formally agree upon mutual expectations and responsibilities within the project. We advocate that Graduate Schools foster an open and safe learning environment, organise meetings where supervisors can share experiences to learn from one another, provide contacts for advice and support and involvement of HR during the selection process.
Learning Electrical Circuits: The Effects of the 4C-ID Instructional Approach in the Acquisition and Transfer of Knowledge
Authors: Melo Mario , L. Miranda Guilhermina
Published: October 2017

This study was designed to investigate the effects of two instructional approaches (4C-ID versus conventional) on learners’ knowledge-acquisition and learning transfer of the electrical circuits content in Physics. Participants were 129 9th graders from a secondary school in Lisbon, M = 14.3 years, SD = 0.54. The participants were divided in two groups: an experimental group constituted three intact classes (n = 78); and a control group constituted two intact classes (n = 51). The experimental group was taught using a digital learning environment designed with the 4C-ID model principles while the control group learned the same contents through a conventional method. We assessed the students’ performance (knowledge-acquisition and transfer), the perceived cognitive load, and the instructional efficiency. Results indicated that the experimental group performed significantly better than the control group on a knowledge-acquisition test and in a learning transfer test. They also perceived a less cognitive load in the transfer test and the learning environment developed with the 4C-ID model proved to be more instructional efficient than the conventional method.
Distance Learning: Effectiveness of an Interdisciplinary Course in Speech Pathology and Dentistry
Authors: S Ramos Janine , K Silva Letícia , Pinzan Arnaldo , C Rodrigues Antonio , Berretin-Felix Giédre
Published: October 2017

Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of distance learning courses for the purpose of interdisciplinary continuing education in Speech Pathology and Dentistry. Methods: The online course was made available on the Moodle platform. A total of 30 undergraduates participated in the study (15 from the Dentistry course and 15 from the Speech Pathology course). Their knowledge was evaluated before and after the course, in addition to the user satisfaction by means of specific questionnaires. The course was evaluated by 6 specialists on the following aspects: presentation and quality of the content, audio-visual quality, adequacy to the target public, and information made available. To compare the obtained results in the pre- and post-course questionnaires, the test Wilcoxon was carried out, with a 5% significance level. Results: the teaching/learning process, including the theoretical/practical application for the interdisciplinary training, proved to be effective as there was a statistically significant difference between the pre- and post- course evaluations (p<0.001), the users’ satisfaction degree was favorable and the specialists evaluated the material as adequate regarding the target public, the audio-visual information quality and the strategies of content availability. Conclusion: The suggested distance-learning course proved to be effective for the purpose of Speech Pathology and Dentistry interdisciplinary education.
Creating a “Safe and Supportive Environment:” Mentoring and Professional Development for Recent Black Women Doctoral Graduates
Authors: Bertrand Jones Tamara , Osborne-Lampkin La'Tara , M. Patterson Shawna , Joy  Davis Danielle
Published: October 2017

Formal structures that support doctoral student socialization are limited, while formal programs for Black women doctoral students specifically are even more scarce. The purpose of this research was to examine an early career professional development program for Black women doctoral students and its influence on the mentoring relationships developed by participants. We conducted individual interviews with six Black women who participated in the Research BootCamp®, an early career professional development program, as doctoral students. Two salient features of the program were identified, including its structure and intentional focus on intersectionality. Our findings also indicate that early career professional development provided opportunities for participants to develop sustainable mentoring relationships. The formal structure of the Research BootCamp® facilitated Black women doctoral students in developing mentoring networks through continued engagement with senior scholars and peers, provided social support, created outlets for professional development, built research capacity, and contributed to Black women’s overall socialization to the academy.
Change Gonna Come or We Don’t Matter
Authors: Gasman Marybeth
Published: October 2017

In this essay, I touch upon three themes. First, I discuss the field of higher education and my views on the scholarship that we are producing within the field. Second, I discuss higher education graduate education and what contributes to sound training of doctoral students. And third, I provide commentary on how I’d like to see the field move forward.
Will a Black Hole Eventually Swallow Earth?” Fifth Graders' Interest in Questions from a Textbook, an Open Educational Resource and Other Students' Questions
Authors: Swirski Hani , Baram-Tsabari Ayelet
Published: October 2017

Can questions sent to Open-Educational-Resource (OER) websites such as Ask-An-Expert serve as indicators for students’ interest in science? This issue was examined using an online questionnaire which included an equal number of questions about the topics “space” and “nutrition” randomly selected from three different sources: a 5th-grade science textbook, the “Ask-An-Expert” website, and questions collected from other students in the same age group. A sample of 113 5th-graders from two elementary schools were asked to rate their interest level in finding out the answer to these questions without knowledge of their source. Significant differences in students’ interest level were found between questions: textbook questions were ranked lowest for both subjects, and questions from the open-resource were ranked high. This finding suggests that questions sent to an open-resource could be used as an indicator of students’ interest in science. In addition, the high correlation of interests expressed by students from the two schools may point to a potential generalization of the findings. This study contributes by highlighting OER as a new and promising indicator of student interest, which may help bring “student voices” into mainstream science teaching to increase student interest in science.
The Road to Become a Legitimate Scholar: A Case Study of International PhD Students in Science and Engineering
Authors: Bøgelund Pia , de Graaff Erik
Published: October 2017

The purpose of the doctoral education process is to create and legitimize scholarly researchers. This transformation, from student to scholar, is widely discussed in the literature. However, recent rapid changes in university culture have resulted in less time for supervision, stricter completion deadlines, and a greater focus on efficiency and productivity. This has had an impact on this transition process, and this impact has not been widely studied. The aim of this article is to understand the consequences of the current trends for PhD students and the education of PhD students in general. The article is based on interviews with 14 international students from two different research programs at the Faculty of Engineering and Science at Aalborg University in Denmark. The case of international PhD students in a western setting is singled out as a challenging case for becoming a legitimate scholar, since they face the additional challenge of becoming socialised into their new foreign setting.
Overall, the study concludes that the transition process of doctoral students is affected by the way different supervisors deal with current university trends and how PhD students fit or do not fit into their knowledge production practices. The study identifies matches or mismatches in a knowledge production perspective, quality of contact, and degree of independence of the PhD student as factors that influence whether a transition process can be marked as sound, troublesome, or lacking. Finally, the study identifies an overall risk of neglecting the more interdependent types of international PhD students. Suggestions are given as how to address this risk.
Professional Development in Higher Education: A Model for Meaningful Technology Integration
Authors: A Dysart Sarah , Weckerle Carl
Published: October 2017

While many institutions provide centralized technology support for faculty, there is a lack of centralized professional development opportunities that focus on simultaneously developing instructors’ technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) in higher education. Additionally, there are few professional development opportunities for faculty that continue throughout the practice of teaching with technology. We propose a model of continuing professional development that provides instructors with the ability to meaningfully integrate technology into their teaching practices through centralized support for developing TPACK. In doing so, we draw upon several theoretical frameworks and evidence based practices.
Enhancing Privacy Education with a Technical Emphasis in IT Curriculum
Authors: Peltsverger Svetlana , Zheng Guangzhi
Published: October 2017

The paper describes the development of four learning modules that focus on technical details of how a person’s privacy might be compromised in real-world scenarios. The paper shows how students benefited from the addition of hands-on learning experiences of privacy and data protection to the existing information technology courses. These learning modules raised students’ awareness of potential breaches of privacy as a user as well as a developer. The demonstration of a privacy breach in action helped students to design, configure, and implement technical solutions to prevent privacy violations. The assessment results demonstrate the strength of the technical approach.
The Correlation between Temperament, Technology Preference and Proficiency in Middle School Students
Authors: J Sterling Sabrina
Published: October 2017

This study examined the relationship between middle school students’ personality type and their academic performance in the technology courses in which they participated. It also explored the differences in technology use by personality. Most participants identified games as a favorite pastime. However, there were some noted temperamental differences. Students with the analytical personality reported the most varied use of computers, and rated their technology skills significantly higher on the self-perception scales and performed at a higher proficiency level than their peers. The study also investigated the effectiveness of the two computer courses offered at the schools in the study. Students who completed the Computer Literacy course during the school year performed significantly higher than those who took the Explorations Technology course, both courses, or no technology course at all. However, those with the analytical temperament performed better in the Explorations Technology course. Results suggest personality can predict technology use in students. Findings are consistent with similar research in the computing industry.
Using Interpretive Qualitative Case Studies for Exploratory Research in Doctoral Studies: A Case of Information Systems Research in Small and Medium Enterprises
Authors: R. Ponelis Shana
Published: October 2017

The use of the case study method has gained mainstream acceptance in both entrepreneurship and information systems research to develop conceptual and theoretical models that are novel, yet grounded in the literature. In spite of many texts on the case study method and the growing acceptance and use of thereof, there are relatively few examples that discuss how to apply the case study method. The purpose of this paper is to provide such an example by drawing upon the author’s research for her doctoral dissertation in the discipline of information systems and entrepreneurship research. First, the use of qualitative case studies as research method is motivated, then the importance of the research paradigm is discussed and the interpretivist research paradigm justified followed by a detailed discussion of the research design. The paper concludes with a discussion of lessons learned and recommendations based on the author’s experience with using the case study method. The practical yet theoretically founded approach of this paper may be useful to doctoral students who are considering or using the case study method. Equally, supervisors and others involved in research training may find this paper useful as an illustrative example of the case study method for their students.
Review of Laura I. Rendon's "Sentipensante (Seeing/Thinking) Pedagogy: Educating for Wholeness, Social Justice, and Liberation." Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing, LLC.
Authors: M Worthington Natasha
Published: October 2017

In her book, Sentipensante (Sensing/Thinking) Pedagogy: Educating for Wholeness, Social Justice, and Liberation, author, educator, and Fetzer Institute Fellowship alumnus Laura I. Rendón lays the framework and provides the rationalization for the need for higher education professionals to embrace and integrate the concepts of “wholeness, consonance, social justice, and liberation” in teaching and learning.
Positioning of Maori Web Sites in the Space Generated by the Key Concepts in Maori Culture
Authors: J. Kovacic Zlatko
Published: October 2017

We examine how accurately the belief system or cultural concepts of Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, is reconstructed in the virtual world of the Internet. Nine Maori web sites were searched using a list of 44 key concepts in Maori culture. We registered how many pages within a particular web site contain each of the key concepts. These numbers were set up in a data matrix for further statistical analysis. The Multidimensional Scaling method was used to construct a spatial representation of Maori web sites in the space generated by the key concepts in Maori culture. Using the correlation coefficients between derived dimensions and the key concepts we interpreted three dimensions as General Cultural, Intra-tribe Dynamics and Educational. The position of each Maori web site in this space has been located and described.
Computer Attitudes and Computing Career Perceptions of First Year Computing Students
Authors: Staehr Lorraine , Martin Mary , Byrne Graeme
Published: October 2017

This paper reports on a longitudinal research study on the attitudes to computers, and the perceptions of a computing career, of students enrolled in an introductory computing course in the years 1995 to 1998. Previous programming experience had a positive effect on computer confidence, and ownership of a home computer had a positive effect on computer anxiety and computer confidence. There was a gender difference in computer attitudes and perception of a computing career, with females scoring significantly lower than males on all measures. The analysis showed decreased computer liking over the semester and an inconsistent semester effect on computer confidence over the four years. The differences between male and female computer attitudes and perceptions of a computing career persisted over the semester.
A Framework for a Web-based Group Decision Support System
Authors: Basoglu Nuri , Darcan Osman , Ozdemir Ozgur
Published: October 2017

Web based systems has started to broaden their span of a applications. Implementing Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS) are now more likely with higher speed and country-wide. In this study, a web based GDSS framework has been designed, a pilot study has been developed and demonstrated on car selection process.
Is Their Craze on the Internet?
Authors: Benesch Thomas
Published: October 2017

For a long time researchers have been considered the question of the use of Internet for its users. In this study we do not want to execute a collection over companies or an entire state, but to limit us to a user group, the students of the Graz University of Technology.From the total extent of the students with a valid e-mail address a representative sample survey has been carried out. To those students a message, which refers to the questionnaire, was sent by means of e-mail. The questionnaire is available electronically at the WWW. The results of this study give us a view, how strong electronic services determined and as which medium it is used.
IT and Project Management: The New IS Literacy
Authors: Bialaszewski Dennis
Published: October 2017

Many courses are still delivered by primarily a lecture format. However, many faculty are now realizing that students may gain more by active learning exercises. Upon graduation these students will work on many projects and work as team members. This paper present a new IS literacy course which is heavily reliant on project management techniques, teamwork, and active learning, while incorporating fundamental IT concepts. This course is "The New IS Literacy" course.
The Reform’s Framework for Incorporating Collaborative Learning Activities
Authors: Krbec Denisa
Published: October 2017

The majority of school reforms’ efforts are often realized without any contribution from technology in the main content of school “production" process. Technological solution is not necessarily related to the reform’s activities. Categories of educational technology implementation are designed to highlight differences in the learning activities and related (technological) applications. The “educational technology" includes different tools for learning, student/teacher collaboration possibilities, as well as a range of curriculum development, and incorporation of “collaborative" activities in the school organization. Reform-oriented ways of implementing (collaborative, engaged) learning include importance of connections to curricular goals and policy frameworks. The purpose is very clear: incorporating new directions in the mostly traditional learning process. Studies of classroom implementations of technology have demonstrated that we can use “technology effectiveness framework" to measure the extent to which individual technologies and technology-enhanced programs are effective. This paper briefs this issue with indicators for measuring the effectiveness of technologies used in education.
Challenges in Teaching Java Technology
Authors: Mehic Nedzad , Hasan Yasmeen
Published: October 2017

Object-Oriented Programming-OOP is now replacing procedural programming in almost all applications. Software developers prefer using it because of its many advantages. Therefore colleges should be prepared to make changes to their current curriculums to be able to start teaching programming by using an object-oriented language. This paper describes the usage of Java, an object-oriented language, as a first language taught to computer science students. It goes through the reasons why the language fails when used to introduce students to computer programming. As a case study, the paper describes the current situation at the compute science department at the University of Bahrain and outlines the advantages and disadvantages of changing the curriculum in order to include Java as the first language.
Communication Skills for Information System Students
Authors: Janczewski Lech
Published: October 2017

Many polls conducted in the field of Information Technology indicate that communication skills rate very high on the agenda of IT employers. At the University of Auckland, over the years we had noticed that and that formed the basis for creating a university course, which would be a sort of "total package”, exposing students to the real world of systems design. The major objective of the students who enrol in this course is to develop a real IT application, for a real business organisation, in an environment resembling the real working conditions of a systems developer. Communication skills' training is deeply embedded in the programme. Despite general opinion that the course is the most demanding, overwhelming majority of students vote each year that this course was the best they have had at the university and that they had learnt a lot.
Informing Library Patrons about Internet Technology
Authors: Kanabar Dina , Kanabar Vijay
Published: October 2017

In order to introduce Internet technology literacy in the town of Westford (Boston Suburb) a new series of workshops were introduced during the winter of2000. This paper describes the strategy used to inform Westford community about the workshop and also presents an outline of the course topics and summary of research results generated from the participant's feedback and their experiences with the workshop.
Validation as the Integral Part of a Knowledge Management Process
Authors: A. Mach Maria , L. Owoc Mieczyslaw
Published: October 2017

Observing new concepts in information technology, we pay attention to its impact on more effective supporting human and organisational knowledge. Knowledge management (KM) is one of such promising and intriguing concepts. Its goals and infrastructures are defined in different ways, therefore interdisciplinary approach seems to be useful. We have presented a short survey of theoretical concepts in management, marketing and decision theory, which were adapted by the theory of KM. On the other hand, knowledge validation (KV), defined as two procedures: verification and evaluation any form of knowledge, is aimed on assuring its quality. The paper discusses the crucial interrelationships between knowledge validation and management. The main goal of this work is positioning KV activities in the context of knowledge management process, emphasising usability of KV techniques during the whole process.