A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION THE UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND July, 2014 / This study seeks to establish key differences in pedagogical practices associated with and facilitated by different modalities of course delivery. These are: face-to-face instruction in a traditional university lecture-based environment; print-based course delivery, whereby off- campus distance learning students attend face-to-face lectures and tutorials on campus from time-to-time, and Moodle-based online course delivery integrated into the lecture and tutorial-based environments. The key aspect of the study concerns changing pedagogy as a consequence of the introduction of online learning tools within the traditional delivery modalities. I investigate the nature of and extent to which a Moodle platform has been introduced into the traditional face-to-face teaching and learning situation. This is done to ascertain exactly how the pedagogies established and practiced within the traditional delivery modalities are recontextualised in the digital delivery modality. Recontextualisation in this context refers to how the curriculum and pedagogic practice are transformed when interpreted and delivered by instructors to both full-time and distance education students through the three teaching and learning delivery modalities used at UNISWA. The extent of the recontextualisation is accounted for through an experiential case study of four different instances in which the same course is taught by the same instructor to the two student groups. The content and aim of each course is identical, but the pedagogy is not intended by each instructor to be the same in each case. This scenario provided a distinctive, perhaps even unique, opportunity to study the recontextualisation of pedagogic content, pedagogic practices, and assessment practices in a controlled manner across the three modalities. The research goal was realised by employing a multiple-case study design where four faculty staff members completed a 36 item Likert scales type questionnaire. On the basis of a content analysis of this limited quantitative data, each instructor was interviewed in-depth on their pedagogical practices to establish what lay beneath their beliefs in teaching and learning and espoused practices. Key themes were identified and continuous comparison was executed to analyse the transcribed questionnaire data against the interview data. I strengthened the qualitative aspect of this study by means of documentary analysis of course texts ranging from printed course learning materials, such as; course outlines, handouts, modules and Moodle web pages. I also conducted, 3 recorded and transcribed face-to-face as well as content and learning pathway (Moodle) observations, to once more contrast enacted pedagogic practice against espoused pedagogic beliefs. I use Bernstein’s (1990, 2000) theory of pedagogic discourse extensively,particularly his notions of classification and framing principles. Weak classification (-C), specifically in the case of this study, means the more there is reference to online lessons, materials, assignments, feedback and so on or use of e-learning in face-to-face instruction,the more e-learning is integrated into the traditional modalities of teaching. In the same way, strong classification (+C) denotes that the more face-to-face and e-learning are kept apart, the less integration of e-learning into traditional modalities of teaching is taking place. Likewise, the framing principle relates to the transmission of knowledge through pedagogic practices. Strong framing (+F) is used to indicate a visible pedagogic practice that is traditional and therefore opposed to a constructivists approach expected when teaching distance education students and when using e-learning. Weak framing (-F) is applied to indicate an invisible pedagogic practice that is closely related to the mandated constructivist approach. The research findings answered the research question of whether an instructor’s pedagogic practice remains unchanged whichever delivery modality is used. Bernstein’s classification and framing principles are employed to check and establish the instructor’s pedagogical practice and provide the framework for presenting the main findings of this study. With the exception of one out of four case study instructors, the practice is strong classification and framing (+C/F) throughout. This reflects that the traditional approach is predominantly applied in the classroom. This study thus recommends that multiple pedagogical approaches should be acknowledged and applied in all teaching and learning.

Beginning in 2000 and continuing today, the University of North Carolina (UNC) German Consortium offers online German courses to undergraduate students across sixteen of the seventeen UNC public universities. The delivery of online classes differs per faculty member and little previous research investigated the UNC German Consortium's learning technologies. This dissertation investigates the evolution of learning technologies within the UNC German Consortium over the last sixteen years among German faculty from different UNC public universities. Seven faculty and one administrator shared their experiences through interviews. The methodology for this research was hermeneutic phenomenology. Interviewees shared their experiences with learning technology and teaching in the UNC German Consortium including how learning technologies changed over time. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed to deduce themes. Themes included the importance of the North Carolina Research Education Network (NC REN) for teaching German online, an asynchronous versus synchronous debate, how professors taught in synchronous courses, the importance of learning management systems (LMS) systems, the resilient characteristics of UNC German Consortium faculty, and the need for continual learning as an instructor.

Information and communication technology (ICT) has dominated our lives and the way we learn in such a way that, without it, our way of life becomes obsolete. This study explored challenges experienced by tutors in facilitating teaching and learning through the use of videoconference (VC) technology in an open and distance learning (ODL) environment. These challenges are exacerbated by the fact that most tutors, although highly qualified, do not have teaching methodologies with their qualifications at the time of their employment as tutors. It is believed that if these challenges could be given attention, VC technology would serve as an effective facilitation tool for bridging the distance in teaching and learning. Based on qualitative research approach, this study followed a qualitative phenomenological research design. Qualitative data was collected from individual semi-structured interviews with specific VC tutors; tutorial observations based on tutorials offered in the VC environment; and focus group interviews with students who attended tutorials through VC technology. Informed by the Community of inquiry (CoI) theory, the study answered the following main research question: “What are the experiences of tutors in applying instructional methodologies during VC tutorials?” The findings indicate lack of skills and reluctance in applying various active facilitation methods by VC tutors, insufficient technology training intervention by the ODL institution under study, technical challenges of VC technology in teaching and learning, and lack of monitoring systems during VC discussions. The findings further featured various factors that contribute to tutors’ ability in promoting interactivity during VC tutorials. In conclusion, this study clearly indicates that instructional methodologies used in VC tutorials cannot contribute to a meaningful teaching and learning, and thus make interactivity absent throughout VC sessions. Based on these findings, and suggestions for further research, the study therefore recommends acceleration in tutor training on exploitation and integration of VC technology with various suitable teaching methodologies. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Didactics)

Despite widespread use of web-based e-learning applications, insufficient attention is paid to their usability. There is a need to conduct evaluation using one or more of the various usability evaluation methods. Given that heuristic evaluation is known to be easy to use and cost effective, this study investigates the extent to which it can identify usability problems in a web-based e-learning application at a tertiary institution. In a comparative case study, heuristic evaluation by experts and survey evaluation among end users (learners) are conducted and the results of the two compared. Following literature studies in e-learning - particularly web-based learning - and usability, the researcher generates an extensive set of criteria/heuristics and uses it in the two evaluations. The object of evaluation is a website for a 3rd year Information Systems course. The findings indicate a high correspondence between the results of the two evaluations, demonstrating that heuristic evaluation is an appropriate, effective and sufficient usability evaluation method, as well as relatively easy to conduct. It identified a high percentage of usability problems. / Computing / M.Sc. (Information Systems)

Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree in Master of Technology: Education, Durban University of Technology, 2009. / This study investigated key factors impacting on blended learning delivery with particular focus on socio-cultural and human-computer-interface issues, in the hope that the outcome of this enquiry might contribute positively towards the empowerment of learners and facilitators alike. The study involved a group of first year students enrolled in a Communications Skills Course offered by the (then) Department of English and Communication at the Durban University of Technology. The PRINTS Project, a webquest around which the course activities were based, provided an example of a blended delivery course in practice. While the teaching paradigm used in the course was constructivist, the research orientation employed in this project was critical realist. Critical realism focuses on transformation through praxis and also lends itself to modelling, which provides a way to understand the factors at play within a social system. In the preliminary stages of the research, an exploratory empirical (i.e. applied) model of blended learning delivery was formulated from a theoretical model of course delivery in order to assess which factors in blended learning were systemic and which were variables. The investigation then sought to uncover key factors impacting on the blended delivery system, utilising both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The findings were analysed in terms of the empirical model to gain an understanding of any factors that might be seen to either enhance or inhibit learning in blended delivery mode. The result was that certain core issues in blended learning and teaching could be clarified, including the use, advantages and disadvantages of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in a learning environment. The notion of the digital divide could also be reconceptualised, and the relationship between literacy (be it academic, professional or social), power and culture could be further elucidated, drawing specific attention to the South African educational environment. The notion of iv culture and its relevance in a blended delivery environment was also further clarified, since the findings of this research project suggested how and why certain key socio-cultural factors might impact, as both enhancers and inhibitors, on the blended learning delivery system.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology: Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / Education is constantly challenged by rapid technological changes both in terms of curriculum renewal and in terms of students’ awareness of these new technologies. This is the reason why the aim of this study is to analyse factors affecting computing students’ awareness of the latest ICTs. This aim is further divided into four research sub-aims: the selection of the relevant theories for this research; the design of an appropriate conceptual model to support it; the empirical testing of the above mentioned model; and finally, recommendations arising from the research results. The first research sub-aim is accomplished through selection of the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) as the theoretical framework of this study after a review of different theories of technology adoption. The second research sub-aim is accomplished through the design of a conceptual model which is an adaptation of the relationship between the prior conditions construct and the knowledge/awareness construct of IDT. The prior conditions that were studied are students’ perceived exposure to career guidance and students’ perceived curriculum currency. These prior conditions were analysed as possible predictors of computing students’ technology awareness. The third sub-aim is accomplished by means of a survey of 116 computing students from the four universities of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, the results of which validated most of the relationships hypothesized by the above mentioned model. Having knowledge/awareness as the main variable of the current study can be seen as its main contribution in view of the fact that only two studies from the reviewed literature on IDT are examining the awareness/knowledge construct. The fourth sub-aim is accomplished by means of some recommendations, one of which is that gender and ethnicity be considered when curriculating computing courses both at the high school level and at the university level.

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the for the degree of Master of Technology in Photography, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / This dissertation is a self-study that involves inquiring into my mentoring practice to change and improve my situation and find a sense of belonging. The centre of the inquiry into 'self' lies in the search and claiming of an identity that consolidates the development of my artistic, mentoring and research practices during my 'first time' employment experience, as a junior lecturer in a Photography program, 2009-2011. I reflect on three years of lecturing experience in a tertiary education setting at the Durban University of Technology, in which doing a Masters was obligatory. I entered this position, with little experience in research and lecturing or photographic expertise. During this study, I made myself known as osmosisliza, the name of the ‘cyborg’ who journeys in cyberspace. I claim to be a ‘photographer horticulturalist’, a mentor concerned with cultivating collective online spaces, to create movement to connect in cyberspace for social learning purposes. I ask “Who is osmosisliza?”. My class motto is “what you think, know and believe helps us all to be more”, a personal belief for building knowledge through exchange and collaboration with others. I employed a variety of free Web 2.0 applications, like Gmail, Blogger, Buzz, Picasa Web Albums, Google Bookmarks and YouTube to create online spaces in which I could position my living educational theory. I called this place the Google Lens (GL). The Google Lens formed the mechanism to cultivate communities of practice for social learning, to develop confidence, motivation and engagement. The Google Lens was also the repository for qualitative and quantitative data. Mostly I analyse verbal and visual text, writings, photographs and video exchanges between learners and myself archived in the Google Lens to address my research question and sub-question. Through the lens of Google I did action research to improve my practice, and analyse my development as a newcomer to academia. I investigate how successful I was in using the Google Lens to achieve my mentoring goals. I also made photographs during the process of this inquiry to visually address abstract identity dilemmas, concerns and thoughts in my place of work, to engage my ‘I’ in my ‘eye’ as photographer. I exhibit these in cyberspace. I call these electronic postcards. Electronic postcards are blog posts in a weblog called osmosisLIZA. I made 98 blog posts and sent 98 electronic postcards in this dissertation. An electronic postcard consists of a photograph, an illustration, labels and a text heading. In this document the electronic postcards run alongside the writings for this self-study, functioning as text and message of the experiences of a developing academic as well as evidence of the developmental questions I was continuously asking to improve my practice.

This study investigated access to and use of Information and Communication Technology by students at the University of the Western Cape. It examined how the issues of access and use play out at the microlevel of a historically disadvantaged institution in South Africa by investigating the institutional arrangements and practices of different computer laboratories.

The Internet is the most common communication and research tool worldwide. Perusal of the World Wide Web quickly reveals the variety of information available. Internet adoption can be considered the late 20th century's most important event. In academic environments today, Internet use among faculty members has been widely expanded, with professors now integrating Internet technology into classroom activities. Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University (IMSU) is a pioneering public university in Saudi Arabia. Until recently, some faculty members at IMSU were unable to access the Internet through the university. It is important to study the effects of this delay on faculty members regarding research and academic activities. This study identified the statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics of Internet adopters and non-adopters among faculty members at IMSU, examined whether faculty members' perceptions of the Internet affected adoption, determined if the university administration's decisions impacted faulty members' decisions to adopt the Internet, identified factors motivating faculty members to adopt the Internet, identified obstacles influencing faculty members' decisions to use the Internet, and determined whether innovation characteristics as perceived by faculty members predicted Internet adoption. Using Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory, the influence of eight attributes were examined regarding Internet adoption among IMSU faculty members. Multiple regression and chi-square techniques were conducted to analyze the data and answer research questions. Statistically significant differences were identified among Internet adopters and non-adopters regarding gender, age, academic rank, discipline, and English proficiency. The data revealed 54.7% of IMSU faulty members used the Internet for research and academic activities twice a month or less, indicating a low Internet adoption rate. Statistically significant differences were noted among adopters and non-adopters relative to income level and English proficiency. Multiple regression analysis showed that all attributes of innovation individually predicted Internet adoption. The combination of all attributes indicated the model could predict Internet adoption among faculty.

Online courses in higher education have a reputation for having a lower course completion or retention rate than face-to-face courses. Much of this reputation is based upon anecdotal evidence, is outdated, or is on a small scale, such as a comparison of individual courses or programs of instruction. A causal-comparative analysis was conducted among 11 large, high research public universities. The universities were compared to each other to determine if differences existed between online and face-to-face course completion; undergraduate and graduation online course completion was analyzed for differences as well. The findings suggested the magnitude of the differences between online and face-to-face completions rates was small or negligible. The area which showed a higher magnitude of difference was in the comparison between undergraduate and graduate online course completion; the practical significance could be worth considering for educational purposes.