At the heart of Project Management are time, cost and performance by utilizing the available resources. When analysing the Global Competitiveness index for 2012-2013 it becomes clear that in South Africa labour efficiency is far below what it should be, ranked 113th out of 144. In the same report Business Sophistication is ranked 38th out of 144. It becomes clear that performance, time and cost at the heart of Project Management are hampered by the low labour efficiency. The adoption of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the Construction Project Management Environment will raise productivity and will increase the quality and speed of work, financial controls, communication, and access to common data. The effect will be improved communication, an increase in the speed of data transmission, cost savings and fewer occurrences in miscommunication. The study has been done to set a framework of how ITC can be managed and implemented in the South African Construction Project Management Environment. These enablers and disablers of ICT in Construction Project Management should be determined. The current rate of ICT adoption is verified and the future trends in ICT are researched, characteristics common to quality information should also be verified. The study determined that the future developments in ITC will be profound and if applied correctly, Project Management through the means of communication will be affected positively. In the empirical study the characteristics of quality information, the disablers and also the enablers were investigated taking into account the current rate of ICT adoption in the South African Construction Management Environment. The framework used in the study proposed and confirmed how ITC can be managed and implemented in the South African Construction Project Management Environment. It is set out in the following steps: Firstly: By determining the common characteristics of quality information, namely accuracy, completeness, consistency, uniqueness, and timeliness. The implementation of ITC in the Construction Project Management Environment can be controlled. Secondly: Disablers of ICT adoption in project management exist, namely economic factors (reduction in employment, rising cost, and limited trade), social factors (digital divide, security and lack of education), and other factors (legal, environmental and cognitive). These factors should be managed. Thirdly: Enablers of ICT adoption in project management exist, namely relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, trial ability and observe ability. These enablers must be focused on and exploited where possible. Fourthly: Determine the current rate of ICT adoption in Construction Project Management. This was done and it is clear that the digital divide has been crossed by South African Project Managers and that they will embrace future developments in ICT in general. Finally: Future trends in ICT for the next five to ten years pertaining to Project Management should be analysed and new trends with possible advantages for Project Management must be investigated on a constant basis to see what will be advantageous. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

At the heart of Project Management are time, cost and performance by utilizing the available resources. When analysing the Global Competitiveness index for 2012-2013 it becomes clear that in South Africa labour efficiency is far below what it should be, ranked 113th out of 144. In the same report Business Sophistication is ranked 38th out of 144. It becomes clear that performance, time and cost at the heart of Project Management are hampered by the low labour efficiency. The adoption of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the Construction Project Management Environment will raise productivity and will increase the quality and speed of work, financial controls, communication, and access to common data. The effect will be improved communication, an increase in the speed of data transmission, cost savings and fewer occurrences in miscommunication. The study has been done to set a framework of how ITC can be managed and implemented in the South African Construction Project Management Environment. These enablers and disablers of ICT in Construction Project Management should be determined. The current rate of ICT adoption is verified and the future trends in ICT are researched, characteristics common to quality information should also be verified. The study determined that the future developments in ITC will be profound and if applied correctly, Project Management through the means of communication will be affected positively. In the empirical study the characteristics of quality information, the disablers and also the enablers were investigated taking into account the current rate of ICT adoption in the South African Construction Management Environment. The framework used in the study proposed and confirmed how ITC can be managed and implemented in the South African Construction Project Management Environment. It is set out in the following steps: Firstly: By determining the common characteristics of quality information, namely accuracy, completeness, consistency, uniqueness, and timeliness. The implementation of ITC in the Construction Project Management Environment can be controlled. Secondly: Disablers of ICT adoption in project management exist, namely economic factors (reduction in employment, rising cost, and limited trade), social factors (digital divide, security and lack of education), and other factors (legal, environmental and cognitive). These factors should be managed. Thirdly: Enablers of ICT adoption in project management exist, namely relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, trial ability and observe ability. These enablers must be focused on and exploited where possible. Fourthly: Determine the current rate of ICT adoption in Construction Project Management. This was done and it is clear that the digital divide has been crossed by South African Project Managers and that they will embrace future developments in ICT in general. Finally: Future trends in ICT for the next five to ten years pertaining to Project Management should be analysed and new trends with possible advantages for Project Management must be investigated on a constant basis to see what will be advantageous. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Vi är två högskolestudenter som studerar med inriktning mot grundskolans årskurs 4-6. Vi är intresserade av ny teknik och dess påverkan på elever och lärare inom ämnet matematik.Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka om användning av IKT har effekt på matematikundervisningen och hur det påverkar elevernas lärande i ämnet. I denna uppsats genomförs en studie av relevant litteratur. Den-na studie inriktar sig mot årskurs 4-9 i ämnet matematik och IKT-användning i detta ämne.Resultatet visar att eleverna blir mer aktiva i sin inlärning med hjälp av IKT-verktyg. Eleverna visar på bete-endeförändringar i form av att de blir bättre förberedda för inlärning och att de blir mer engagerade i sin utbildningsprocess. IKT-verktyg i matematikklassrummet ger eleverna möjligheter att samarbeta med var-andra. Ett flertal studier visar att elever med datorbaserad undervisning uppvisar högre kunskapsnivå på tes-ter, än elever med traditionell undervisning. IKT-undervisning ger unika fördelar och bättre provresultat för elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter. IKT-verktyg kan med fördel inkluderas i prov. Med olika medieverktyg, som exempelvis GeoGebra, kan eleverna se och experimentera med olika matematiska koncept och de kan nå en djupare förståelse än vid användning av exempelvis läroböcker. Inspelning av filmer ger möjlighet till att aktivt utveckla matematikundervisningen och introducera nya begrepp då ljud och bild ger eleverna möj-lighet att förklara hur de tänker

To compete in the global market, organisations have to ensure that their production is synchronised with their other business activities. To achieve this, companies deploy a variety of solutions known as Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). These systems provide the bridge between control and business systems and are used by a variety of people across many business functions. Typical users range from production and maintenance personnel to engineers, finance and management. Sectors within the manufacturing industry have their own definitions of MES and these are based on their functional requirements and by the offerings of vendors in that sector. Thus, people differ in their understanding and definition of MES. To ensure common understanding of what functionalities or modules constitute MES, the Manufacturing Execution Systems Association (MESA) has defined MES to cover the following eleven areas: Resource Allocation and Status Operations/Detail Scheduling Dispatching Production Units Document Control Data Collection/Acquisition Labour Management Quality Management Process Management Maintenance Management Product Tracking and Genealogy Performance Analysis On examining the Manufacturing Execution Systems literature, it was realised that functionalities and definitions exist but a standard approach and implementation methodology is lacking. Thus, a framework was developed based on a literature study as well as from experience within the MES environment. To ensure that the framework meets the needs of organisations, two questionnaires were developed and sent to people from various functions within large South African companies (and across divisions). The results of the empirical study showed that for large organisations, i.e. organisations with over 200 employees and an annual turnover in excess of R 40 million, some form of manufacturing execution systems were used in all the companies surveyed. The most common functionality deployed was Data Collection1Acquisition and the payback on these systems was greater than two years. The respondents highlighted that MES governance and an overall company wide strategy for MES implementation was non-existent or not enforced across the group of companies. The respondents also indicated that the implementation was time consuming and that the projects usually exceeded the allocated budget and/or were late. The respondents were not unanimous on who was accountable for MES within the organisation and a quarter felt that this was unclear within the organisation. When asked about the process that was followed in the selection of a vendor and solution, the majority felt that the process was not well defined. However, respondents noted that change management is used on all major projects and the outcome is generally successful. All the companies outsource either some or all of their IT services and the relationship with the vendor seems successful, as the rating received for MES support was very good. The benefits of implementing Manufacturing Execution Systems are also being realised by those companies that responded to the questionnaires. The overall impression is that over 75% of the respondents feel positive about the benefits and state that the benefits are realised. The only major shortcoming is that information is not being shared across business units and sites as half of the respondents felt that this was not happening in their companies. The proposed MES Engagement and Implementation Framework that was tested with the empirical study was subsequently updated. The framework suggests that all MES implementations should begin with a review of the business and ICT strategy as these would assist when defining the business requirements and the criteria for the selection of the technology, vendor, and solution The business requirements should be ascertained and a realistic business case should be developed. The project team should re-confirm the requirements once a vendor is selected, and, with the necessary change management, implement a portion of the solution as a pilot project. Once successful, then only should the entire solution be rolled out. Another parallel process should consider the outsourcing for the support phase. The entire process of implementing MES is cyclical as new requirements, additional functionality, and benefits tracking results in new projects. In conclusion adopting this framework would result in better implementation and ensure that the benefits are realised for all MES projects and that the solution is adequately supported after implementation. A model for the implementation has also been proposed and it should be developed and tested further to guide MES implementation. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

<p><font size="3"> <p>The development of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) in recent decades represents a material foundation for a networked society and the emergence of new economies (Knowledge Society) and is now directly affecting individuals and whole societies. ICT is now an indisputable component of addressing the major issues of equity, sustainability and global competitiveness. Being still in its early developmental phase in many developing countries (such as South Africa), Knowledge Society requires profoundly new ways of thinking, working and living, which includes building of new capacities for the entire nation. These capacities are inter alia inevitably associated with the use of ICT and are often referred to as e-skills. These skills broadly described as the ability to develop and use ICT to adequately participate in an environment increasingly dominated by access to electronically enabled information and a well-developed ability to synthesise this into effective and relevant knowledge.&nbsp / <font size="3">In order to address a considerable deficiency in e-skills (estimated shortage of 70000 e-skilled people), the South African government through the Department of Communication has established the e-Skills Institute (e-SI) with the mandate to concentrate on the development of adequate skills to allow its citizens to improve their capacities to use all forms of ICT at work, in their education, in their personal lives and in their governance. In this regard, the e-SI is also responsible for creating appropriate policies which should be linked to other relevant national (e.g. Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF), 2009 &ndash / 2014) and international (e.g. UN Millennium Development Goals - MDGs) developmental strategies. However, while participating in the development of the current national e-skills policy (the National e-Skills Plan of Action &ndash / NeSPA</font><font size="1">1</font><font size="3">), the author realised that there were not readily available guidelines or frameworks that could advise policy development in this area. It seems that much space in the policy development is left to the policy-makers own values, experience, expertise, judgement, the influence of lobbyists and pressure groups, pragmatism, or based on the resources available, than on evidence. Thus, this study set the following objectives:</font><font size="3"> <p> To understand the theoretical and contextual background of policy-making / </p> <p> <p> To explore existing policy-making frameworks that might be relevant to e-skills policy-making / </p> <p> To identify and classify e-skills related elements obtained from pertinent literature / </p> <p> To verify these policy-making elements by interviewing experienced policy-makers in the fields of ICT and e-skills / </p> <p> To suggest a framework for e-skills policy-making in the South African developmental context / and</p> <p> To explain the use of the elements within the proposed e-skills policy-making framework.</p> </p> <p>These objectives were achieved by reviewing the pertinent literature, which led to the construction of the conceptual model for e-skills policy-making in South Africa. This model consists of eight elements: (i) Context-related awareness, (ii) Collaborative e-skills ecology, (iii) Excellence education for all, (iv) Futures of ICT capabilities and knowledge infrastructure, (v) Research and development, (vi) Cost and affordability, (vii) E-inclusion and (viii) Monitoring and evaluation. This model was subsequently empirically tested using the Interpretive hermeneutic research approach by interviewing a number of policy-makers in the fields of e-skills or broader field of ICT policy-making. The empirical findings confirmed validity of the above e-skills policy-making elements but also elicited two new elements: (ix) Integration and systemic approach and (x) Aggregation. Consequently, these elements were assembled together into a framework for e-skills policy-making in South Africa. In order to make the proposed e-skills policy-making framework operational, the next step of this study was to relate this framework to the policy-making processes. This was done by positioning elements of e-skills policy-making framework within the EU &quot / Policy making 3.0&quot / process model. The main contribution of this study is seen in the fact that it brings a novel e-skills policy-making framework particularly design for the South African context but keeping in mind that it can possibly be used in other similar developing countries. Theoretically, this study has added to the academic understanding of significance of certain concepts for e-skills policy-making derived from the pertinent literature but&nbsp / also those identified empirically by this research. Now this study can be used for a practical implementation and also as a base for further academic research. This study also has some limitations mainly seen through a fairly small research sample caused by absence or unavailability of experienced policy-makers. However, it is believed that this limitation did not limit validity of results and the practical and academic contribution of this study.</p> </font></p> </font></p>

<p><font size="3"> <p>The development of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) in recent decades represents a material foundation for a networked society and the emergence of new economies (Knowledge Society) and is now directly affecting individuals and whole societies. ICT is now an indisputable component of addressing the major issues of equity, sustainability and global competitiveness. Being still in its early developmental phase in many developing countries (such as South Africa), Knowledge Society requires profoundly new ways of thinking, working and living, which includes building of new capacities for the entire nation. These capacities are inter alia inevitably associated with the use of ICT and are often referred to as e-skills. These skills broadly described as the ability to develop and use ICT to adequately participate in an environment increasingly dominated by access to electronically enabled information and a well-developed ability to synthesise this into effective and relevant knowledge.&nbsp / <font size="3">In order to address a considerable deficiency in e-skills (estimated shortage of 70000 e-skilled people), the South African government through the Department of Communication has established the e-Skills Institute (e-SI) with the mandate to concentrate on the development of adequate skills to allow its citizens to improve their capacities to use all forms of ICT at work, in their education, in their personal lives and in their governance. In this regard, the e-SI is also responsible for creating appropriate policies which should be linked to other relevant national (e.g. Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF), 2009 &ndash / 2014) and international (e.g. UN Millennium Development Goals - MDGs) developmental strategies. However, while participating in the development of the current national e-skills policy (the National e-Skills Plan of Action &ndash / NeSPA</font><font size="1">1</font><font size="3">), the author realised that there were not readily available guidelines or frameworks that could advise policy development in this area. It seems that much space in the policy development is left to the policy-makers own values, experience, expertise, judgement, the influence of lobbyists and pressure groups, pragmatism, or based on the resources available, than on evidence. Thus, this study set the following objectives:</font><font size="3"> <p> To understand the theoretical and contextual background of policy-making / </p> <p> <p> To explore existing policy-making frameworks that might be relevant to e-skills policy-making / </p> <p> To identify and classify e-skills related elements obtained from pertinent literature / </p> <p> To verify these policy-making elements by interviewing experienced policy-makers in the fields of ICT and e-skills / </p> <p> To suggest a framework for e-skills policy-making in the South African developmental context / and</p> <p> To explain the use of the elements within the proposed e-skills policy-making framework.</p> </p> <p>These objectives were achieved by reviewing the pertinent literature, which led to the construction of the conceptual model for e-skills policy-making in South Africa. This model consists of eight elements: (i) Context-related awareness, (ii) Collaborative e-skills ecology, (iii) Excellence education for all, (iv) Futures of ICT capabilities and knowledge infrastructure, (v) Research and development, (vi) Cost and affordability, (vii) E-inclusion and (viii) Monitoring and evaluation. This model was subsequently empirically tested using the Interpretive hermeneutic research approach by interviewing a number of policy-makers in the fields of e-skills or broader field of ICT policy-making. The empirical findings confirmed validity of the above e-skills policy-making elements but also elicited two new elements: (ix) Integration and systemic approach and (x) Aggregation. Consequently, these elements were assembled together into a framework for e-skills policy-making in South Africa. In order to make the proposed e-skills policy-making framework operational, the next step of this study was to relate this framework to the policy-making processes. This was done by positioning elements of e-skills policy-making framework within the EU &quot / Policy making 3.0&quot / process model. The main contribution of this study is seen in the fact that it brings a novel e-skills policy-making framework particularly design for the South African context but keeping in mind that it can possibly be used in other similar developing countries. Theoretically, this study has added to the academic understanding of significance of certain concepts for e-skills policy-making derived from the pertinent literature but&nbsp / also those identified empirically by this research. Now this study can be used for a practical implementation and also as a base for further academic research. This study also has some limitations mainly seen through a fairly small research sample caused by absence or unavailability of experienced policy-makers. However, it is believed that this limitation did not limit validity of results and the practical and academic contribution of this study.</p> </font></p> </font></p>

Our study has explored how university students at the Technical University of Mombasa, TUM, in Kenya consume news. The aim of the research has been to get a snapshot picture of what the consumption look like in a time and context when the development of Internet Communication Technology, ICT, has increased rapidly in a short period of time. Our empiric data has been collected through three different methods. First we approached the area of the Technical University of Mombasa with an ethnographic method. Then we went on with an in-depth interview with one of our key informants before handing out a survey to collect quantitative data to analyse. Through theoretical framework rooted in the theories of Digital divide and New media we interpreted our data to be able to answer our research questions. The results show that the use of the smartphone is widely spread in order to consume news among students of TUM. Money is still a big obstacle for the majority of the students in our population in how they can access news through technical devices. The gap between those who can afford and those who fight with financial issues is still large. Our study confirms that the gap in the digital divide is still big but we could read signs telling us that the gap maybe is about to shrink.

In recent years, the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in education has become a widely discussed issue. This paper starts with a brief examination of the relationship of political changes to the rapid educational reforms in recent years, including the school-level implementation of ICT. Specifically, the implementation of ICT in Hong Kong primary schools is investigated. Primary data are collected from school heads and teachers while secondary data are collected from the scholarly literature. In addition, supplementary data were collected for comparison from several areas in the UK. A number of research questions are proposed for the study, including the potential benefits and shortcomings of ICT in education, the difficulties of ICT implementation, and the relative cost effectiveness of ICT. Quantitative and qualitative methods emerged from the different research paradigms of positivism and interpretivism. Both are discussed in the research design chapter. A mixed-method approach was selected for the entire research project. Under this approach, quantitative data were collected through survey techniques and qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviewing. These two data collection processes were undertaken independently. The design and application of data collection for both categories of data are discussed at length. Eventually, 681 questionnaires and 17 interviews were analysed. The findings were consolidated and triangulated when possible, and are discussed in the concluding chapter. Throughout the study, responses to several important issues, including workload, time, professional development and school organisation, have been elicited from the participants. Finally, some recommendations are made that attempt to optimise the use of ICT in education. Further research areas are also proposed. In sum, the research suggests that ICT is a 2-sided tool. On one hand, ICT can provide numerous benefits to teaching and learning. On the other hand, stakeholders must be aware of its potential negative side effects. Moreover, ICT should be treated as only one of many instructional media, and it should be used carefully. Over-reliance on ICT should be avoided.

The Research has developed protocols for effective adoption of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) for Building Project Management by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Indian construction industry. Project Managers are required to facilitate the integration of work of all the agencies and project team organizations are geographically separated beyond national boundaries or in context of large countries like India, within the national boundaries. In doing so, there is a need to make better use of information and knowledge generated in all stages of development. The key to project information management is the information flow associated with inter-organizational communication and the effectiveness of the project manager to communicate with and feedback to the rest of the project team throughout the project life cycle. Better communication can be achieved by using computer tools for effective data processing and information management, through Information Communication Technologies (ICT). As the majority of the construction organizations are Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the communication management research is required to address management and communication processes adopted by SMEs. These issues can be addressed by global research, but also require clear understanding of the management and communication processes followed by SMEs of each distinct regional area or country. The research was conducted through a sequential mixed methods approach focusing on collecting and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data in the study in a sequential manner. To develop a balance check mechanism, the research was divided into four phases: Interpretive analysis of perceived benefits of use of ICT for building project management, conducted by Interpretive Structural Modeling analysis; Questionnaire survey data collection and empirical analysis of data including Structural Equation Modeling analysis (quantitative method); Semi-structured interview survey data collection and analysis including Data Envelopment Analysis (quantitative and qualitative method) and case studies analysis conducted by SAP-LAP analysis (qualitative method) leading to synthesis of the results of the four phases. The purpose of this four-phase, sequential mixed methods study was to start with the pragmatic assumptions; obtain statistical, quantitative results from a broad sample of organizations to analyze or study research variables at industry and organization levels and then follow up with a few organizations and projects to study the research variables at the level of the organization and people. Synthesis of the knowledge enhancement from the literature survey, data analysis results and their interpretation led to the proposed 'IT Enhanced Communication Protocols for Building Project Management'. The protocols are proposed as a 'Strategic Model for Enhancing ICT Diffusion in Building Projects'. The model is based on Everett Rogers's 'Diffusions of innovations theory' and is formulated at three levels of study i.e industry, organization and people. It is discussed as a generic framework of five stages of Roger's 'Diffusions of innovations theory' i.e Knowledge, Persuasion, Decision, Implementation and Confirmation.

This study was undertaken in conjunction with the Successful Integration of Learning Technologies (SILT) project in state schools in Victoria, Australia. The thesis reports an interpretative analysis of cooperative learning in computer-supported classes as it is currently conducted in selected Victorian primary schools. The framework for the study is grounded in the belief that cooperative learning encourages learning as a group as opposed to learning in a group (Slavin, 1980). The framework emphasises the importance of teachers using cooperative learning as a structure to enable students to think together. Therefore, analysis focuses on cooperative learning in a classroom context and the teachers’ units of work guiding the tasks they create. Using a mixed-method approach involving questionnaires, interviews and videotaped observations, the study was conducted in four sites with two teachers from each school and two groups of students from each class. (For complete abstract open document)