The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to understand the experiences of older students' use of web-based student services in a community college setting. For the purpose of this study the term "older student" was defined as people born between the years 1943 and 1960. This group of people, often described as the Baby Boomer generation, would not have had access to computer technologies had they gone to college during their adolescent years. Web-based student services was defined as the range of student services which are placed online, allowing students to access information and services without needing to see someone in-person. There were three major reasons for this study: (a) the increase in the development and use of online student services, (b) the increase of older students in higher education, and (c) further need to understand the unique experiences of older students in higher education. The case study design used an interpretive social science philosophical approach. The study was conducted at a large multi-campus community college in a metropolitan area located in the Northwest. A combination of survey, interviews, institutional data, and student-journals were used to answer the following research questions: (a) What is the experience of older students with web-based technology in a community college setting, (b) How do the older students' overall experiences and use of web-based services affect their community college experience, and (c) How might older students' background and experiences with web-based student services inform community college policy and practice? Close examination of data revealed several major themes of older students' experiences with online student services. These themes are: ��� Student Assumptions ��� Self-Motivation ��� Influence of Prior Work Experiences ��� User Preferences ��� How and What Online Services are Used ��� User Suggestions When these themes are taken into consideration with related literature on the digital divide, technology use in student affairs, older student experiences in the community college, and older students' use of technology, this study offers implications for community college leaders and practitioners in the student affairs and technology development. The implications of this study may impact online service development, assessment of computer literacy, program enhancement or development, and technical changes. / Graduation date: 2013

This thesis assesses the speed of adaptation and adoption of computing systems from an adult first-time user perspective in South Africa, with the aim of determining if it could ultimately lead to the reduction of the existing digital gap. As is evident from the social, educational, and economical gap for some observers, the reality of the existence of the digital gap in South Africa is undeniable. Constant non-targeted progress is made toward addressing imbalances, which seem to be more visible as the number of constant and permanent users is visibly increasing. These observed phenomena are mostly noticed amongst urban, educated, younger, middle-class citizens. The forgotten “missing middle” are left to fend for themselves. These are people who are still outside the digital drive the world is experiencing based on their schooling grade, geographical location, income level, and age. They were not in school when computer literacy was introduced, and they were too poor to teach themselves how to use a computer, too remote to observe the digital drive, and too old to learn from their peers. As citizens, their welfare matters, and when assessing the penetration of ICT in the country, their numbers also matter. One cannot ignore their presence and the difficulties and frustration that they experience when coming into contact with a computing system for the first time. The researcher is of the view that the presence of a computing system may not simply translate to the closure of the digital gap. In other words, people may gain access to a computer, but without computing usability skills or Internet connectivity it may not add value to their daily activities. Closing the digital gap in South Africa can be seen as political propaganda, but the reality is, how do we measure and assess it? It comes down to users, and in this particular case, attention is turned to the “missing middle”, here referred to as the adult first-time user. This is simply someone who is over the age of 18 years, lives in a rural community in South Africa, never completed school, and is using a computer for the first time. The researcher used a handheld tablet system as a tool to assess the participants’ adequacy in terms of the rate at which they complete tasks by developing mathematical equations which were placed together within an assessment metric that was later used to determine user proficiency, as well as their adaptation and user experience in order to determine if the participant can later adopt the device and take advantage of it. By so doing, the metric will comprise variables such as the user movement time, task completion success rate, task completion speed, user satisfaction, user reaction time, user completion rate per activity, time-based efficiency, and the assessment of the level of frustration any adult first-time user may experience while interacting with the system for the first time. The term “digital gap” may not be new to the ICT sphere, but no one has taken the step towards assessing it. The digital gap is no longer the absence of computing systems in many communities but rather the presence of inadequate user experience, which has not been properly measured and documented. The user experience metric (UXM) that was developed in this study provided the researcher with the opportunity to reassess the issue of systems adaptation, adoption, and usability by adult first-time users. This research is particularly driven by sound interaction design principles, user adaptation, and usability and user experience / Ph. D. (Information Systems) / School of Computing