Fast fashion and over consumption within the textile industry has led to a serious depletion of natural resources. The current rate of population growth and consumption is unsustainable. In result, there is a growing interested in sustainable solutions, one of which is reverse supply chains. Infrastructures for recycling textile fibers are being researched and developed. At the same time, it is important to put a focus on also developing the infrastructures for textile recollection. When examining a forward supply chain, the last mile, or point of distribution to the final consumer, can be considered the most costly when it comes to logistics costs. As a result, within a reverse supply chain the point of textile recollection, or the “first mile” as defined by the authors, can also be considered problematic in terms of logistical costs. Cirqle is a Swedish based app using ICT to aide in the recollection of used textiles, by offering app users rewards (discounts) for used textile returns at specific retailers. Through gathering specific information about app users, ICT companies such as Cirqle, are key to optimizing reverse supply chains, and in result, aiding in the reduction of the “first mile problem”. Due to the research gap identified by the authors, the purpose of this thesis is to explore how a digital infrastructure for collecting used garments, such as the Cirqle App, can be used to optimize location‟s for collection points; therefore minimizing the first mile problem of reverse logistics in the textile industry.

Η παρούσα διατριβή στοχεύει να απαντήσει στο ερώτημα: «Ποιος είναι ο «Λόγος» για την ένταξη των ΤΠΕ στο εκπαιδευτικό πλαίσιο και τη διδασκαλία των Θετικών Επιστημών στην Ελλάδα» και αποτελεί προσέγγιση εκπαιδευτικών κειμένων. Η μελέτη θεωρητικά αναφέρεται στα γενικά χαρακτηριστικά, τις ευρύτερες απόψεις ένταξης των ΤΠΕ και σε μοντέλα ενσωμάτωσης των ΤΠΕ στην εκπαίδευση. Δεδομένα της έρευνας αποτελούν ενενήντα επτά κείμενα του ελληνικού, εκπαιδευτικού περιοδικού «Σύγχρονη Εκπαίδευση» που αναφέρονται στην ενσωμάτωση των ΤΠΕ στο εκπαιδευτικό πλαίσιο και τη διδασκαλία των Θετικών Επιστημών στην Ελλάδα στο χρονικό διάστημα 1984-2006. Η εμπειρική εργασία στηρίζεται σε μεγάλο μέρος στο θεωρητικό και μεθοδολογικό εργαλείο των Aviram&Tami (2004), στο πλαίσιο του οποίου οι απόψεις για την ενσωμάτωση των ΤΠΕ αναλύονται υπό το φως δύο παραμέτρων: των προσεγγίσεων και των τοποθετήσεων των συγγραφέων, οι οποίες από κοινού διαμορφώνουν μία μήτρα χαρτογράφησης του διατυπωμένου «λόγου». Επίσης, αξιοποιούνται και κάποιες θεωρητικές έννοιες του Foucault για το «λόγο» και του Bernstein για τον «παιδαγωγικό μηχανισμό» και τον «παιδαγωγικό λόγο». Εντός της πρώτης παραμέτρου, «των προσεγγίσεων», οι οποίες υιοθετούνται από τους συγγραφείς του υπό μελέτη υλικού, αναφορικά με τους στόχους της ενσωμάτωσης των ΤΠΕ στο εκπαιδευτικό πλαίσιο και τη διδασκαλία των Θετικών Επιστημών διαπιστώνεται η ύπαρξη έξη προσεγγίσεων. Οι συγγραφείς υιοθετούν Διοικητικές, Αναλυτικού Προγράμματος Σπουδών, Διδακτικές, Οργανωτικές, Πολιτιστικές και Ιδεολογικές Προσεγγίσεις. Εντός της δεύτερης παραμέτρου, «των τοποθετήσεων», τις οποίες ακολουθούν οι συγγραφείς αναφορικά με την έκταση και το επίπεδο των αλλαγών στις οποίες η ένταξη των ΤΠΕ μπορεί να οδηγήσει την εκπαίδευση, αναδεικνύεται η υιοθέτηση τεσσάρων διαφορετικών τοποθετήσεων: αγνωστικιστικών, συντηρητικών, μετριοπαθών και ριζοσπαστικών. Οι προκύπτοντες συνδυασμοί των προσεγγίσεων και των τοποθετήσεων των συγγραφέων περιγράφουν και αποκαλύπτουν το πλήθος των διαφορετικών και συχνά αντιτιθέμενων απόψεων, αλλά και εκείνων που είναι αδύνατο να παρουσιαστούν, στο συγκεκριμένο, δομολειτουργικό και συναινετικό περιβάλλον που κυριαρχεί στον ελληνικό εκπαιδευτικό χώρο. Η εργασία οδηγεί στην παρουσίαση ενός θεωρητικού μοντέλου περιγραφής όλων των απόψεων (τετριμμένων και καινοτόμων) που εμφανίζει ο μελετώμενος «λόγος» για την ένταξη των ΤΠΕ στο εκπαιδευτικό πλαίσιο και τη διδασκαλία των Θετικών Επιστημών στην Ελλάδα, στη χρονική περίοδο 1984-2006 και την ένταξή τους σε τρεις διαφορετικές «Προοπτικές Ενσωμάτωσης» των ΤΠΕ, που ουσιαστικά αντιπροσωπεύουν τρία διαφορετικά «Παραδείγματα». Καταδεικνύεται η αναμενόμενη κυριαρχία της «Τεχνοκρατικής Προοπτικής» ενσωμάτωσης των ΤΠΕ (ρυθμίσεις και αλλαγές, αγνωστικιστικού και συντηρητικού χαρακτήρα, σε επίπεδο διοικητικό, εκπαιδευτικού έργου και διδασκαλίας), όπως και η ισχυρή παρουσία της «Ολιστικής Προοπτικής» (συντηρητική και σπανιότερα ριζοσπαστική αποδόμηση των επερχόμενων της ένταξης των ΤΠΕ αλλαγών, σε επίπεδο πολιτιστικό και ιδεολογικό), προοπτικών που συνυπάρχουν σε όλη το μελετώμενη χρονική περίοδο, (1984-2006). Ωστόσο, ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρουσα καθίσταται η μετά το έτος 1997 σχετικά ήπια εμφάνιση και διατήρηση της «Μεταρρυθμιστικής Προοπτικής» ένταξης των ΤΠΕ στο εκπαιδευτικό πλαίσιο και τη διδασκαλία των Θετικών Επιστημών (δηλαδή της μεταρρυθμιστικής στροφής προς ένα δυναμικό, εναλλακτικό, διδακτικό παράδειγμα εποικοδομιστικής μάθησης) στο μελετώμενο «λόγο» στην Ελλάδα. / Τhe present thesis aims to answer the question: «What is the “Discourse” that stems from the integration of ICT, the educational context and the teaching of Natural Sciences in Greece», by studying educational “texts”. The study focuses theoretically on the general characteristics, the wider aspects of ICT integration and the derived ICT integration educational models. Ninety-seven texts published in the educational magazine "Modern Education" (ΣύγχρονηΕκπαίδευση), all referring to the integration of ICT in the educational context and teaching of science in Greece during the period 1984-2006, served as survey data. The empirical work is largely based on the theoretical and methodological tool of Aviram & Tami (2004), in which the views about the integration of ICT are characterized in the light of two parameters: the “approaches” and the “attitudes” of the authors, which combined form a matrix mapping the studied “Discourse”. In addition, the study exploits certain theoretical concepts described by Foucault concerning the “Discourse” and those by Bernstein concerning the “Pedagogical Device” and “Pedagogical Discourse”. Within the first parameter, “the approaches”, which are adopted by the authors of the study material, regarding the aims and/or the nature of the ICT integration in the educational context and teaching of Science, six distinct approaches are found. The authors adopt Administrative, Curricula, Didactic, Organizational, Cultural and Ideological approaches. Within the second parameter, “the attitudes”, followed by the authors, in reference to the kind and the level of change that the merging of ICT with education will, or should lead to, four different attitudes emerged: Agnostic, Conservative, Moderate and Radical. The resulting combinations of approaches and attitudes of the authors describe and reveal the existence of highly varying different and often conflicting views, including those that cannot be identified in the specific, functional and consensual environment that dominates the Greek educational “champ”. The study proposes a novel theoretical model describing all views (trivial and innovative) as revealed by the envisaged “Discourse” by classifying them according to three different “Integration Prospects”, three essentially different “Paradigms”. The anticipated prevalence of the "Technocratic Perspective” integration of ICT (settings and changes, agnostics and conservative nature, in terms of administration, educational work and teaching), as well as the strong presence of the coexisting “Holistic Perspective”(conservative and rarely radical deconstruction of the upcoming integration of ICT changes on cultural and ideological bases) throughout the studied period (1984-2006), is demonstrated. Interestingly, from 1997 onwards, the “Reformistic Perspective” appears and is maintained throughout the studied period (that is a reform shift to the dynamic, alternative, instructive example of constructivist learning).

Στην παρούσα εργασία γίνεται μια προσπάθεια για να διαπιστωθεί ο ρόλος των τεχνολογιών των Επικοινωνιών και της Πληροφορίας (ΤΠΕ) στην Οργάνωση και Διοίκηση της Τριτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, θα προσπαθήσουμε να διαπιστώσουμε αν χρησιμοποιούνται οι ΤΠΕ στην οργάνωση και στην καθημερινή διοίκηση των Γραμματειών, τον τρόπο, τα οφέλη, τα προβλήματα και τους ανασταλτικούς παράγοντες. Σαν παράδειγμα μελετήσαμε τις Γραμματείες του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών. Κύριος σκοπός της έρευνας είναι να διαπιστωθεί ο ρόλος των ΤΠΕ και οι επιμέρους στόχοι είναι να καταγραφούν οι αντιλήψεις των εμπλεκομένων προσώπων για την χρήση των ΤΠΕ στην οργάνωση και διοίκηση αλλά και τα θετικά και αρνητικά στοιχεία από την χρήση ή μη των ΤΠΕ. Η έρευνά μας θα μελετηθεί σε σχέση με τις προκλήσεις της εποχής αλλά και τις ανάγκες της, όπως αυτή έχει διαμορφωθεί από την επίδραση της παγκοσμιοποίησης, αλλά και την επίδραση των ΤΠΕ στην καθημερινότητα του πολίτη. Η μεθοδολογία που ακολουθήθηκε ήταν η ποιοτική έρευνα και τα δεδομένα καταγράφηκαν με συνεντεύξεις από την ομάδα στόχο που είναι οι εργαζόμενοι στις Γραμματείες του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών. Στην συνέχεια παρουσιάζονται τα δεδομένα και αναλύονται ενώ στο τέλος της έρευνας γίνεται μια προσπάθεια ερμηνείας των δεδομένων αυτών και παρατίθενται οι προβληματισμοί για περαιτέρω έρευνα. / An attempt for realising the role of Information and Communications technologies (ICT) in the Organisation and Administration of Higher Education is performed in this thesis. More specific, we will try to realise if the ICTs are used in the organisation and in the daily administration of Secretariats, and especially the way, the profits, the problems and the suspensive factors. As a case study we focused on the group of the Secretariats of the University of Patras. Main target of our research is to realise the role of ICT and the individual objectives are to record the perceptions of the involved persons about the use of ICT in the organisation and administration, but also the positive and negative elements from the use or non-use of ICT. Our research will be studied concerning the challenges of our century but also the needs, as these have been shaped by the globalisation effect, but also the ¬influence of ICT in the everyday routine of citizen. The followed methodology was based on the qualitative research and the data have been recorded with interviews from the target group. The target group was the employees in the Secretariats of University of Patras. Following up, we present the data and we analyze them. At the end of our research, we try to interpretation them and we mention the ideas and the reflections for further research.

Par leur capacité à créer, traiter et transmettre l’information en temps réel, les TIC jouent aujourd’hui un rôle majeur dans la structuration et le développement des territoires. La présente thèse vise à étudier la relation entre les TIC et les transformations de la forme urbaine du Grand Caire. Pour ce faire, la thèse implique une approche multidisciplinaire qui conjugue les deux méthodes quantitative et qualitative ; elle s’appuie sur le modèle de l’« urbanisme des réseaux » pour décomposer les TIC en trois niveaux : infrastructures, technologies de l’information et usages. Plusieurs ressources sont utilisées : rapports, articles et ouvrages spécialisés, données du terrain et ressources Internet y compris les Big data. Les principaux résultats sont les suivants : la distribution des réseaux des TIC (infrastructures, technologies de l’information et usages) a dessiné une zone étendue, un continuum, qui relie les grandes centralités formées pendant plusieurs périodes historiques du Grand Caire. En outre, les TIC, avec d’autres facteurs, ont mené à la formation dans la banlieue sud d’un centre économique/résidentiel, excentré et non planifié, le premier de ce type dans l’histoire millénaire du Grand Caire. Enfin, les résultats ont montré un rôle important des résidences fermées ; ces dernières semblent trouver dans les TIC le moyen pour mieux réaliser leur objectif : permettre de vivre et travailler au Grand Caire sans affronter les maux de son espace central. Globalement, Les TIC, malgré leur capacité à alléger plusieurs contraintes spatiales, sont parmi les facteurs qui ont consolidé la forme urbaine actuelle du Grand Caire avec tous ses problèmes majeurs. / With their ability to create, process and transmit information in real time, ICT are playing today a major role in the structuring and development of urban spaces. The present thesis aims to study the relationship between ICT and the transformations of the Greater Cairo’s urban form. To that end, the thesis draws on a multidisciplinary approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methods; it is based on the model of "Urbanism of networks" that divides ICT networks into three levels: infrastructures, information technologies and uses. Many resources are used in this study: reports, specialised books and articles, data collected from the field and various Internet resources including the Big Data. The main results are as follows: at the metropolitan scale, the distribution of ICT networks (infrastructures, information technologies and uses) has drawn an extended area, a continuum, which connects the main urban centers formed during the several historical periods of Greater Cairo. Moreover, ICT, among other factors, have led to the formation in the southern suburb of an eccentric, unplanned economic/residential center, the first of its kind in the millennial history of Greater Cairo. Finally, the results showed an important role of the gated communities, these latter seem to find in ICT the way to better realise their objective: to allow living and working in Greater Cairo without facing the disadvantages of its central space. Overall, ICT, despite their ability to alleviate many spatial constraints, are among the factors that shaped the current urban form of Greater Cairo with all its major problems.

This research aims to verify how ICT have been used in the teaching of the Portuguese Language at "Colégio Estadual Atheneu Sergipense" (CEAS), located in Aracaju, Sergipe. Therefore, this research starting with the analysis of official documents nationwide: Lei de Diretrizes e Bases (LDB), 1996; Plano Nacional de Educação (PNE), 2014; Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais para o Ensino Médio (PCNEM), 1996; Diretrizes Curriculares para o Ensino Médio (DCNEM), 1998 and the Plano de Desenvolvimento da Educação (PDE), 2007; and in local level, the Pedagogical Political Project of the CEAS with the intention of examining how such documents address the ICT employment in education, performing a critical/analytical reading with the help of qualitative/ quantitative words frequency analysis software NVivo. The research is also based on investigations did by Andrade (2013), Geraldi and Geraldi (2012), Xavier and Marcuschi (2010), Barros (2008) and Cereja (2002), and interviews with the Director, the Pedagogical Coordination and Portuguese Language teachers of the CEAS. From these three axes, official documents, literature review and interviews, which are in the research methodology, looking respond to guiding the research questions: What do the official documents about the Portuguese Language teaching in Education average on the use of technology in the classroom by the teacher? As these documents guide the educational practice of the teacher in the classroom and the use of texts and digital tools? What have been the ICT resources currently used by teachers of Portuguese in high school classroom? As ICT has been, in fact, used in pedagogical practice of Portuguese? The object of study, the CEAS is an institution recognized in the state for their excellence and innovative spirit, obtaining the best results in ENEM between state schools in Sergipe. From the results achieved with the collection of data was verified that the use of ICT in LP education in CEAS still happens in a timely and fragmented way, although the school has available infrastructure and qualified teachers, pointing to difficulties with respect to stiffness the curriculum and the priority for the results of ENEM. / Esta pesquisa objetiva verificar como as TIC têm sido utilizadas no ensino de Língua Portuguesa do “Colégio Estadual Atheneu Sergipense” (CEAS), situado em Aracaju, Sergipe. Para tanto, parte da análise de documentos oficiais de âmbito nacional: a Lei de Diretrizes e Bases (LDB), de 1996; o Plano Nacional de Educação (PNE), de 2014; os Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais para o Ensino Médio (PCNEM), de 1996; as Diretrizes Curriculares para o Ensino Médio (DCNEM), de 1998 e o Plano de Desenvolvimento da Educação (PDE), de 2007; e de âmbito local: o Projeto Político Pedagógico do CEAS, com vistas a examinar de que modo tais documentos tratam do emprego das TIC na educação, realizando uma leitura crítico/analítica, com o auxílio do software qualitativo/quantitativo de análise de frequência de palavras NVIVO. A pesquisa também se fundamenta nas investigações de Andrade (2013), Geraldi e Geraldi (2012), Xavier e Marcuschi (2010), Barros (2008) e Cereja (2002); na realização de entrevistas com a Direção, a Coordenação Pedagógica, os professores de Língua Portuguesa do CEAS. A partir desses três eixos, documentos oficiais, revisão de literatura e realização de entrevistas, que constituem a metodologia da pesquisa, procura-se responder às questões norteadoras da pesquisa: o que dizem os documentos oficiais acerca do ensino da Língua Portuguesa no Ensino Médio sobre o uso das tecnologias em sala de aula pelo professor? Como esses documentos orientam a prática educativa do professor em sala de aula, quanto ao uso de textos e ferramentas digitais? Quais vêm sendo os recursos das TIC utilizados atualmente pelos professores de Língua Portuguesa no Ensino Médio em sala de aula? Como as TIC têm sido, de fato, utilizadas na prática pedagógica de Língua Portuguesa? O objeto de estudo de caso, o CEAS, é uma instituição reconhecida no Estado por sua excelência e espírito inovador, obtendo os melhores resultados no ENEM entre as escolas estaduais de Sergipe. A partir dos resultados alcançados com a coleta dos dados, foi possível verificar que o uso das TIC no ensino de LP no CEAS acontece ainda de maneira pontual e fragmentada, embora o colégio disponha de infraestrutura e de professores qualificados, apontando para dificuldades com relação à rigidez da grade curricular, à prioridade para os resultados do ENEM.

I denna uppsats undersöks internationella turisters informationsbehov före under och efter ett besök i Stockholms skärgård där fallet utgår från samverkansprojektet Stockholm Archipelago. Undersökningens syfte är att få en ökad förståelse för informationsbehov i relation till Stockholm Archipelagos utformning av digitala informationstjänster som skapar bruksvärde för turistupplevelsen i Stockholms skärgård. Undersökningen grundar sig på intervjuer med internationella turister och anställda inom ramen för projektet Stockholm Archipelago. Studien utgår från service-perspektivet; utifrån-och-in med fokus på förståelse för kundernas informationsbehov före, under och efter ett skärgårdsbesök. Undersökningen visar att turisternas gemensamma informationsbehov och att Stockholm Archipelagos digitala tjänster stödjer behoven men hur turisterna vill erhålla informationen skiljer sig åt. Detta för att bruksvärdet främst skapas genom digitala kanaler med användargenererat innehåll som är mer individanpassat. / This paper examines international tourists information needs before, during and after a visit in the Stockholm archipelago, where the case of analys is based on the collaborative project Stockholm Archipelago. The purpose is to gain a better understanding for the information needs in relation to Stockholm Archipelagos strategies towards digital information that creates value-in-use for the tourist experience in the Stockholm archipelago. The study is based on interviews with international tourists and people within the project Stockholm Archipelago. The study takes a service management-perspective; outside-in to understand customers' needs for information before, during and after a visit to the archipelago. The survey shows that tourists' information needs are the same and that Stockholm Archipelagos digital services supports the needs, but how the tourists want to receive information differs. This is because value-in-use is primarily created through digital channels with user-generated content that is more individualized.

Cette thèse a pour objet le VJing, terme désignant l’activité du VJ (pour Video ou Visual Jockey) consistant à créer et manipuler en direct plusieurs sources visuelles par médiation technologique en direction d’un public et en synchronisation avec la musique, et se propose de mettre cette pratique en perspective en l’envisageant comme un travail spécifique opéré sur l’image, interrogeant son paradigme poïétique fondé sur la synesthésie aussi bien que le contexte performatif dans lequel elle se déploie. Empruntant le concept de re-médiation à Jay David Bolter et Richard Grusin, nous étudions les divers processus par lesquels le VJing se réapproprie, tant par la forme que par le contenu, les propriétés constitutives du DJing et des musiques électroniques, tout comme il prolonge directement ou indirectement certains procédés d’union du visuel et du sonore expérimentés sur ces deux médiums audiovisuels que sont le cinéma et la vidéo. S’appuyant sur un corpus de près d’une centaine de créations VJ (extraits de performances, mix réalisés pour support vidéo), notre approche méthodologique consiste à mener plusieurs analyses comparatives avec des œuvres issues du cinéma d’avant-garde, du cinéma expérimental, de l’Art Vidéo, du vidéo-clip, afin de définir progressivement l’identité spécifique du VJing. En combinant perspective théorique, historique et esthétique, nous examinons par quels biais cette pratique a constitué avec le temps un dispositif technologique et projectif visant à la réalisation en temps réel d’un objet audiovisuel basé sur le dialogue constant entre les images en mouvement et la musique (ou la bande-son) et dans quelle mesure ce type de performance se déployant dans le contexte des nouveaux médias, du remix généralisé et du « cinéma élargi » entre en résonnance avec la tradition issue des avant-gardes et celle, aussi bien picturale, musicale que cinématographique, de la Visual Music. / The subject of this thesis is VJing, a term referring to the work performed by the VJ (Video or Visual Jockey) consisting of creating and manipulating several visual sources in real-time through technological mediation and for an audience, in synchronization to music. This study intends to put this practice in perspective by considering it as a specific work made over the image, questioning its poietic paradigm based on synaesthesia as well as the performative context in which it takes place. Borrowing the concept of Remediation from Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin, we study the various processes by which VJing re-appropriates, both in form and content, some constitutive properties of DJing and electronic music, as it also extends directly or indirectly some processes of union of the visual and the aural as it has been experimented in cinema and video. Based on a corpus of about a hundred of VJ works (performance extracts, mixes made for video distribution), our methodological approach consists of conducting several comparative analysis with different works taken from avant-garde cinema, experimental cinema, video art and music videos, in order to progressively defining the specific identity of VJing. By combining theoretical, historical and aesthetic perspectives, we analyze the means by which this practice has established a technological and projective device over time to achieve producing audio-visual objects in real-time based on the constant dialogue between moving pictures and music (or soundtrack) and we try to see how this kind of performance, taking place in the context of new media, mainstreamed remix and "expanded cinema", echoes with the avant-garde tradition and the pictorial, musical as well as cinematic legacy of Visual Music.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work is aimed at studying the English language acquisition of the skills of Reading and Listening through the use of ICT. The Knowledge Society is characterized by information sharing and new approaches to learning that certainly will reward those students familiar with Information Technologies. The investigation to verify language learning autonomy was done through the interaction of students and ontologies created to English language learning. The research was performed using websites containing grammar exercises, reading comprehension activities as much as newspapers and magazines online from the U.S.A, U.K., and others aimed to the development of the reading skills; while websites containing podcasts and AM/FM radio station websites were used to develop listening skills. This language acquisition was verified through a qualitative research using the case study method. A participative investigation was conducted by a semi-structured interview which gathered data using the SILL quiz. This study researches a new approach to English language acquisition using the Internet due to the ubiquity of computers nowadays. / Este trabalho apresenta um estudo na aquisição da língua inglesa, no que se refere às habilidades de compreensão oral e escrita, através do uso das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação, especialmente a Internet. A sociedade do conhecimento é marcada pela apropriação de informação e por novos métodos de aprendizagem que, certamente, contemplarão um aprendiz entrosado com as tecnologias utilizadas no mundo informatizado. A investigação acerca da autonomia na aprendizagem do idioma foi feita através de interações dos alunos com ontologias de domínio encontradas em endereços eletrônicos específicos para o aprendizado de inglês. Para o desenvolvimento da compreensão escrita foram utilizados os sites contendo exercícios gramaticais, atividades de compreensão de texto e os websites de publicações semanais de países de língua inglesa como os EUA, Reino Unido e outros; e para a capacitação da compreensão oral do idioma foram usados sites de podcasts (arquivos de áudio) projetados para aulas de inglês e de estações de rádio AM e FM dos países mencionados. Essa verificação da aquisição foi feita através de uma pesquisa qualitativa utilizando a abordagem do estudo de caso. A observação participante foi utilizada como instrumento de investigação científica e a entrevista semi-estruturada auxiliou a coleta de dados através do questionário SILL. Este estudo verificou a possibilidade de uma nova forma de aprendizagem do idioma Inglês usando a Internet em virtude da ubiqüidade dos computadores no mundo atual.

Companies cannot keep up with the change occurring in the ICT arena. As a result of companies being chased by an untamed animal namely IT evolution, they fear that they cannot run, as running feels like floating in air. This ICT evolution has become a fearful sight for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This research project acknowledges this fear and provides a conceptual framework whereby SMEs can familiarise themselves when engaging in ICT investments from a South African point of view. The data collected in this qualitative study is based on ten different SMEs as well as one larger company, to try and obtain a benchmark which SMEs can strive towards. The outcome of this research project allows SMEs to be less fearful when deciding on ICT and seeing how ICT can benefit these organisations. Copyright / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Informatics / unrestricted

Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) usually participate in disaster response in rural African communities. Disasters in African communities are often characterized by huge fatalities, which are associated with a slow pace of response. The use of information and communication technology in disaster response is recognized as an effective conduit for enhancing response. Previous research indicates the efficacy of the use of mobile telephones in disaster response in advance countries. However, there remains a critical gap in the available literature on the experiences of EMTs with the use of mobile telephones in disaster response in rural African communities. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore the experiences of EMTs with the use of mobile telephones in disaster response in rural African communities. The innovation diffusion theory served as the theoretical framework of the study. Data were collected through face to face, semi-structured interviews with 10 EMTs from 2 institutions in Sierra Leone. Data were analyzed with the use of Nvivo. The findings of this research include (a) The key areas in emergency response where mobile telephones are most useful; (b) The benefits of the use of mobile telephones in disaster response, including the enhancement of communication and search and rescue efforts; (c) Challenges to the use of mobile telephones; and (d) Ways to improve the use of mobile telephones. The results of this study may enhance positive social change through contribution to the reduction of fatalities usually associated with slow disaster response. It is recommended that future research be conducted on the experiences of other categories of first responders, and to explore alternative funding sources for disaster response in rural African communities.