This study investigates ICT in Saudi HE as represented by the researcher’s own institution: King Saud University (KSU). Using a naturalistic approach in pursuing the inquiry and making use of mixed methods, the research questions were investigated using surveys and in-depth interviews. A convenient sample of the University’s stakeholders; namely the senior managers, the academic staff and the students were investigated and asked to explain the process of ICT adoption and deployment on the management level; their use and adoption of ICT in their personal and professional activities and elaborate on the ICT adoption process at KSU and compare it to that of other universities. They also related these experiences to the University’s plans and efforts in this regard. The findings indicated a boom in ICT adoption over the course of the recent years. However, this process did not follow a clear strategic plan. Rather, it was based on an administrative decision by the recently appointed KSU management. The rector’s positive attitude and belief in ICT played a role in this process. The study showed that KSU administration values ICT and views it as a means for the University to achieve its aims. The results also showed the increasing use of ICT among the three groups in the study both on personal and professional levels. While these professional purposes may differ between the three groups in this research, results indicate that there is an increasing implementation of ICT in the daily work of all the groups, both in and out of KSU. These uses are also supported by the positive attitudes all the stakeholders hold towards ICT, as the study indicated. The study also revealed the aspiration of both KSU and Higher Education System in the country in general, and the role that ICT is perceived to play in helping them to achieve these aspirations. Results indicated that the current state of ICT in Saudi HE is increasing when compared to that of other universities and countries, especially in terms of hardware implementation. Although it was not possible to achieve specific comparisons between Saudi universities due to lack of data and access, many different comparison points were pointed and elaborated on both nationally and internationally. Finally, the study revealed many ICT enablers in the Saudi HE system, such as the generous financial support provided by the government, the positive attitudes, and the changing role of the university, as well as the technical, administrative and sociocultural barriers facing more ICT integration in Saudi HE, and how KSU dealt with these opportunities and threats. Based on the results, implications for future research were elicited and recommendations for better practice were provided. The urgent need for a clear ICT strategic plan for KSU as well as the other Saudi universities seems inevitable. A need for clear benchmarks within this plan is an important indicator of the need for the institution to evaluate the process. Of importance concern is the fact that these plans need to include all the stakeholders in the planning phase so as to properly conduct the assessment, implementation and evaluation successfully.

The purpose of this thesis was to find out what experiences teachers have from using a class blog in teaching. What are the advantages and disadvantages by the use of blogs in education? I have used qualitative interviews with four teachers in grades 1 to 6 who have worked with a class blog in teaching between one and three years. The study has shown that teachers' experience is that the blog serves as motivation and promotes learning for many different pupils and that, together with other digital tools is more equal. The main benefits that teacher mention is the expanded concept of text that offers multiple forms of expression and the authentic reader, which makes it more real, important and meaningful. Other benefits that come up are that it helps students to see their learning and learn from and with each other. The teachers think that the blog makes the students work, learning and differences visible in a positive way while difficulties become less visible. According to the teachers it creates a sense of belonging. They also feel that it increases the digital literacy, the computer becomes a tool and the blog has together with other ICT-tools for some of the teachers contributed to a different teacher role. One of them says that one advantage is that everything is archived, you can see what you have done earlier and it keeps things in order. The study indicates that the blog promotes pupils with both strong and weak writing skills, as the writing is not dependent on fine motor skills, digital tools make the text easier to write and the ability to adapt to the pupils’ abilities and interests. That’s a big advantage, according to the teachers in the study. Some of the teachers experiences that girls have a strong interest and confidence in the blog, especially when it comes to writing. The teachers find it hard to see disadvantages, but mention the dependence of effective IT support as technology causes trouble and the need for routines in the beginning as it may take some time to learn the tools, yet a teacher says that the blog saves time after a while. They also believe that you need to think in advance about what you publish. The teachers emphasize that the blog is only a tool in the teacher’s hands, which has to be based on a pedagogical idea. / Syftet med denna studie har varit att ta reda på vilka erfarenheter lärare kan ha av klassbloggen i undervisningen. Vilka fördelar och nackdelar ser de med blogg i undervisningen? Jag har använt mig av kvalitativa intervjuer av fyra lärare i skolår 1-6 som har arbetat med klassblogg i undervisningen mellan ett och tre år. Studien har visat att lärarnas erfarenheter är att bloggen fungerar som en motor för eleverna och gynnar lärandet för många olika elever och att den tillsammans med andra digitala hjälpmedel är mer jämställt. De största fördelarna som lärarna nämner är det vidgade textbegreppet som erbjuder flera uttrycksformer och den autentiska mottagaren, som gör att det blir på riktigt, viktigt och meningsfullt. Andra fördelar som kommer fram är att den hjälper eleven att se sitt lärande och lära av och med varandra. Lärarna menar att den synliggör elevernas arbeten, lärande och olikheter på ett positivt sätt, samtidigt som svårigheter blir mindre synliga. Enligt lärarna skapas en känsla av att alla hör till. De menar också att den ger en ökad digital kompetens, att datorn blir ett arbetsredskap och den har hos vissa lärare bidragit till en förändrad lärarroll. En av lärarna menar att en fördel är att allting arkiveras, man ser vad man gjort tidigare och den håller ordning. Studien pekar på att bloggen gynnar både skrivstarka och skrivsvaga elever, då skrivandet inte är lika beroende av finmotorik och digitala hjälpmedel gör texten mer tillgänglig tillsammans med möjligheten att utgå från sina förutsättningar, intressen och behov. Det är en stor fördel, enligt lärare i studien. Det kommer fram att flickor tar plats i arbetet med bloggen, i synnerhet då det gäller skrivandet. Lärarna har svårt att hitta nackdelar, men nämner beroendet av en fungerande IT-support när tekniken strular och att det i början är bra med rutiner eftersom det kan ta lite tid innan redskapen sätter sig. Samtidigt menar en lärare att bloggen spar tid efter ett tag. De menar även att man behöver tänka i förväg på vad man publicerar. Lärarna betonar att bloggen bara är ett verktyg i pedagogens hand och att den behöver bäras av en pedagogisk idé.

In recent years there has been growing enthusiasm among researchers for the promotion of online learning communities designed to support professional learning in preservice teacher education. The primary purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the role of such an online community in supporting student teacher learning during the school placement in a Chinese Normal University, and hence to enrich the understanding of student teachers’ learning experiences in an online ecology. The study’s subjects included a cohort of 42 student teachers enrolled on a four-year preservice teacher education programme, along with two university supervisors at one of China’s teacher-training universities. Primary data were collected from six weeks of online threaded discussions and from semi-structured group interviews. Supplementary data were taken from an end-of-school-placement evaluation and web-tracking logs. Data analysis has been informed and illuminated by the theoretical proposition of communities of practice. The findings of the study indicate that the online learning community is a valuable resource for supporting student teachers both personally and professionally. Findings suggest that online communication not only helps student teachers tackle immediate teaching concerns and technical problems, but, more importantly, provides them with opportunities to reflect collectively, to co-construct new teaching ideas, and to gain professional discourse competence through articulating and negotiating their evolving thoughts on teaching as a profession. In this regard, student teachers are found to be more comfortable with online self-disclosure of their personal and professional encounters and critiquing each other than they are with face-to-face communication. The research also shows that university supervisors experience mixed feelings about the fact that student teachers are more able to take ownership of their learning and therefore become less dependent on supervisor guidance as time wears on. Furthermore, these findings provide evidence suggestive of a possibly reciprocal relationship between Chinese view of learning and the building of online learning communities. Based on the results of the study, I provide recommendations as to how the significance of the school placement can be reinforced in fostering distributed student teachers’ professional growth. The results also contribute to a better understanding of the key factors in the design and implementation of effective online learning communities within preservice teacher education in China. Finally, the analytical approach used in this study provides fresh methodological insight into an alternative means of analysing online postings. It thus contributes both to the theorisation of learning communities in the context of computer-mediated communication, and to the further development of concepts drawn from the communities of practice literature.

Dissertation focuses on issues of ICT skills in relation to the development of hybrid forms of teaching (education), its potential application in developing skills, education and practice. The work focuses mainly on methodological issues and approaches to capacity, information and communication technologies to effectively deploy and use in improving skills of future and current workforce. The main goal of the thesis is based on the results of surveys and analysis of statistical data suggest methodological solutions for qualifying projects respecting the development of the newly defined needs of computer science, or other qualification, taking account of new technologies in ICT. The analytical part is devoted to a comprehensive view on the issue of education in computer science. The classification of roles and professions in computer science is defined, the knowledge domain and analytical conclusions followed with the application of job classification and specified uses. Concepts in project management qualification are analyzed and unified. Surveys of the current situation in the management skills of ICT professionals in the world and the CR are also presented and analyzed. There are identified trends in improving the management skills of projects in connection with the development and promotion of ICT technologies and tools. The application part is devoted to methodological design solutions and builds upon the results of the analysis. There are the major components of the methodology defined and the qualifying phase of the project at the conceptual level designed. The following are classified ICT tools supporting the educational processes in the project management skills. The final part of the doctoral thesis is focused on the evaluation of proposals processed and experience of implementing new approaches and technologies in education in computer science. This section summarizes and evaluates the results of the surveys carried out consecutively evaluated experiences are associated with implementations of qualifying projects using ICT technologies.

La réalisation des objectifs d’Éducation pour tous en Haïti requiert impérativement, entre autres, une campagne massive et accélérée de formation d’enseignants - formation à la fois initiale et en cours d’emploi. Malheureusement, les structures actuelles sont loin d’être en mesure de répondre à cette demande. Il faudra donc recourir à d’autres modalités de formation, particulièrement celles utilisant les TIC (technologies de l’information et de la communication). Cependant, dans ce domaine, il est fort tentant de continuer à copier ce qui se fait en France, au Canada ou aux États-Unis, et d’allonger ainsi la liste d’échecs dus à une adaptation déficiente ou inexistante. Dans un souci de maximiser les chances de succès, il est important d’examiner l’adéquation des stratégies adoptées au contexte et à l’apprenant haïtiens. Cette recherche étudie les caractéristiques des enseignants haïtiens des deux premiers cycles de l’enseignement fondamental (primaire) en tant qu’apprenants, caractéristiques susceptibles de constituer des barrières ou des facteurs facilitants internes à une intégration efficace des TIC dans leur formation. Dans une première phase quantitative, une enquête a été administrée en 2009-2010 à 176 enseignants. L’analyse des données recueillies a permis de faire ressortir trois tendances fortes : une attitude positive par rapport aux innovations et aux TIC, des sources intrinsèques de motivation et une forte distance hiérarchique ; il faut aussi signaler deux autres résultats importants : le peu de familiarité avec l’ordinateur et l’adoption massive du cellulaire ; les réponses étaient plus partagées au niveau de la conception de l’enseignement et de l’apprentissage et de la dimension individualisme-collectivisme. Une analyse factorielle a fait émerger quatre facteurs : la capacité d’utiliser les TIC, le désir de changement, la conception du rôle du formateur et la distance hiérarchique. Suite à cette enquête, une phase qualitative comportant sept entrevues individuelles avec des spécialistes de la formation des enseignants en Haïti et trois groupes de discussion avec des enseignants du fondamental a été effectuée à la fin de 2010. Cette phase avait pour but d’enrichir, de compléter, d’expliquer, de confirmer et d’illustrer les résultats quantitatifs. Malgré leur regard plus sévère, les spécialistes en formation des enseignants ont largement contribué à l’interprétation des résultats, particulièrement ceux concernant l’attitude par rapport aux innovations et aux TIC, la dimension individualisme-collectivisme et la conception de l’enseignement et de l’apprentissage. Quant aux participants aux groupes de discussion, ils ont globalement appuyé les résultats de la phase quantitative, mais en expliquant et en nuançant certains aspects. Ils ont particulièrement renforcé l’importance de deux facteurs qui ne figuraient pas dans la liste initiale et qui ont émergé de l’analyse factorielle : le désir de changement et la conception du rôle du formateur. Ils ont également apporté des éclaircissements fort pertinents sur la distance hiérarchique. . / The achievement of Education for All objectives in Haiti imperatively requires, among other things, a massive and intensive teacher training campaign - both initial and in-service training. Unfortunately, the existing training structures are far from being able to meet this demand. It will therefore be necessary to consider other training strategies, particularly those using ICTs (Information and Communications Technologies). It is, however, very tempting, in this area, to copy what is being carried out in France, Canada and the United States, and thereby lengthen the list of failures due to insufficient or inexistent adaptation. In order to maximize the chances of success, it is important to study the appropriateness of adopted strategies for the Haitian context and learners. This research studies relevant characteristics of Haitian teachers of the first two cycles of fundamental school (primary school) as learners, characteristics that may constitute internal barriers or enablers to an effective integration of ICTs in their training. In a first quantitative phase, a survey was administered to 176 teachers in 2009-2010. The data analysis revealed three high tendencies: a positive attitude towards innovation and ICTs, intrinsic sources of motivation, and a high power distance; two other important results are worth mentioning: the low level of familiarity with computers and the massive adoption of cellular phones; the answers about conception of teaching and learning, and the individualism-collectivism dimension were more balanced. A factor analysis identified four factors: the capacity to use ICTs, the desire for change, the conception of the trainer’s role, and power distance. The survey was followed, at the end of 2010, by a qualitative phase consisting of seven interviews with teacher training experts in Haiti and three focus groups with fundamental school teachers. The purpose of this phase was to enrich, complete, explain, and illustrate the quantitative results. Despite their more severe point of view, the teacher training experts largely contributed to the interpretation of the results, particularly those concerning attitude towards innovations and ICTs, individualism-collectivism dimension, and conception of teaching and learning. The focus groups globally endorsed the quantitative results, with some explanations and nuances. Particularly, they stressed the importance of two factors that were not on the initial list and that emerged from the factor analysis: the desire of change and the conception of the trainer’s role. They also brought up relevant points that helped shed light on power distance.

La réalisation des objectifs d’Éducation pour tous en Haïti requiert impérativement, entre autres, une campagne massive et accélérée de formation d’enseignants - formation à la fois initiale et en cours d’emploi. Malheureusement, les structures actuelles sont loin d’être en mesure de répondre à cette demande. Il faudra donc recourir à d’autres modalités de formation, particulièrement celles utilisant les TIC (technologies de l’information et de la communication). Cependant, dans ce domaine, il est fort tentant de continuer à copier ce qui se fait en France, au Canada ou aux États-Unis, et d’allonger ainsi la liste d’échecs dus à une adaptation déficiente ou inexistante. Dans un souci de maximiser les chances de succès, il est important d’examiner l’adéquation des stratégies adoptées au contexte et à l’apprenant haïtiens. Cette recherche étudie les caractéristiques des enseignants haïtiens des deux premiers cycles de l’enseignement fondamental (primaire) en tant qu’apprenants, caractéristiques susceptibles de constituer des barrières ou des facteurs facilitants internes à une intégration efficace des TIC dans leur formation. Dans une première phase quantitative, une enquête a été administrée en 2009-2010 à 176 enseignants. L’analyse des données recueillies a permis de faire ressortir trois tendances fortes : une attitude positive par rapport aux innovations et aux TIC, des sources intrinsèques de motivation et une forte distance hiérarchique ; il faut aussi signaler deux autres résultats importants : le peu de familiarité avec l’ordinateur et l’adoption massive du cellulaire ; les réponses étaient plus partagées au niveau de la conception de l’enseignement et de l’apprentissage et de la dimension individualisme-collectivisme. Une analyse factorielle a fait émerger quatre facteurs : la capacité d’utiliser les TIC, le désir de changement, la conception du rôle du formateur et la distance hiérarchique. Suite à cette enquête, une phase qualitative comportant sept entrevues individuelles avec des spécialistes de la formation des enseignants en Haïti et trois groupes de discussion avec des enseignants du fondamental a été effectuée à la fin de 2010. Cette phase avait pour but d’enrichir, de compléter, d’expliquer, de confirmer et d’illustrer les résultats quantitatifs. Malgré leur regard plus sévère, les spécialistes en formation des enseignants ont largement contribué à l’interprétation des résultats, particulièrement ceux concernant l’attitude par rapport aux innovations et aux TIC, la dimension individualisme-collectivisme et la conception de l’enseignement et de l’apprentissage. Quant aux participants aux groupes de discussion, ils ont globalement appuyé les résultats de la phase quantitative, mais en expliquant et en nuançant certains aspects. Ils ont particulièrement renforcé l’importance de deux facteurs qui ne figuraient pas dans la liste initiale et qui ont émergé de l’analyse factorielle : le désir de changement et la conception du rôle du formateur. Ils ont également apporté des éclaircissements fort pertinents sur la distance hiérarchique. . / The achievement of Education for All objectives in Haiti imperatively requires, among other things, a massive and intensive teacher training campaign - both initial and in-service training. Unfortunately, the existing training structures are far from being able to meet this demand. It will therefore be necessary to consider other training strategies, particularly those using ICTs (Information and Communications Technologies). It is, however, very tempting, in this area, to copy what is being carried out in France, Canada and the United States, and thereby lengthen the list of failures due to insufficient or inexistent adaptation. In order to maximize the chances of success, it is important to study the appropriateness of adopted strategies for the Haitian context and learners. This research studies relevant characteristics of Haitian teachers of the first two cycles of fundamental school (primary school) as learners, characteristics that may constitute internal barriers or enablers to an effective integration of ICTs in their training. In a first quantitative phase, a survey was administered to 176 teachers in 2009-2010. The data analysis revealed three high tendencies: a positive attitude towards innovation and ICTs, intrinsic sources of motivation, and a high power distance; two other important results are worth mentioning: the low level of familiarity with computers and the massive adoption of cellular phones; the answers about conception of teaching and learning, and the individualism-collectivism dimension were more balanced. A factor analysis identified four factors: the capacity to use ICTs, the desire for change, the conception of the trainer’s role, and power distance. The survey was followed, at the end of 2010, by a qualitative phase consisting of seven interviews with teacher training experts in Haiti and three focus groups with fundamental school teachers. The purpose of this phase was to enrich, complete, explain, and illustrate the quantitative results. Despite their more severe point of view, the teacher training experts largely contributed to the interpretation of the results, particularly those concerning attitude towards innovations and ICTs, individualism-collectivism dimension, and conception of teaching and learning. The focus groups globally endorsed the quantitative results, with some explanations and nuances. Particularly, they stressed the importance of two factors that were not on the initial list and that emerged from the factor analysis: the desire of change and the conception of the trainer’s role. They also brought up relevant points that helped shed light on power distance.

A partir de 1948 la société palestinienne est déstabilisée suite à la guerre qui voit la perte de la Palestine historique. La grande majorité des Palestiniens se retrouve dispersée dans les pays de la région et au-delà de la Méditerranée. Aussi l'élite ancienne construite à partir de fondements religieux, familiaux ou de richesses foncières se retrouve elle aussi expulsée de ses terres. Elle perd donc ses positions de privilèges, désemparée et désorientée, elle ne reviendra plus jamais au devant de la scène nationale palestinienne. Ce sont les hommes qui dirigeront la lutte pour la récupération de la Palestine de 1948, ensuite et à partir de 1967 contre l'occupation de la Cisjordanie et de la bande de Gaza (partie de la Palestine historique) d'abord sous forme de lutte armée ensuite par la diplomatie et la politique de négociations, qui deviennent les nouvelles figures sur la scène politique palestinienne. Ils sont originaires non de l'ancienne bourgeoisie religieuse et familiale mais de la classe moyenne des villes et des zones rurales qui vont recruter dans les camps de réfugiés les futurs combattants. Ce sont les nouveaux dirigeants. C'est un processus qui a commencé dès la moitié des années 1960 pour se consolider avec la création de partis et mouvements palestiniens opérant dans les divers pays d'accueil de la région. Cette nouvelle élite se conforme aux changements et aléas de la diplomatie internationale et d'un rapport de force inégal face à Israël tout au long du conflit israélo-palestinien. Pour comprendre l'évolution des élites palestiniennes il fallait donc adopter l'approche historique des événements et faits marquants touchant le peuple palestinien depuis 1948 jusqu'à l'après-Oslo (1993) ; vingt ans d'Autorité Nationale Palestinienne caractérisée par une souveraineté limitée aux principales villes de la Cisjordanie et de la bande de Gaza, au contraire de ce qu'avaient stipulé les Accords de 1993 : ceux-ci devaient progresser vers le statut définitif des Territoires occupés en 1967. C'est dans ces territoires occupés depuis 1967, en Cisjordanie et dans la bande de Gaza, que se situe donc notre terrain de recherche. À partir de 1993 les dirigeants rapatriés de l'exil formant les membres dirigeants de l'Autorité nationale, vont favoriser les initiatives de palestiniens, en particulier, les figures proéminentes des villes, dans la création d'établissements universitaires. Ceci est entrepris non seulement pour répondre aux besoins d'éducation d'une population jeune dans un acte de résilience face à l'occupation, mais aussi pour répondre aux exigences du projet de construction des institutions du futur Etat à l'intérieur des Territoires de 1967. De nouvelles compétences, de nouveaux savoir-faire devenaient nécessaires dans cette nouvelle situation du post-Oslo où, en parallèle à la lutte politique, l'enseignement supérieur devenait un enjeu vital pour l'existence de la société palestinienne dont l'ambition est d'avoir une place à part entière parmi les nations modernes du monde. D'autres figures émergeront à partir de ces universités pour former une nouvelle et différente élite qui gouvernera dans un contexte de règles démocratiques où le pouvoir ne sera pas exclusivement dans la main de quelques dirigeants. L'OLP, dès 1990, va créer une Université pour tous, l'Université Ouverte Al-Quds (l'UOQ), se basant sur le mode ouvert et à distance. C'était un choix devenu urgent pour surmonter les difficultés et les entraves qu'imposait l'occupation. L'UOQ connaîtra un grand succès comme en témoigne le nombre grossissant de ses inscrits dans un contexte de tension. Plus tard et malgré son offre limitée dans les disciplines d'études, elle va attirer les jeunes à la recherche d'un métier, les adultes pour poursuivre des études inachevées, les femmes pour la proximité de ses centres d'études. / Starting from 1948 the Palestinian society is destabilized by the war which saw the loss of historic Palestine. The vast majority of Palestinians are scattered in the countries of the region and beyond the Mediterranean. The old elite originating from religious, family or land ownership backgrounds lost also all its possessions and, consequently, all its influential positions. Helpless and disoriented, this elite will never return to the forefront of the Palestinian national scene. It is the men who lead the struggle for the recovery of Palestine of 1948, and then, from 1967 onwards, against the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (part of historic Palestine), first in an armed struggle then through diplomacy and political negotiations, who become the new figures of the Palestinian political scene under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the PLO. They come from outside the well-known religious families and the Palestinian bourgeoisie, but rather from the middle class of towns or from rural areas who will recruit in the refugee camps the future fighters. These are the new leaders. It is a process that began in the mid-1960s and was progressively consolidated through the creation of Palestinian parties and movements operating in various host countries in the region. This new elite adapts itself to the changes and vagaries of international diplomacy and to an imbalance of power against Israel throughout the years of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In order to understand the process of the forming of Palestinian elites it was necessary to adopt the approach of historical events and facts related to the Palestinian people since 1948 until the post-Oslo (1993). The last twenty years saw a Palestinian National Authority characterized by sovereignty limited to the main cities of the West Bank and Gaza strip, contrary to what had been stipulated in the Oslo Agreements of 1993 : these were to lead to a final settlement concerning the status of the Territories occupied in 1967. The focus of our research is therefore the society in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Starting from 1993, the leaders returning from exile and who formed the ruling members of the National Authority supported the initiatives of Palestinians, in particular, the prominent figures of the cities, in the creation and development of academic establishments and universities as a way not only to meet with the need of education of the young in a resiliency act to face occupation, but also to respond to the demands of building the future State institutions inside the 1967 lines. New skills, new competences were required in this new phase of the post-Oslo evolution where, along the political struggle, higher education became vital to the existence of the Palestinian society who ambitions to have a full-fledged position among the modern states of the world. Other new figures will arise from these universities to form a new, different elite in a context of democracy rules where power will not be exclusively in the hands of a few rulers. The PLO in 1990, had created a University for all, the al-Quds Open University (QOU), based on the mode of open and distance learning. This was a choice made urgent by the restrictions and the obstacles imposed by the occupying forces. QOU became particularly attractive as evidenced by the large numbers of its registered students and as the situation grew more tense. Later on and despite its limited offer of study disciplines it drew students needing to secure job, adults wanting to pursue unfinished studies, women who found it easy to access the University study centers.