This thesis is a reception analysis using qualitative interviews to investigate the formation of cultural groups around computer-game LANs present in Rhodes University. It also looks at how issues of social inequalities evident on the university's campus impact on the participation of students in these LANs. The findings of this study are that the participants have established a community around the practice of computer LAN-gameplay based on values developed through the combination of the material and gameworlds. It serves as a home-on-campus for them; where they can fully explore their passion for games thus reaffirming their identity as gamers on a campus where being a gamer is viewed negatively. In this light, computer-game playing is not just a practice these participants perform, but a culture they live out every day. This is a culture predominantly lived out by men. One of the reasons for this is because most women have been raised to believe to have negative predispositions about digital gaming e.g. that it is childish, addictive and anti-social, but also that computer are meant to be used by men - women use them only when it is absolutely necessary, for example, that it is childish, for academic-related purposes. As a result, not many of them will use computers for any otherreason for fear of being socially criticised. In addition, the gaming culture being dominated by whites is due to the fact that admittance in to this community is still unaffordable for the majority of black students on the Rhodes University campus as a result of their social backgrounds.

This thesis explores the implications of the Internet for democracy, re-evaluating the various claims and counter-claims that have been made for the Internet's democratic potential. Based on a framework to measure democracy that emphasises popular control and political equality, it assesses whether the Internet gives a greater and more representative share of the population the opportunity to participate in the political process by focusing on use of the Internet to contact political representatives. The analysis combines secondary analysis of population surveys with original data collected in two online surveys from more than 14,000 users of successful contact facilitation platforms in the UK (WriteToThem.com) and Germany (Abgeordnetenwatch.de) that enable sending messages to representatives. The results show that in both countries the Internet in general has only marginally increased the number of people engaged in contacting. At the same time, contact facilitation platforms as specific online applications have attracted large numbers of people who have never before contacted a representative. While all online means of contacting primarily amplify traditional participatory biases, such as for gender and education, they can at least selectively engage traditionally under-represented parts of the population, for example young people or low-income groups. The processes that shape these patterns are identified by developing a basic theory of contacting and using the similarities and differences between the findings for the two countries. It demonstrates not only that participation continues to be dominated by traditional determinants that cannot be completely overcome by technology, but also that Internet applications can shape participation patterns – if designed to appropriately adapt to the context in which they operate, which is rarely the case. This highlights the need to think carefully about how online platforms can be used, building on the – albeit limited – gains identified here, to strengthen them as a means of ensuring democratic participation.

In order to test the ability of the Internet to supplement classroom instruction, an instructor-authored WWW site crashwhite.com was developed for two Berkeley High courses: Advanced Placement (AP) physics, and college-prep physics class. The website was intended to supplement classroom instruction by making classroom materials available to students and parents outside the classroom, and to facilitate increased teacher-parent, teacher-student, and student-student communication.

The aim of this thesis is to examine computer technology as an educative tool in primary education and to discover how it's affecting instruction and learning. The writer of this thesis believes that the integration of literacy and computer technology can be successful, provide that government, administration, faculty, parents and students work together.

The purpose of the project was to develop a comprehensive literature unit that integrates essential meteorology study within the relevant chapters of the book. Since the development of such a unit needed to encompass much more than merely the reading of the book and the study of applicable meteorological material, a multi-faceted literature experience was designed.

The project presents a web-based component for a tutor training program at College of the Desert, Palm Desert, California. The application is designed to be responsive and adaptable to the tutor's needs. It also addresses the logistic and pedagogical problems that plague many community college tutor trainers and helps to mitigate this through an online instructional system that facilitates communication among the tutors so that learning can occur in a situated context.

Examines the use of Information and Communicative Technologies (ICT) by high school students from economically-disadvantaged households to complete homework assignments. Results of a survey of 240 high school students at an urban, inner-city high school located in Southern California, indicated, (1) the Digital Divide is narrowing among social classes, as most students reported having Internet access from their homes, (2) students willingness to embrace new uses of ICT in their studies, (3) the speed of completing homework was increased through the use of ICT multi-tasking and the use of search engines and, (4) computer maintenance issues were not a significant hindrance, as most students have some basic computer literacy skills.

A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Technology: Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / This study examines the perceived effect of the following factors on web searching ability of academic staff in the computing discipline: demographic attributes such as gender, age group, position held by the academic staff, highest qualification, etc; lecturing experience, research experience, English language proficiency, and web searching experience. The research objectives are achieved using a Likert-scale based questionnaire for 61 academic staff from Information Technology and Computer Science departments from four Universities from the Kwazulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed for data analysis from the questionnaire after performing data reliability and validity tests using factor analysis and Cronbach‟s coefficients methods on the PASW Statistics 18.0 (SPSS). Descriptive statistics revealed a majority of staff from IT as compared to staff in CS and, a majority of under qualified middle age male staff in junior positions with considerable years of lecturing experience but with little research experience. Inferential statistics show an association between web searching ability and demographic attributes such as academic qualifications, positions, and years of research experience, and also reveal a relationship between web searching ability and lecturing experience, and between web searching ability and English language ability. However, the association between position, English language ability, and searching ability was found to be the strongest of all. The novelty finding by this study is the effect of lecturing experience on web searching ability which has not been claimed by existing research reviewed. Ideas for future research include mentoring of academic staff by more experienced staff, training of novice web searchers, designing and using semantic search systems both in English and in local languages, publishing more web content in local languages, and triangulating various research strategies for the analysis of the usability of web search engines.

System deployment projects are extremely complex and with more and more organisations now choosing to configure and deploy off-the-shelf systems, the project teams are presented with new challenges. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the issues faced during such configuration and deployment projects and see if support could be provided. A year long observational study of one of these projects was carried. While it was initially assumed that it would be technical issues related to the system’s configuration that would be the primary problems, the study revealed communication issues to be at the heart of a large number of the issues. Online social networks such as Facebook are extremely popular, allowing users to stay in touch with large numbers of distributed people. Private social network sites were applied to projects to see if they could replicate the benefits the sites provide and support project communications. A social network site was created for both a distributed research project and an administrative systems project and their use observed. Statistical data on the use of the sites and qualitative feedback from users is presented to assess the viability of the approach. The experiments showed social network sites to have many benefits when used as a complementary mechanism to traditional channels for project communications. It is clear however, that social network sites cannot solve all the problems projects may encounter. If the use of a site is to be a success it is vital it gains a critical mass of users. The approach taken to the site’s configuration and introduction will be hugely influential in its success. In order to choose the right approach a clear understanding of what the project’s communication needs are and the possible uses of the site is needed. A process of configuration and development with a small group of potential users is recommended to ensure it is as user friendly as possible before going live to a large user base.

This descriptive study examines effective online school library practice. A Delphi panel selected a sample of 10 exemplary sites and helped to create two research tools--taxonomies designed to analyze the features and characteristics of school library Websites. Using the expert-identified sites as a sample, a content analysis was conducted to systematically identify site features and characteristics. Anne Clyde's longitudinal content analysis of school library Websites was used as a baseline to examine trends in practice; in addition, the national guidelines document, Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning, was examined to explore ways in which the traditional mission and roles of school library programs are currently translated online. Results indicated great variation in depth and coverage even among Websites considered exemplary. Sites in the sample are growing more interactive and student-centered, using blogs as supplemental communication strategies. Nevertheless, even these exemplary sites were slow to adopt the advances in technology to meet the learning needs and interests of young adult users. Ideally the study's findings will contribute to understanding of state-of-the-art and will serve to identify trends, as well as serving as a guide to practitioners in planning, developing, and maintaining school library Websites.