Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The rural areas experienced rapid changes in the last three decades. Producers have had to adapt to changes in forms of production, marketing and even social relations, involving the need to adhere to technological innovations, review the management of properties and adapt to the vision of enterprise agriculture business. The changes in the processes of technology transfer to the farmer tried to follow the technological developments, especially the advancement of the Internet. However, the uptake of new technologies is not so homogeneous by farmers. Considering that this study aimed to evaluate the overall influence of a system for monitoring farm online, the IrrigaSystem, the diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies - ICTs in rural areas. With this, it was possible to answer the question: systems that provide for the use of technologies in the field, as Irriga®, actually contribute to the diffusion of ICTs in rural areas? To achieve the proposed objectives, and discuss the theoretical framework on the main concepts involved in the issue, was chosen to conduct a field research study of the type of case, with a qualitative approach. Interviews with rural producers users of the system in the states of Goiás and Rio Grande do Sul were made to obtain information. The systematic application was face to face and selection of interviewees was made for convenience. To analyze the informations was used the technique of analysis of content. Showed that the move irreversibly ICTs in rural areas, however, this progress does not occur in the same way between Brazilian regions, differing mainly by reasons of economic order. Moreover, the interviews showed that the problem of diffusion of innovations in rural areas takes place, mainly from two factors: on the ICTs point of view, it is bounded to the connection obstacles in the Brazilian rural environment, and on the rural producers‟ point of view, it is due to the digital illiteracy problem. / O meio rural experimentou rápidas transformações nas últimas três décadas. Os produtores tiveram de se adaptar a mudanças nas formas de produção, de comercialização e, até mesmo, de relações sociais, que implicaram na necessidade de aderir a inovações tecnológicas, rever a gestão das propriedades e adequar-se a visão empresarial do negócio agrícola. As modificações nos processos de transferência de tecnologias para o agricultor buscaram acompanhar a evolução tecnológica, especialmente o avanço da Internet. Todavia, a adesão às novas tecnologias não ocorre de forma homogênea pelos produtores rurais. Diante disso o presente estudo teve como objetivo geral avaliar a influência de um sistema de monitoramento agrícola on-line, o Sistema Irriga®, na difusão de Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação TICs no meio rural brasileiro. Com isto, buscou-se possíveis respostas para o questionamento: sistemas que prevêem o uso de tecnologias no campo, como o Irriga®, realmente contribuem para a difusão das TICs no meio rural brasileiro? Para alcançar os objetivos propostos, além de discorrer no referencial teórico sobre os principais conceitos envolvidos no tema, optou-se por realizar uma pesquisa de campo do tipo estudo de caso, com abordagem qualitativa. A coleta de dados consistiu na realização de entrevistas semi-estruturadas em profundidade com produtores rurais usuários do Sistema Irriga, nos estados de Goiás e Rio Grande do Sul. A sistemática de aplicação foi face a face e a seleção dos entrevistados deu-se por conveniência. Para analisar os dados obtidos empregou-se a técnica da análise de conteúdo. Comprovou-se que as TICs avançam irreversivelmente no meio rural, todavia, este avanço não ocorre de maneira idêntica entre as regiões brasileiras, diferindo, principalmente, por razões de ordem econômica. Além disso, as entrevistas demonstraram que a problemática da difusão de inovações no meio rural decorre, principalmente, de dois fatores: do ponto de vista das TICs, vincula-se às barreiras de conexão no meio rural brasileiro e, do ponto de vista dos produtores rurais, à questão da alfabetização digital.

Au Bénin, l’avènement, en 1990, d’un régime libéral caractérisé par le pluralisme politique, la libre expression et l’organisation régulière d’élections disputées, s’est accompagné de l’émergence d’une communication politique concurrentielle. Cette thèse a essayé d’étudier de façon diachronique les pratiques de communication politique en tant qu’activité émergente, à travers notamment le processus qui a conduit à sa professionnalisation ou non, ses praticiens ainsi que les outils mobilisés par ces derniers. <p>Ainsi, l’analyse est partie des origines de la communication politique « moderne » qui remontent aux années 1945 pour montrer qu’à partir de 1990, elle a connu l’apparition, d’une part, de nouveaux acteurs distincts des journalistes qui en étaient les principaux praticiens, d’autre part, de nouveaux outils (la foisonnante presse écrite, les médias audiovisuels prolifiques et tout récemment Internet) mue la libéralisation du secteur de la presse. <p>L’analyse croisée des discours des praticiens recueillis par le biais d’entretiens semi-directifs, de leurs pratiques observées directement lors du scrutin présidentiel de mars 2011, et de la recherche documentaire a permis de comprendre et de décrire le processus de professionnalisation de cette activité émergente, d’identifier les communicants à travers leur profil et d’étudier les outils mobilisés ainsi que les dispositifs informels auxquels ont recouru les candidats dans le but de la mobilisation électorale. <p> / Doctorat en Information et communication / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This paper analyses the reception of the information and communication technologies - ICTs, among familiar farmers from Santa Maria , RS. This dissertation was structured into three chapters: ICTs and the Development - which tackles the internet growth, the advances in mobile telephony, the panorama of conventional telephony, the Brazilian politics about the information and communication technologies, the indicators of the information and communication technologies in Latin America, the information and communication technologies in rural community, and the research of reception; the second chapter The Methodological Aspects of the Research presents the characterization and location of the study; the target public and the description of the methodology. The research was realized into two stages: a quantitative one, where a questionnaire was applied to 157 familiar farmers from all the districts in Santa Maria ; and a qualitative one, that consists in three discussion groups on ICTs. The first stage sets the profile of the interviewees, identifies which are the information technologies available in the rural houses, shows the most used communication equipments, and discovers which are the channels of television and radio stations they prefer, the kind of use they make on cellular phones, and also the digital inclusion percentage among the familiar farmers; on the other hand, the quantitative research gets deeper in this results, registering the declarations that help to comprehend the relationship between the familiar farmers and the ICTs. The last chapter, Results and Discussion, shows the obtained data in the two stages of the research. The analysis is done based on the theoretic perspective by Jesús Martín-Barbero who detaches the influence of the mediations in the reception process. This study reveals the most used ICTs among familiar farmers in Santa Maria are radio, television and cellular phone. The digital exclusion is a problem: 90,45 per cent of the interviewees have never used a personnel computer. On the contrary, the cellular phone is more and more used: 88,53 per cent of the farmers declared that they have this equipment, but they use them for oral contact only, to talk to their families, to solve day-by-day problems or to obtain information to avoid big motilities. The other services as sending e-mails, access the internet and so on are in most part ignored by them. In the same way, the index also shows that the cellular phone has changed the way people communicate in rural communities, being the potential gate to the digital inclusion. Among the mediations which interferes in this process, we can identify the familiar behavior, the social time, the cultural knowledge and also the technological mediations. / Este trabalho analisa a recepção das tecnologias de informação e comunicação, TICs, entre os agricultores familiares de Santa Maria, RS. A dissertação foi estruturada em três capítulos: As TICs e o Desenvolvimento aborda o crescimento da Internet; o avanço da telefonia móvel; o panorama da telefonia fixa; a política brasileira de tecnologias de informação e comunicação; os indicadores de tecnologias de informação e comunicação na América Latina; as tecnologias de informação e comunicação no meio rural e a pesquisa de recepção. O segundo capítulo Aspectos Metodológicos da Pesquisa apresenta a caracterização e localização do estudo; o público-alvo e a descrição da metodologia. A pesquisa foi realizada em duas etapas: uma quantitativa, em que foram aplicados questionários junto a 157 agricultores familiares de todos os distritos do município, e outra qualitativa, que consistiu em três grupos de discussão sobre TICs. A primeira etapa traça o perfil dos entrevistados; identifica quais são as tecnologias de informação existentes nas propriedades rurais; cita os equipamentos de comunicação mais usados; descobre quais os canais de televisão e emissoras de rádio preferidos; o tipo de uso do telefone celular e também o percentual de inclusão digital entre os agricultores familiares. Já a pesquisa qualitativa aprofunda esses resultados, uma vez que registra declarações que ajudam a compreender a relação dos agricultores familiares frente às TICs. Já o último capítulo Resultados e Discussão mostra os dados obtidos nas duas etapas da pesquisa. A análise é feita com base na perspectiva teórica de Jesús Martín-Barbero que destaca a influência das mediações no processo da recepção. O estudo revelou que as TICs mais comuns entre os agricultores familiares de Santa Maria são o rádio, a televisão e o telefone celular e esses também são os aparelhos mais usados no dia a dia. A exclusão digital é um problema: 90,45 por cento dos entrevistados nunca usaram um computador pessoal. Por outro lado, o telefone celular é um equipamento cada vez mais comum: 88,53 por cento dos agricultores declararam que possuem o aparelho mas que o utilizam para finalidades de estrito contato oral, seja com a família, para resolver problemas do dia a dia da propriedade ou obter informações que evitem o deslocamento. Os demais serviços como envio de mensagens, acesso à Internet e outros, são, em sua maioria, ignorados. Mesmo assim, o índice também mostra que o celular mudou a forma de comunicação no meio rural, consagrando-se como portal potencial de inclusão digital. Entre as mediações que interferem nesse processo identificamos a cotidianidade familiar, a temporalidade social, a competência cultural e também a mediação tecnológica.

The thesis titled Using tablets in primary education is focused on innovative education of primary school pupils. The theoretical part of the thesis defines terms related to digital and interactive mobile devices. It represents the tablet as one of the mobile technologies. It deals with their integration into education and consequently provides an analysis of the positive and negative impacts of this issue. The conclusion of the theoretical part is devoted to use of tablets in the subject Music. The empirical part deals with using tablets in the classroom for each subject. Based on the theory, concept of lessons and their implementation is described. Questionnaire and action research were used as the research methods. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Abstract Date: 2017-06-05 Level: Master thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University Authors:                             Nilsson, Isabella                  Ulriksson, Jennifer                                            920507                                930119 Title: Connection versus Recovery? Communication technology in the modern working life.  Tutor: Magnus Hoppe Keywords: Smartphones, Information and communication technology, Boundary control, Psychological detachment, Work-Life Conflict, Stress, Job-Demand-Control. Research question: How do managers handle the positive and negative effects of communication technology? Purpose: The aim of this study is to critically analyse how managers in Sweden regulate the use of communication technology and how they perceive the effects of communication technology on the modern workplace. This contributes to an understanding regarding whether communication technology should be handled based on individuals being either digitally connected or able to mentally recover from work. Method: This study is of a qualitative approach, where semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight managers who is/ or has been, in charge of personnel. The study has a deductive approach and thus has its base in theory. Theories have consequently been used in the construction of the interview questions as well as in the creation of Modell 1.0. Conclusion: Policies restricting the use of communication technology is not desirable according to managers, this is due to it being a prerequisite for the working life of 2017. ‘Connection’ and ‘recovery’ are not dichotomies for all employees. Policies can be of use for employees who need help managing the boundaries between work and family. However, to reach a solution regarding the negative effects of communication technology, efforts should be put into the organizational culture rather than policies, which is depicted in Model 2.0. In that way, negative effects of communication technology can be fought off without risking the positive effects. Communication technology should not be handled based on the assumption that individuals are either digitally connected or able to mentally recover from work.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / South African adolescents are engaging in sexual activities at an early age and with numerous sexual partners. Various factors such as adolescent physiology, identity development, peer influences and parent-child relationship, play a contributory role in this aspect. However, one of the less explored factors is the role of exposure to information and communication technologies containing sexual content, such as television, internet, music videos and cell phones. Adolescents have been shown to be heavy consumers of these devices. The study aimed at exploring the extent with which sexual content from these digital devices influences adolescents’ sexual perceptions and sexual behaviours. Participants comprised of 18 Grade 10 and Grade 11 learners, between ages 14 to 16 years, conveniently selected from one of the high schools in the Cape Peninsula. Two focus groups were conducted with an equal distribution of males and females in each group. Thematic analysis was utilized to describe participants’ experiences as reported in the text. Results indicated that participants regard ICT as influencing sexual attitudes and behaviour. More specifically, they believed ICT contributes greatly to early sexual initiation. Whilst some participants suggested that ICT encourages them to have many sexual partners with a “certain” physical image, some participants regarded this as irrelevant, viewing it as an individual’s choice. It was also found that participants viewed ICT’s unsafe sexual practices as not impacting in their use of contraceptives, hence they would not imitate such behaviour. Moreover, some participants viewed ICT as impacting on the manner in which they express themselves sexually, whilst others regarded this as untrue since they decide which sexual activities to engage in. The study addressed paucity of information regarding ICT and adolescent sexuality. To be more specific, it is recommended that future investigations should focus on a particular technology such as cell phones and the internet. Research should also focus on a specific domain regarding adolescent sexual attitudes, for example attitudes towards sexual initiation or the use of contraceptives.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / The problem of global warming has triggered a number of environmental initiatives aimed at mitigating climate change, many of which are driven at governmental level - although private organisations have also taken the initiative. The organisation under study - hereafter referred to as “Company-A” - is one such organisation which has taken strides in incorporating environmental initiatives in its business processes. Company-A is a South African based asset management organisation which has seen rapid growth in its business operations and consequently the number of its employees. This growth has necessitated the need for a new office building. At the commencement of this study the organisation was in the process of planning for a new office building to accommodate its growth. The senior management of Company-A recognised the importance of implementing environmentally friendly practices at the new office building, and sought the services of a sustainability consultancy firm to assist in the planning for the new office building. This study was necessitated by the fact that despite the company’s recognition of the importance and need to implement environmentally friendly processes within its business processes, there was a lack of understanding or appreciation of how ICT could be used in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner in its new office building. With this problem in mind - the researcher - in consultation with the organisations’ new office building project manager and research supervisor, formulated a research question which was continuously refined until such a point that it was clear. It was envisaged that a research study to answer the research question: How can Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) be used to support environmental sustainability in an organisation? - would provide insight on how the organisation’s top management could deal with the aforementioned problem. The primary purpose of the study was to assist Company-A management in making informed decisions regarding sustainability ICT use, the research can also be used as a foundation in the formulation of the organisation’s “green” ICT strategies and policies. The main research question was divided into smaller sub questions to give structure, clarity and direction in addressing the main research question. These sub questions were in turn used to formulate the research objectives which set the goals and boundaries of this study.

Cette recherche traite du rôle du Système d'Information dans le développement de l'innovation au sein d'un réseau d'acteurs hétérogènes. La notion de capital sociotechnique est mobilisée. Elle traduit la participation des dispositifs techniques et sociaux du SI dans le développement de capital social au cours de l'innovation. L'étude se place dans une démarche exploratoire et vise à formuler des propositions théoriques par le recours à l'Actor-Network Theory (ANT). Une étude de cas unique est réalisée à QualiREG, un réseau scientifique et technique réunissant les acteurs de la sécurité et de la qualité agroalimentaire des régions du sud-ouest de l'Océan Indien. Cette structure, où l'innovation est présente à de multiples niveaux, rassemble des acteurs différents du point de vue de leurs domaines de recherche, statuts, fonctions, origines géographiques, cultures, etc. Une méthodologie mixte combinant données qualitatives et quantitatives est mobilisée dans le but d'appréhender en profondeur les mécanismes de circulation de l'information au sein du réseau. Les résultats des deux approches sont ensuite triangulés. Ils décrivent la constitution de capital social dans le réseau QualiREG, les freins et frontières associés à ce phénomène et le rôle du SI dans sa constitution. Le développement du capital social est supporté par un millefeuille de médias composé de rencontres en face à face et de plusieurs Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication (TIC). En ce sens, le capital social développé au cours de l'innovation est donc un capital sociotechnique qui représente une forme de valeur générée par le réseau. / This research aims to study the role of the information system in the development of innovation in a network with heterogeneous actors. We mobilize the concept of sociotechnical capital which translates the participation of Information Systems in the development of the social capital during innovation process. The study uses an exploratory approach and aims to formulate theoretical propositions by using the Actor-Network Theory (ANT). A unique case study is carried out at QualiREG, a scientific and technical network gathering the actors of the food-processing industry security and quality of the regions of the south-west Indian Ocean. The network is composed of actors who distinguish themselves on multiple levels: area of research, status (researchers, technicians, civil servants, and entrepreneurs), geographical origin, culture, etc. QualiREG is also a network where innovation is present in a recurrent manner and on multiple levels. A mixed methodology combining qualitative and quantitative data is used in order to apprehend in depth the information circulation mechanisms inside the network. Results of these two approaches are lastly triangulated. They describe the constitution of social capital in QualiREG network, the obstacles and limits associated to this phenomenon and the role of Information System. The development of social capital is made possible by a “millefeuille” of media composed of face-to-face meetings and multiple Information and Communication Technologies. Thus, the social capital developed during innovation is a sociotechnical capital which represents a type of value generated by the innovation process.

The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of students towards, and use of ICT in KHEIs (private- public), as well as identifying the factors that influence students‟ attitudes towards using ICT in their daily learning. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used to examine the influence of the factors: type of university, gender, academic discipline, language of learning, students‟ ICT experience and ICT support, on the Perceive Ease (PEOU) of Use and Perceive Usefulness (PU), as internal components of attitude. This study employed mixed research methods to achieve its aims and objectives. The study sample consisted of 717 students from the sciences and humanities at both the Public University and the private University in Kuwait. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from students by distributing questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The principal quantitative results of this study were: (1) the overall attitude of public university students towards using ICT in their learning are more positive than the attitudes of students at the private university; (2) the type of university, gender, level of ICT experience and ICT support factors have an influence on students‟ attitudes through the PEOU and PU; (3) the factor of academic discipline only influences students in terms of the PEOU and PU, and (4) learning English has a positive influence on students‟ attitudes towards ICT. At the same time, the qualitative results show that the use of ICT tools in their English version can improve students‟ English language skills. Another qualitative result shows that the social communication between students and the peer learning can positively influence their attitude towards ICT, as well as improving their ICT experience and skills. Recommendations were subsequently made to stakeholders and educators at both universities, based on the findings of the study. Further ideas were then identified for future research.

Cette thèse explore l’impact des technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC) sur le comportement des employés. Alors que la théorie néoclassique de la croissance considère les TIC comme un outil utilisé dans le processus de production, nous nous sommes basé sur une théorie qui stipule que les technologies ont deux aspects différents. Les technologies de la communication centralisent la prise de décision tandis que les technologies de l'information déplacent la prise de décision au niveau de l'employé. Nous avons abordé les questions du meilleur type de technologie pour l’amélioration de la performance des employés, des coûts engendrés par l'utilisation de ce type de technologies et de l’impact de la surveillance informatique dans la réduction de ces coûts. Nous avons utilisé la méthode expérimentale pour répondre à ces questions. Nos résultats montrent que les employés préfèrent utiliser les technologies de l'information et ceux qui les utilisent sont plus productifs que les autres. Nous trouvons également que l’environnement de travail et les technologies qui poussent la prise de décision au niveau de l'employé pourraient engendrer des coûts importants pour l’entreprise. Cependant, la surveillance informatique est efficace pour réduire ces coûts mais son effet diminue au fil du temps. Nos résultats montrent que les employés les plus productifs sont ceux qui ont passé le plus de temps sur internet. Donner aux employés les informations constantes et détaillées (sur leur performance) produites par les technologies pourrait être une façon efficace de les sensibiliser sur l’ampleur de la surveillance informatique afin de les rendre plus performants. / This dissertation explores the impact of the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on employees’ behaviors. While the neoclassical growth theory considers ICT as an input used in the production process, we relied on a literature in the organizational economic field which states that technologies have two different key aspects. Information technologies push down the decision making at the employee level while Communication technologies centralize the decision making. We addressed the issue of the more efficient technologies for workers’ performance, the costs generated by using the most efficient type of technologies and how the technology-based monitoring may be useful to reduce those costs. We used the experimental methodology since the collection of individuals and team's production is hard with survey data. Our results show that employees prefer information technologies and those who use it are more productive than others. We also show that work organization and technologies which push down the decision making at the employee level could entail some substantial costs for the firm. Indeed, employees are more willing to engage on time wasting activities in order to influence the principal’s decision when they can participate to the decision making process. However IT monitoring is quite successful at reducing those costs. Technology monitoring implies a disciplining effect at the beginning when the sanction is available but this effect lessens over time. Our results show that employees are more productive when they spend more time on internet. Giving constant heightened feedbacks provided by ICT to employees about their productivity should be the better way to sensitize them about the extent of technology monitoring in order to increase their performance.