Despite growing global awareness and importance of Information Communication Technologies (ICT), little has been done regarding introduction of ICT in rural schools as a new way of creating path for learners and educators to engage in information selection, gathering, sorting and analysis. This study explores the status/ role of ICT rural Setlakgobi schools by examining the needs, and support for school managers, and other senior managers in managing the integration of computers and related resources into teaching and learning activities in their schools. It researches five key problematic areas, namely, understanding context, clarifying purpose, identifying values, setting goals and developing vision. The study amongst other things identifies lack of resources, language barrier, technical know how, and staff development as the main challenges of providing modern technologies to rural school in order to enhance quality of learning and teaching. Hence, the need to fast-track the e-learning by developing South African languages, providing physical and human resources, and support for professional development of educators in ICT. / (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2006

Children who have grown up with the Internet as a dominant form of cultural production bring to their identity development a complex and unique set of expectations and assumptions about identity fluidity and presentation. In addition, these "cyberchildren" are spending much of their social-interaction time in environments populated and controlled by adults, and yet beyond the purview or authority of the adults in their "real" lives. Understanding the nature of their identity development in virtual spaces and its implications for their real-world behaviors offers new opportunities for interventions that more effectively empower children to navigate and negotiate their experiences in relationship with online audiences. The study proposes that Goffman's dramaturgical metaphor can be productively applied to cyberspace, where children are rehearsing their identity performances in backstage, virtual environments; transferring their most salient and valuable identities to middle-stage spaces in real life, where they are performed for their peers and friends; and finally adopting them for presentation in front-stage, public spheres. The work draws on sociological interaction, dramaturgical analysis, information flow theory, and cyberstudies theory to propose a new theoretical framework. Its mixed-methodology approach incorporates a quantitative online survey, including benchmark questions drawn from three national surveys, and open-ended questions analyzed through qualitative methodologies. Taken together, the results confirmed the author's hypotheses that: (1) Cyberchildren have access to adult information and situations; (2) Traditional interventions to protect children in cyberspace are largely ineffective; (3) Cyberchildren maintain distinct online and real-life identities; and (4) Cyberchildren perceive of their virtual identities as valuable and salient.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 37-40).

A growing number of primary schools are acquiring computers, mainly through parent funding. The study concerns the promotion of computer use across the curriculum in primary schools. Teachers need to be trained in the use of computers as a teaching aid in different subjects. A study comparing two periods of training was undertaken. Two model C primary schools, administered by the Department of Education and Culture, with similar profiles of educational computer use, were selected for the purpose. A training course consisting of five sections, where the use of the word processor, spreadsheet and database, both as personal tools and as teaching aids were introduced, was offered. Care was taken to select topics from current syllabi and to demonstrate how these topics could be presented and enhanced by using the computer. The training was presented at school A over a period of 8 months and at school B over a period of 5 weeks. The supporting material and contents of the course were the same for both groups. A comparison between the effectiveness of the two training regimes was made. The researcher's initial perceptions of the teachers' initial low level of computer literacy were confirmed by a questionnaire, responded to by each participant. It would seem that the shorter raining period was more effective in raising the level of computer literacy and that if the training period was longer, the contact time should be increased to maintain support. Neither training period resulted in a significant increase in computer use, either as a personal tool or as a teaching aid. The failure to do so may be ascribed to a number of influences, one of which is the teaching style of individual teachers. Changing the teaching style of an experienced teacher takes time and more effort than was available for either training period.

The problem of this study was to describe and analyze the computer programming abilities and thought processes of five-year-old children using a conventional microcomputer and the Apple LOGO language. This dissertation reports on the behavior of five kindergarten children and the counts they made as they learned to program in LOGO on an Apple XI Plus microcomputer. The five participants were randomly selected from a group of ten five-year-olds who passed a screening test of numeral and capital letter recognition. The sample included three girls and two boys, all of whom were white. The students met individually with the researcher and the computer for about twenty minutes every day during a ten-week period.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a 1:1 iPad initiative on student engagement in the classroom, as perceived by students. The design of this case study consisted of a purposeful sample of six, 5th grade students from a suburban elementary school in North Central Texas who participated in surveys, individual interviews, and focus group discussions. Two research questions guided this study: (1) How do elementary school students perceive they are authentically engaged when using iPads in the classroom? (2) What types of instructional strategies do elementary school students perceive to be most relevant and meaningful? Data collected to answer the research questions was analyzed using thematic analysis, which entailed identifying recurring themes within the data, comparing, coding, combining, and then reporting them. The findings from the research suggested that 1:1 initiatives can foster engaging learning experiences that are meaningful to students and that the iPad provided students a more personalized learning experience which had a positive effect on their engagement. Additional findings disclosed that the type of assignments and schoolwork that students were able to do with the iPad also positively impacted their engagement and interest in the content and their learning. The conclusions reached in this study also supported findings from other studies on 1:1 programs and student engagement.

Many young children appear to take delight in manipulating common elements of their environment, e.g., sticks, stones, and mud. Our ancestors also used these and other elements in order to play, explore,, and eventually create written language. In a print-laden society, young children are budding literates. Within a few years their abilities and skills evolve to the level it has taken the human species thousands of years to reach. Associated with the evolution of written language is related technology. Humans have evolved from cave art and literacy to computer art and literacy. Again, what has taken thousands of years to evolve for the species takes only a few years for today's children. Within the past ten years computers have become common literacy implements in American schools. An understanding of childrens' use of this machine is important to educators in general and educational leaders in particular. The purpose of this study was to investigate kindergarten students' use of a word processor: What developmental sequences related to print literacy reveal themselves as kindergarten children use a word processor? In what ways are these sequences the same or different than those identified by researchers studying young children's use of pencil and paper? What time commitments do children make at each stage of these developmental sequences? How do the physical attributes of the computer environment, screen color for example, influence children's behavior associated with word processing? A review of literature incorporated readings associated with research in human evolution of print literacy, literacy of technology, language and cognition plus recent research on writing and computers. A research design incorporating qualitative methods was created. Six subjects, representing a variety of backgrounds in a kindergarten class of 26 full day students, were observed for 20 weeks. For one hour each day, this kindergarten class attended a writing lab which contained eight learning centers. One of the learning centers consisted of six word processors networked to two printers. In addition to collecting student documents, both in paper and electronic form. subjects' behaviors were observed and recorded. Observational recordings were analyzed, collapsed into manageable data and re-analyzed. Subjects' evolution of writing was similar to children using pencil and paper. In addition, subject's literacy of technology evolved. Each subject displayed individual episodes of development and incorporated less mature behaviors with more mature behaviors as they evolved along their print literacy and literacy of technology continuums. It was observed that subjects intertwined print and technological behaviors and skills as they wrote with a word processor. Time relationships associated with the development of writing and environmental aspects of the word processor center did not appear important. Information Age etiquette evolved as students controlled their writing, a computer system. and worked with others. The inherent publicness of monitors contributed to meta-linguistics, sharing knowledge about technology, and problem solving among students. Young children are capable of writing with and manipulating a word processor. They are also capable of trying to solve problems of written language and computers. Educators will find that young children quickly learn Information Age tool etiquette.

Dissertation submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Master of Technology Degree: Education, Durban Institute of Technology, 2003. / The purpose of this research study was to establish firstly, whether elementary school learners from previously disadvantaged communities do have negative perceptions towards computer technology and if these perceptions exist, to what they may be attributed. Secondly, there is a need to provide research-based approaches to the use of computers in education, particularly in the delivery and support of the curriculum. The international education community considers computer technology as a panacea for solving most of the epistemological and operational problems currently beleaguering the education enterprise. The development of learner perception should not be viewed in isolation but rather in the context of the two environments that the elementary school learner is exposed to; home and classroom. These environments are determined, largely, by socio-economic conditions, societal values, educational ideology and classroom praxis. The above determinants are fundamental in shaping the elementary school learner's perception of the learning process in general and the use of computer technology in the learning process in particular. Since the early 1970s, a myriad of teaching and learning programmes known as computerassisted instruction (CAl) and computer-assisted education (CAE) have been developed. Furthermore, computer technology has been used extensively as a pedagogical tool in a number of numeracy and literacy programmes. As a result of these developments it has become necessary to initiate serious research into Technology Education, in general, and the use of computers in education, in particular. / M

The problem for this study was to enhance the development of higher order thinking skills and improve attitudes toward computers for fifth and sixth grade students. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a Technology Enriched Classroom on student development of higher order thinking skills and student attitudes toward the computer. A sample of 80 sixth grade and 86 fifth grade students was tested using the Ross Test of Higher Cognitive Processes. The Ross Test was selected because of its stated purpose to judge the effectiveness of curricula or instructional methodology designed to teach the higher-order thinking skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation as defined by Bloom. The test consisted of 105 items grouped into seven subsections. In addition, the students were surveyed using the Computer Attitude Questionnaire developed by the Texas Center for Educational Technology. The questionnaire assessed sixty-five questions combined to measure eight attitudes.

The purposes of this study were threefold: (1) to examine the effects of time spent on CAI on student attitudes, (2) to examine the effects of time spent on CAI among ability groups, and (3) to determine whether initial attitudes would be maintained throughout a school year, and if not, determine variables associated with an attitude shift.