M. Tech. Business Administration / Some innovations are accepted very quickly, while others are not. Knowing how technology and innovations are diffused within a social system helps understand the behaviour of its members. If one can identify the individuals, when they adopt the technology, and the reasons that led them to do so at that time, one can characterize their behaviour and perhaps hasten the acceptance and diffusion of an innovation. The aim of this study was to provide strategic insight into the adoption of mobile phone technology by 52 senior citizens in the south of Johannesburg, South Africa, and to understand the key benefits that elderly people derive from using it. The findings indicate that the rate of adopting mobile phones was high among these senior citizens and they were using the technology extensively - to call family and friends, take photos, SMS, play music, et cetera. The study recommends that mobile telephone suppliers cater for this segment of the market through the provision of affordable devices and flexible contracts, since the majority of senior citizens are retired.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-68).

Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-51).

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-77). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Design in the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2014 / If a patient arrives at a general practice whether with a scheduled appointment or at random during office hours, the general practitioner should be able to assist the patient’s with direct access to the patient folder which is stored at the office. What this research study focuses on is the accessing of patient information when the general practitioner is not at the office (usually after working hours). The research study takes place within the Durbanville suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. Interaction design is used as a framework to develop a solution by using smartphone technology.

Magister Artium - MA / The central research question this thesis explores is whether or not the availability of new social media alters the concepts of gendered personhood in working-class neighbourhoods on the Cape Flats. The arguments I will present all speak to my central argument that there is not only a relationship between “good” daughterhood and new social media, but that this relationship consists of young women in Cape Town namely Eersteriver, using their internet enabled cell-phones as a means of exploring the social and virtual realm without putting their title of a “good” or “respectable” girl at risk. I will incorporate comparative arguments from different bodies of academic literature which speak to the key question and arguments presented in this thesis so as to provide a global perspective. A brief socioeconomic history of the area will also be included in this thesis so as to provide some social context for my research. This thesis shows how young women of Eersteriver use the freedom, privacy and anonymity that they believe the internet and social media freely offers, to push the boundaries of good daughterhood and respectability. This thesis further demonstrates how social media have changed young women’s understanding of what social interaction is as well as their “doing” intimacy. I further show that their very interaction via their internet enabled cell-phones is a social form of gift giving. This research is particularly important because it is located at the intersection between gender issues and the study of new social media. This study explores how new gendered subjectivities emerge from performances and representations of personhood in new social media such as WhatsApp and Facebook, and how understandings of “good” daughterhood and respectability are altered and thus crafted into these practices. Literature in this area of research is still on the rise, so I am confident that this study will make a valuable contribution to this growing body of literature which speaks to young women and new ICTs.

This thesis explores the use of the cell phone among US teens. The research was conducted in a rural east Texas town, with two student groups, 13-14 year-olds (middle school) and 18-20 year-olds (university), between 2007 and 2008, at a time when 2G cell phones were the norm. The analysis adopts and applies the domestication framework developed by Silverstone and Hirsch (1992) within work on the social shaping of technology (Haddon, 2004; Berker, 2006; Selwyn, 2012), and points to some limitations and areas for further development within this approach. The thesis explores the extent to which teens use of the cell phone serves as a vehicle for self-expression and collective identity. It considers their emotional investment and connection with the cell phone as an extension of the self ; as well as its role as a focus for, and a means of, regulation of young people both by adults and by peers. The analysis suggests that, far from being a matter of free choice and autonomy, teens use of cell phones may be restricted by cost (of texting, calling plan), features (of particular phones), and by parental or institutional rules about how, where and when cell phones may be used. Use may also be regulated by peers in terms of when and with whom to talk or text, enabling peer groups to exclude others. Through the lens of the domestication framework this thesis concludes that teens in this context are not an homogenous group: the ways they incorporate the cell phone into their everyday lives may differ to a degree, not least as a result of parental and institutional regulation. The research does, however, identify broad areas of consensus among teens, partly linked to the geographical and socio-economic context of the participants, which provides a useful comparison with research undertaken on teens elsewhere in the world.

Today South Africa, along with the rest of the world, is witnessing a virtual social revolution related to the use of cell phones by teenagers. Although current estimates suggest that the majority of teenagers in South Africa have cell phones, very little research has been done on how they socially interact with it or how these digital devices can be used to facilitate educational pursuits. A profile of a teenage learner in the physical, social, moral, cultural and psychological context utilising cell phone technology was developed to understand the way in which today‟s technologically advanced teenager grow up, learn, think, work, communicate and socialise. A profile like this can be of assistance to successfully introduce the cell phone as an educational tool to enhance and support the cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills of the learner. Technological resources are scarce in South Africa; therefore it is important for educators today to take advantage of all tools that are available to enhance the educational process. Although new technologies have the potential of transforming education it can not be guaranteed. An exploratory study, using the mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) was done. A questionnaire was administered to measure the teenager‟s activities in today‟s technologically rich environment mainly focusing on quantitative questions regarding the use of the cell phone. The open ended questions from the questionnaire were divided into the groups and analysed to form part of the qualitative data. A male and female focus group (aged between 13 and 17 years) were conducted to form part of the qualitative material. Predetermined qualitative questions, focussing mainly on the teenager‟s attitude and use towards cell phone use, were asked. The participants‟ responses led to innovative questions. A quantitative logbook was kept by a few teenagers to get an understanding of the time teenagers spend using a cell phone and the functions mostly used on the cell phone. The results indicate that no evidence could be found that the use of cell phones in a class room environment will detrimentally affect physical activities of teenage learners. Cell phones have become an integral part of the social lives of teenage learners and might in fact introduce an element of cognitive and affective skills as „fun‟ and „excitement‟ into the learning process. Although brand associations are extremely important to teenage learners it appears that the mere fact of owning a cell phone already satisfies this requirement for social acceptance. Teenage learners with reference to the moral concept have displayed the ability to distinguish between what is right and wrong with regards to the use of cell phones. Teenage learners were largely in favour of using cell phones in a classroom but were somewhat divided on some practicalities. Owning a cell phone satisfies the perceived requirement for peer acceptance in a multi-cultural and technologically well informed society even though the cell phone might not be the most modern model. With reference to the psychological concept teenage learners have acknowledged their own vulnerability and need for guidance, whilst at the same time emphasising the need to form their own opinion and identity through continued exploration and investigation of the world around them This study has shown a definite possibility to the positive use of a cell phone as educational tool, but to successfully introduce the cell phone into a classroom as an educational tool, further research is necessary. Copyright / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

Health applications are usually complicated and low end devices do not benefit from them. The focus of this thesis is on expandable health services platform for low end cell phones. Large number of mobile phones in the world are incapable using web or modern operating systems and pre-installed SMS application is the preferred communication medium. Moreover, SMS does not require a stable connection so text-based health information can still be available even during natural disasters. Although our platform is accessible through communication forms other than SMS. We propose a scalable platform for light weight health applications, providing novel and proactive client communication. Using cloud we assure the scalability, elasticity and reliability of the server side. Our multi-layered architecture provides separation of concerns and decoupling of communication and business logic. Furthermore, plug-ins can expand and customize functionalities.

Cell phone use has become ubiquitous in many settings, including the college classroom. Research has shown many negative impacts of cell phone usage on classroom outcomes. For this reason, professors have implemented polices to reduce in-class cell phone use. An ABAB design was used to evaluate a reinforcement-based policy in an undergraduate course (N = 9). The policy involved allowing the students two 2-minute “technology breaks” throughout the three-hour course. Technology breaks conditions were alternated with baseline conditions in which there were no programmed consequences for cell phone use. Data on cell phone use was collected using the PLACHECK method in which trained observers counted the number of students physically interacting with their phones at 10 second intervals. Results showed that usage decreased during the intervention phase (M = 0.5%) from baseline (M = 0.8%). Researchers also calculated quiz scores for the two conditions. There was no statistically significant difference between intervention (M = 70.3%) and baseline conditions (M = 69.2%), (F(7) = 1.68, p = .24). Overall, the study showed technology breaks as a promising way to incorporate a reinforcement-based procedure to reduce classroom cell phone use, but the policy did not reduce cell phone usage to zero.