The purpose of this study was to ascertain if conditions or combinations of conditions existed within Oklahoma public schools that created inequities in the availability of classroom Internet connections. A stratified random sample of the 471 school districts was used to identify 300 specific schools for the purpose of data analysis. Data was gathered utilizing a database provided by the Oklahoma State Department of Education and a researcher developed questionnaire. The database provided data relating to four independent variables (region, district size, school type, and school size,). The dependent variable, percentage of classrooms connected to the Internet, was obtained by the researcher designed questionnaire. The state database also provided percentage information relating to students who qualify as minorities and qualify for free or reduced lunches. The data was tested using a series of ANOVAs and a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. The findings of the study are as follows: (a) The analysis of variance showed that none of the independent variables had a significant effect upon the percentage of classrooms connected to the Internet; (b) The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient revealed little or no correlation between the percentage of disadvantaged or minority students and the percentage of classroom Internet connections.

Digital Divide in the nowadays society already are an extremely universal noun. It signified the disparity between the different communities to obtain the information equipment, thus created the variance of the ability to obtain information origin. From early telephone, computer, nowadays network and broadband to the future higher order Digital Communication Technology all might include among the information equipment. This article is studying the Digital Divide of Residential Internet Access and of the High-Speed Internet Access in Taiwan, and discusses its causing reason according to empirical analysis. Then think the correlation countermeasure to reduce the Digital Divide.

Zugl.: Zürich, Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2009

Self-building of housing in informal settlements is a common phenomenon in much of the world. Often referred to as slums, squatter areas, or shanty towns, this type of development comes with a variety of social and physical problems. Many lack clean water and other basic amenities and protections. At the same time, informal settlements provide affordable housing: for many residents they are the only alternative to homelessness. Often considered a phenomenon exclusive to the developing world, informal settlements do in fact exist in the United States. The most salient examples are the colonias of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. These are neighborhoods found mostly along the U.S.-Mexico border, in rural counties just outside of border cities, where they developed thanks to a regulatory vacuum that existed prior to 1995. Built in peripheral areas without proper infrastructure, including water, sewer, and paved roads, colonias often have poor living conditions. On the other hand, they have allowed tens of thousands of families to achieve home ownership. This thesis explores the implications of building regulation and infrastructure on the creation of decent housing with limited means. It draws on the example of the colonias as well as other projects from the Americas and Europe. The design proposal centers on a question of bringing self-building to an urban area. It is cheaper in the long term to provide infrastructure up-front to a dense urban development than it is to retrofit it in a sprawling ex-urban colonia. Beyond density, however, architect Renzo Piano has proposed that cities be considered in terms of intensity: the spatial concentration of the conditions necessary for vibrant urban life. This thesis focuses on a former rail yard in Houston's Near Northside, a place where the right infrastructure could support an intensity of self-building and urban regeneration. The proposal is both a physical and conceptual framework for the self-building of an alternative colonia. It suggests a balance between public and private investment and individual and collective effort, creating a model that could promote social justice, support long-term development, and create lasting economic value. / 0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

While the Twentieth Century largely saw the flight of the middle and upper classes to suburban communities, the past twenty-five years have seen a renewed interest in urban living. As the more economically stable classes return to city centers, poorer communities are being displaced. Gentrification, often championed as urban renewal, is promoted by politicians as a social-mixing tactic, but often the infiltration of the wealthy into poor neighborhoods pushes the poor community to the fringes. An extreme case of gentrification can be seen in the juxtaposition of Tower Hamlets, one of the poorest boroughs in London and the City of London, whose square mile is bursting at the seams with financial institutions. With significantly lower property values, Tower Hamlets Council is wary of City expansion eroding away the largely low-income immigrant communities that reside there. Even with relatively lower property values, the prohibitively high cost of housing in the UK, especially in London means living in the city center is almost impossible for even the middle classes, a fact that further illustrates the threat posed by the City to the mostly residential Hamlets. Peabody, one of the most prominent social housing associations in London found that when polled, 30% of their residents listed location of foremost importance above both "security of tenure" and the "right amount of space." 1 Unfortunately, recent political events in the United Kingdom have made it more difficult for the poor to remain in city centers. The recent lowering of the benefits cap by Parliament means that approximately 17,000 low-income families will be forced to move out of inner London.2 In addition, Parliament is also in the midst of changing housing laws to make it more difficult for immigrants to qualify for social housing.3 Given that the residents of housing estates chiefly value location and current policy is making living in the city center difficult for all but the wealthy, how can the poor and middle-class residents of urban communities resist the push of increasing urban property value towards the suburbs? This thesis will explore how architecture and planning can help these communities adapt to the changing economically-driven urban fabric without banishing their poorer residents to the suburbs. / 0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

<div>This PhD thesis is an important development in the theories, methods, and applications of eigenvalue algorithms for structured matrices. Though eigenvalue problems have been well-studied, the class of matrices that admit very fast (near-linear time) algorithms was quite small until very recently. We developed and implemented a generalization of the famous symmetric tridiagonal divide-and-conquer algorithm to a much larger class of rank structured matrices (symmetric hierarchically semisperable, or HSS) that appear frequently in applications. Altogether, this thesis makes valuable contributions to three different major areas of scientific computing: algorithmic development, numerical analysis, and applications. In addition to the previously stated divide-and-conquer algorithm, we generalize to larger classes of eigenvalue problems and provide several key new low-rank update algorithms. A major contribution the analysis of the structured eigenvalue problem. In addition to standard perturbation analysis, we elucidate some subtle and previously under-examined issues in structured matrix eigenvalue problems such as subspace contributions and secular equation conditioning. Finally, several applications are studied.</div>

This research investigated the relationships between potential constraints to students’ access to technological resources and student academic performance. Longitudinal data from 2010 (n=228), 2011 (n=340) and 2012 (n=347) from South African accounting students was used to test the relationships between technological resources access and student academic performance using correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis and factor analysis. Access to the latest software was found to be associated with student academic performance; a ‘digital divide’ between students may influence their academic performance. This research specifically identifies certain constraints potentially associated with a ‘digital divide’ that may influence student performance. / KIM2018

There have been a number of studies concerning the access and usage patterns of mobile phones since the first cellular phone appeared in 1979. With the appearance of the smart phone a recent field of research emerges within media and communication. This study focuses on what role a particular smart phone plays within the users’ communication practices. Combining individuality and mobility with communication, the iPhone changes the users’ way of communication completely. In addition to that, the use of the iPhone comprises self-representational characteristics. The study aims to research what role the user ascribes to the iPhone. A field observation of iPhone users combined with qualitative focus group interviews will present more insight in how the iPhone maintains the users’ interpersonal relationships and fulfils their communication motives. The field observation might bear some general aspects about usage patterns of the iPhone, especially in public spaces. Supplementing the field observation, the focus group interviews will give some information about personal usage patterns and about the iPhone’s status within individual perceptions. The use of smart phones like the iPhone influences the user’s ways of communication in positive as well as in negative ways. A constant access to various networks establishes a permanent availability, which entails major changes in the users’ way of communication and the users’ perception of time and space. In addition to that, the design and look of the gadget is a main appeal for iPhone users. Here the smart phone turns out to be an accessory with which people make statements to their surrounding. These statements can be of different nature. They can be based on image, fashion or design conscious in the user’s perception. This study intends to bring up new topics about the relationship between a technical device and its user

There are two research topics in this thesis. First, we implement a highly efficient Chinese input method. Second, we apply a divide-and-conquer scheme to the speaker diarization problem. The implemented Chinese input method transforms an input first-symbol sequence into a character string (a sentence). This means that a user only needs to input a first Mandarin phonetic symbol per character, which is very efficient compared to the current methods. The implementation is based on a dynamic programming scheme and language models. To reduce time complexity, the vocabulary for the language model consists of 1-, 2-, and 3-character words only. The speaker diarization system consists of segmentation and clustering modules. The divide-and-conquer scheme is essentially implemented in the clustering module. We evaluate the performance of our system using the speaker diarization score defined in the 2003 Rich Transcription Evaluation Plan. Compared to the baseline, our method significantly reduces the processing time without compromising diarization accuracy.

For foreign spouses faced with cultural differences, low autonomy, and low local language proficiency, the internet provides them with means to breaking insulation. Via the internet, foreign spouses can obtain help and increase autonomy. This research aims to discuss 4 perspectives: (1) foreign spouses¡¦ Chinese proficiency, (2) digital divide, (3) digital inequality, and (4) the processes of their digital empowerment. The research points out that many foreign spouses cannot write Chinese characters well. Neither can they understand Chinese phonetic symbols. Therefore, foreign spouses have difficulty keying in long Chinese paragraphs; they mostly read Chinese articles on the Internet. Besides, foreign spouses sacrifice their time, place, and functions of internet use because they put priority on becoming a ¡§good wife, good mother, and good daughter-in-law.¡¨ Due to that awareness, they sacrifice digital access for their family. Most important of all, the digital divide and inequality leads to digital downward spiral. Because they lack computer and internet equipment, they cannot develop the skills needed to use computer. Because digital inequality, their skills deteriorated so that they think they have no need to buy related equipment. Foreign spouses, however, know that if they can use computer and the internet, their autonomy can be increased so that they do not have to count on their husbands for everything. Besides, the importance of the internet for the foreign spouses also influences the decision whether they buy and use the internet. If they think the internet cannot benefit them in their daily life, they would not purchase the Internet.