Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2016-05-05T17:57:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dalva Celia Guazzelli.pdf: 920106 bytes, checksum: 0c53e051d2b6822baae469a4761a7e7c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-05T17:57:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dalva Celia Guazzelli.pdf: 920106 bytes, checksum: 0c53e051d2b6822baae469a4761a7e7c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-17 / This research has as its object of study pedagogical innovations with the use of mobile devices, particularly the smartphones. In this direction, has by general objective to analyze the pedagogical innovations using smartphone, based in the eyes of the technical education students. And the specific objectives are: i. analyze whether, in the view of the students, there are, innovative possibilities of learning with mobile devices in pedagogical practices, especially with the smartphone; ii. identify what the students think about the knowledge that students and teachers have about the use of mobile devices as a pedagogical tool; iii. raise whether there are pedagogical experiences lived in the school context of technical education, with the use of mobile devices. Contributions from authors from the field of studies of the technologies and innovations in the education (LÉVY, 2014; GOMEZ, 2004, 2013, 2015; CARLINI & LEITE, 2009; LIBÂNEO, 2012; MERIJE, 2012; CARBONELL, 2002; SANTAELLA, 2013; SACCOL, 2010) and of training and pedagogical practices of teachers (ENGUITA, 1989; FREIRE, 1997, 2000, 2013; GIMENO SACRISTÁN, 1995; NÓVOA, 1995; TARDIF, 2002), compose the theoretical references. Based on the qualitative methodology, the focus group technique (GATTI, 2012) was used to data collect of this study with two students groups of the 1st module of informatics course of a public technical school of the São Paulo’s city. For the treatment of the data was performed content analysis (FRANCO, 2008) of the transcripts of the meeting conducted with each one of the groups and from the questionnaire answers filled individually by students. The results of this study are: i. the verification of the favorable innovative pedagogical possibilities with the use of smartphones, yet with challenges and attention points for the use of these in a pedagogical way, taking into view the discussion of regulation and reliance on mobile technology; ii. the training of the school community about the use of smartphones as innovative pedagogical possibility; iii. the experiences presented by research and by students as favorable to the adoption of possible policies of inclusion of smartphone as a tool to support pedagogical practices. It was concluded, therefore, based on the look of the students that there are possibilities to create pedagogical innovations with the use of smartphones in learning institutions, considering the guidelines that can be built collectively and in a participatory manner by the own educational community in the context of the elaboration process of its Political-Pedagogical Project. / Esta investigación tiene por el objecto de estudio innovaciones pedagógicas con el uso de los dispositivos móviles, particularmente, los smartphones. En esa dirección, tiene por objectivo general analizar las innovaciones pedagógicas con el uso del smartphone, basado en la mirada de los estudiantes de la educación técnica. Los objetivos específicos son: i. analizar si, en la visión de los estudiantes, hay en las prácticas pedagógicas posibilidades innovadoras de aprendizaje con los dispositivos móviles, en especial con el smartphone; ii. identificar que piensan los estudiantes sobre el conocimiento que alumnos y profesores tienen acerca de la utilización de dispositivos móviles como una herramienta pedagógica; iii. levantar si hay experiencias pedagógicas vividas en el contexto escolar de la educación técnica con el uso de dispositivos móviles. Contribuciones de los autores en el campo de la tecnología de estudio y las innovaciones en la educación (LEVY, 2014; GOMEZ, 2004, 2013, 2015; CARLINI & LEITE, 2009; LIBÂNEO, 2012; MERIJE, 2012; CARBONELL, 2002; SANTAELLA, 2013; SACCOL, 2010) y de la formación y prácticas pedagógicas de los profesores (ENGUITA, 1989; FREIRE, 1997, 2000, 2013; GIMENO SACRISTÁN, 1995; NOVOA, 1995; TARDIF, 2002), constituyen el referencial teórico. Con base en la metodología cualitativa se utilizó para el levantamiento de datos de esta investigación la técnica de grupo focal (GATTI, 2012) con dos grupos de estudiantes del primer módulo del curso de informática de una escuela técnica estadual de la ciudad de São Paulo. Para el tratamiento de los datos se utilizó el análisis del contenido (FRANCO, 2008) de las transcripciones del encuentro realizado con cada uno de los grupos y de las respuestas de los cuestionarios insertados individualmente por los estudiantes. Los resultados de este estudio son: i. la constatación de posibilidades pedagógicas innovadoras favorables con la utilización de los smartphones, aunque con desafíos y puntos de atención para el uso de éstos de manera pedagógica, con vistas a la discusión de la regulación y la dependencia de la tecnología móvil; ii. La formación de la comunidad escolar sobre el uso de los smartphones como posibilidad pedagógica innovadora; iii. Las experiencias presentadas por la investigación y por los estudiantes como favorables a la adopción de políticas de inclusión potenciales del smartphone como herramienta de apoyo a las prácticas pedagógicas. Se concluye, por lo tanto, con base en la visión del estudiante que hay posibilidades de crear innovaciones pedagógicas con el uso de los smartphones en las instituciones escolares, teniendo en vista las directrices que puedan ser construidas colectivamente y de manera participativa por su propia comunidad escolar en el contexto del proceso de elaboración de su Proyecto Político-Pedagógico. / Esta pesquisa tem por objeto de estudo inovações pedagógicas com o uso dos dispositivos móveis, particularmente, os smartphones. Nessa direção, tem por objetivo geral analisar as inovações pedagógicas com o uso de smartphone, com base no olhar do estudante do ensino técnico. E os objetivos específicos são: i. analisar se, na visão dos discentes, existem nas práticas pedagógicas possibilidades inovadoras de aprendizado com os dispositivos móveis, especialmente com o smartphone; ii. identificar o que os discentes pensam sobre o conhecimento que alunos e professores têm sobre o uso dos dispositivos móveis como ferramenta pedagógica; iii. levantar se existem experiências pedagógicas vivenciadas no contexto escolar do ensino técnico, com o uso dos dispositivos móveis. Contribuições de autores do campo de estudos das tecnologias e inovações na educação (LÉVY, 2014; GOMEZ, 2004, 2013, 2015; CARLINI & LEITE, 2009; LIBÂNEO, 2012; MERIJE, 2012; CARBONELL, 2002; SANTAELLA, 2013; SACCOL, 2010) e da formação e prática pedagógica dos professores (ENGUITA, 1989; FREIRE, 1997, 2000, 2013; GIMENO SACRISTÁN, 1995; NÓVOA, 1995; TARDIF, 2002), compõem o referencial teórico. Fundamentada na metodologia qualitativa, utilizou-se para a coleta de dados desta pesquisa a técnica de grupo focal (GATTI, 2012) com dois grupos de estudantes do 1.º módulo do curso de informática de uma escola técnica estadual da cidade de São Paulo. Para o tratamento dos dados foi realizada a análise de conteúdo (FRANCO, 2008) das transcrições do encontro realizado com cada um dos grupos e das respostas do questionário preenchido individualmente pelos discentes. São resultados deste estudo: i. a constatação de possibilidades pedagógicas inovadoras favoráveis com o uso dos smartphones, ainda que com desafios e pontos de atenção para o uso destes de forma pedagógica, tendo em vista a discussão da regulamentação e da dependência da tecnologia móvel; ii. A formação da comunidade escolar sobre o uso dos smartphones como possibilidade pedagógica inovadora; iii. As experiências apresentadas pela pesquisa e pelos estudantes como favoráveis à adoção de possíveis políticas de inclusão do smartphone como ferramenta de apoio às práticas pedagógicas. Conclui-se, portanto, com base no olhar discente, que existem possibilidades de criar inovações pedagógicas com o uso de smartphones nas instituições escolares, tendo em vista diretrizes que possam ser construídas coletivamente e de forma participativa pela própria comunidade escolar no contexto do processo de elaboração de seu Projeto Político-Pedagógico.

The emergence and development of mobile technology has changed traditional behavior during live music events and challenges concert etiquette. Artists have polarized reactions to the ubiquity of smartphones and companies have started realizing the potential to develop systems which allow the audience to interact more with both the performer and the light and sound show itself. Research has looked into how people traditionally behave and how consumer expectations have altered due to the digital revolution, but has not looked into differences between age groups, gender and concert genre to find out how different people express engagement. The research question is: How can interactive technology be used to enhance audience engagement? With the sub-questions: What engages individuals at concerts? How can engagement be measured? Findings within the study show that there are some differences between both age groups and between concert genres but engagement is expressed in similar ways regardless of gender. The differences that do exist between generations and genre preference are slight. People most commonly express engagement with a combination of voice and movement. Interactive technology designed for live music events settings needs to be based on existing patterns of behavior as people do not want too much focus to be on technology during concerts. The technology should enhance existing behavior and have a low learning curve as interactive technology risks becoming disengaging if it requires too much focus from the user. / Framväxten och utvecklingen av mobil teknik har förändrat traditionellt beteende under live musik konserter och lett till att konsertetikett utmanats. Artister har polariserade reaktioner gällande användningen av smartphones och företag har börjat realisera potentialen att utveckla system som gör det möjligt för publiken att interagera mer med både artisten samt ljus- och ljudspelet. Forskning har undersökt hur folk traditionellt sett beter sig och hur konsumenternas förväntningar har förändrats på grund av den digitala revolutionen, men har inte tittat på skillnader mellan åldersgrupper, kön och konsertgenrer för att ta reda på hur olika människor uttrycker engagemang. Forskningsfrågan är: Hur kan interaktiv teknik användas för att öka publikens engagemang? Med delfrågorna: Vad engagerar individer under konserter? Hur kan engagemang mätas? Resultatet i studien visar att det finns vissa skillnader mellan åldersgrupper och mellan konsertgenrer men att engagemang uttrycks på liknande sätt oavsett kön. Skillnaderna som finns mellan generationer och genrepreferenser är få och små. Folk uttrycker oftast engagemang genom en kombination av röst och rörelse. Interaktiv teknik som är designad för live musikevent måste baseras på befintliga beteendemönster eftersom människor inte vill att alltför stort fokus hamnar på teknik under konserter. Tekniken bör förbättra det befintliga beteendet och ha en låg inlärningskurva eftersom interaktiv teknik risker att blir oengagerande om det kräver för mycket fokus från användaren.

Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna technology refers to an antenna with multiple radiators at both transmitter and receiver ends. It is designed to increase the data rate in wireless communication systems by achieving multiple channels occupying the same bandwidth in a multipath environment. The main drawback associated with this technology is the coupling between the radiating elements. A MIMO antenna system merely acts as an antenna array if the coupling between the radiating elements is high. For this reason, strong decoupling between the radiating elements should be achieved, in order to utilize the benefits of MIMO technology. The main objectives of this thesis are to investigate and implement several printed MIMO antenna geometries with integrated decoupling approaches for WLAN, WiMAX, and 5G applications. The characteristics of MIMO antenna performance have been reported in terms of scattering parameters, envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), total active reflection coefficient (TARC), channel capacity loss (CCL), diversity gain (DG), antenna efficiency, antenna peak gain and antenna radiation patterns. Three new 2×2 MIMO array antennas are proposed, covering dual and multiple spectrum bandwidths for WLAN (2.4/5.2/5.8 GHz) and WiMAX (3.5 GHz) applications. These designs employ a combination of DGS and neutralization line methods to reduce the coupling caused by the surface current in the ground plane and between the radiating antenna elements. The minimum achieved isolation between the MIMO antennas is found to be better than 15 dB and in some bands exceeds 30 dB. The matching impedance is improved and the correlation coefficient values achieved for all three antennas are very low. In addition, the diversity gains over all spectrum bands are very close to the ideal value (DG = 10 dB). The forth proposed MIMO antenna is a compact dual-band MIMO antenna operating at WLAN bands (2.4/5.2/5.8 GHz). The antenna structure consists of two concentric double square rings radiating elements printed symmetrically. A new method is applied which combines the defected ground structure (DGS) decoupling method with five parasitic elements to reduce the coupling between the radiating antennas in the two required bands. A metamaterial-based isolation enhancement structure is investigated in the fifth proposed MIMO antenna design. This MIMO antenna consists of two dual-band arc-shaped radiating elements working in WLAN and Sub-6 GHz 5th generation (5G) bands. The antenna placement and orientation decoupling method is applied to improve the isolation in the second band while four split-ring resonators (SRRs) are added between the radiating elements to enhance the isolation in the first band. All the designs presented in this thesis have been fabricated and measured, with the simulated and measured results agreeing well in most cases. / Higher Committee for Education Development in Iraq (HCED)

L’amélioration de la prise en charge du cancer est un enjeu de santé publique important compte tenu des impacts de cette maladie pour la santé publique. Les technologies de l’information et de communication (TIC) sont perçues comme une solution pouvant contribuer à l’amélioration de cette prise en charge. Malgré cela, peu d’expériences évaluent leur utilisation dans un contexte de coordination des soins en cancérologie. Le but de ce mémoire est d’apprécier comment les TIC peuvent être utilisées pour améliorer la coordination des soins en cancérologie et de décrire quelles sont les stratégies pouvant permettre leur succès. Deux articles ont été rédigés avec chacun un objectif rattaché au but global du mémoire. L’objectif du premier article est de rassembler les connaissances existantes relatives aux usages des TIC pouvant être à même de fournir une amélioration de la coordination des soins en cancérologie. Il présente les résultats d’une revue de littérature ayant identifié six types d’usages des TIC pouvant être utilisés dans un parcours coordonné. Il propose six recommandations pouvant contribuer à la réussite de leur conception et de leur implantation. Les plus importantes sont la planification rigoureuse du design de l’intervention et l’amélioration des stratégies de gestion de projet. Le deuxième article a comme objectif de connaître la perception des professionnels de soins par rapport à l’utilisation des technologies mobiles. Il analyse les perceptions et les attentes de professionnels oeuvrant dans un centre de cancérologie spécialisé (France) à partir de 10 entretiens faits auprès d’individus rattachés à divers services. Leur analyse permet de constater l’attitude favorable à l’utilisation de TIC mobiles en cancérologie et le peu de craintes associées aux impacts néfastes qu’il pourrait avoir. Elle met en évidence l’importance des enjeux organisationnels nécessaire à la mise en place et au succès de cette intervention. Ces deux études permettent de constater les rapprochements et les écarts entre les usages et recommandations tirés de la littérature et les perceptions des répondants en cancérologie. Mots-clés : technologies de l’information, cancérologie, parcours coordonné, étude de cas, revue de littérature, coordination des soins, enjeux organisationnels, usages des TIC. / The impact of cancer care is a major public health issue, mainly because of both its major health and economic impacts. The use of information technologies (IT) is seen as a solution that can contribute to reduce the load associated with cancer. Despite this, there are only few experiments evaluating their use in the cancer care. The purpose of this memoir is to find ways how IT can be used to improve this situation and describe what strategies can help them succeed. To do so, this memoir presents two articles each pursuing a goal related to that global objective. The first article aims to gather existing knowledge on how the use of IT may provide better coordination of cancer care. It presents the results of a literature review that built a typology of six uses in which IT can be used to provide better care coordination. It also offers six recommendations to insure the success of their design and their implementation. The two most important ones are rigorous planning and strong intervention design. The second article reports and analyse the perception of health professionals in relation to the use of mobile technologies in a cancer care setting. It presents data gathered from 10 interviews conducted a the cancer center (France). Their analysis shows that most of them have a positive attitude towards the use of IT in cancer care. It also denotes some of the fears associated with the adverse impacts it may bring. The results highlights the importance of considering organizational issues for the implementation of sucessful interventions. These two studies show that there are many similarities and few differences between the usages and recommendations from the literature and the perceptions of the professionnals working in a specialized cancer care center. / Réalisé en cotutelle avec Claude Sicotte PhD Université de Montréal et le Pr. Étienne Minvielle École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique à Paris.

Réalisé en cotutelle avec Claude Sicotte PhD Université de Montréal et le Pr. Étienne Minvielle École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique à Paris. / L’amélioration de la prise en charge du cancer est un enjeu de santé publique important compte tenu des impacts de cette maladie pour la santé publique. Les technologies de l’information et de communication (TIC) sont perçues comme une solution pouvant contribuer à l’amélioration de cette prise en charge. Malgré cela, peu d’expériences évaluent leur utilisation dans un contexte de coordination des soins en cancérologie. Le but de ce mémoire est d’apprécier comment les TIC peuvent être utilisées pour améliorer la coordination des soins en cancérologie et de décrire quelles sont les stratégies pouvant permettre leur succès. Deux articles ont été rédigés avec chacun un objectif rattaché au but global du mémoire. L’objectif du premier article est de rassembler les connaissances existantes relatives aux usages des TIC pouvant être à même de fournir une amélioration de la coordination des soins en cancérologie. Il présente les résultats d’une revue de littérature ayant identifié six types d’usages des TIC pouvant être utilisés dans un parcours coordonné. Il propose six recommandations pouvant contribuer à la réussite de leur conception et de leur implantation. Les plus importantes sont la planification rigoureuse du design de l’intervention et l’amélioration des stratégies de gestion de projet. Le deuxième article a comme objectif de connaître la perception des professionnels de soins par rapport à l’utilisation des technologies mobiles. Il analyse les perceptions et les attentes de professionnels oeuvrant dans un centre de cancérologie spécialisé (France) à partir de 10 entretiens faits auprès d’individus rattachés à divers services. Leur analyse permet de constater l’attitude favorable à l’utilisation de TIC mobiles en cancérologie et le peu de craintes associées aux impacts néfastes qu’il pourrait avoir. Elle met en évidence l’importance des enjeux organisationnels nécessaire à la mise en place et au succès de cette intervention. Ces deux études permettent de constater les rapprochements et les écarts entre les usages et recommandations tirés de la littérature et les perceptions des répondants en cancérologie. Mots-clés : technologies de l’information, cancérologie, parcours coordonné, étude de cas, revue de littérature, coordination des soins, enjeux organisationnels, usages des TIC. / The impact of cancer care is a major public health issue, mainly because of both its major health and economic impacts. The use of information technologies (IT) is seen as a solution that can contribute to reduce the load associated with cancer. Despite this, there are only few experiments evaluating their use in the cancer care. The purpose of this memoir is to find ways how IT can be used to improve this situation and describe what strategies can help them succeed. To do so, this memoir presents two articles each pursuing a goal related to that global objective. The first article aims to gather existing knowledge on how the use of IT may provide better coordination of cancer care. It presents the results of a literature review that built a typology of six uses in which IT can be used to provide better care coordination. It also offers six recommendations to insure the success of their design and their implementation. The two most important ones are rigorous planning and strong intervention design. The second article reports and analyse the perception of health professionals in relation to the use of mobile technologies in a cancer care setting. It presents data gathered from 10 interviews conducted a the cancer center (France). Their analysis shows that most of them have a positive attitude towards the use of IT in cancer care. It also denotes some of the fears associated with the adverse impacts it may bring. The results highlights the importance of considering organizational issues for the implementation of sucessful interventions. These two studies show that there are many similarities and few differences between the usages and recommendations from the literature and the perceptions of the professionnals working in a specialized cancer care center.

Information and communication technology (ICT) is considered a vital enabler in the quest to reduce the disparities between the developed and developing world. Developments in mobile technology have dramatically changed the ICT landscape. Mobile cellular technologies have flourished and proliferated more rapidly than any previous technology hitherto and is thus considered, at this time, the most pervasive technology in the world. However, the introduction of mobile ICT in rural formal education is faced with many challenges and ways in which to maximise its usage is still being explored. This research explores mobile digital literacy skills required by a rural educator to successfully integrate mobile technology into the classroom. This exploration used the ICT for rural education development (ICT4RED) project as its case study and added dimensions to the project through the development of a framework for mobile digital literacy skills. ICT4RED was an appropriate case for the exploration as it met the following criteria: educators were using mobile technologies in the classroom, educators had been part of the Teacher Professional Development (TPD) course offered by the ICT4RED project and educators were based in a rural resource-constrained area in South Africa. Questionnaires were used to gain insight into which skills educators rated as most important, and least important, as based on their teaching experience using mobile technologies in the classroom. The work is grounded on an interpretivist research philosophy and followed an inductive reasoning approach. Additionally, the research employed a qualitative method of analysis with a single case study, comprising of two units, facilitating a perspective of the phenomenon. Framework development was enabled through a literature review which assisted in theorising the mobile digital literacy skills. An expert review, followed by a questionnaire driven survey for educators, was conducted. The qualitative analysis revealed that most of the mobile digital literacy skills from literature were important and should be employed. The majority of educators and experts felt that the skills could not be categorised as, due to the lack of resources, most are considered very important. The lack of stable internet connection/s were also considered a major (if not the major) hindrance to successful mobile integration in rural areas. The main research question answered by this study is: How can a framework for educators’ mobile digital literacy skills support educators using mobile technology in formal rural education? The findings of this research should be significant to developers of mobile technology training programmes, as well as educators trying to successfully integrate mobile technology into their classrooms. The framework will enable both trainers and educators to prioritise skills and channel resources into the acquisition of those skills which have been identified as important by this research work. / School of Computing / M. Sc. (Computing)

No description available.

The aim of this study is to conduct a thorough theoretical study on mobile learning (mlearning) in order to achieve the primary objective of the study which is to develop a general framework to implement and manage mobile technologies in a higher education environment. The focus of the literature study was to research the state of mobile technologies and their relevance to teaching and learning. The literature study investigate the implications of mobile technologies for students, lecturers and thus for the institution and provided an overview of frameworks found in literature with the emphasis on the management of m–learning within the higher education institution. M–learning is part of a new mobile conception of society, with the mobility of the technologies impacting on the mobility of the students, the lecturers and ultimately on the mobility of higher education. Literature suggests that, while m–learning is proving to be innovative, the factors that most strongly impact on the ultimate success or failure of mlearning will depend on human factors, the balancing of technological ideals and pedagogical imperatives, and the successful management of the interface between human educational systems and technology systems. The proposed general framework focuses on addressing key issues related to m–learning from the perspective of the student, the lecturer and thus the institution. In order to remain competitive higher education needs to be diligent in maintaining the complex technology infrastructure that supports a thriving mobile culture that will meet and exceed the expectations of both lecturers and students. The empirical research conducted had as objectives to investigate the mobile technology assets of respondents with regard to the hardware and the software that they own, the mobile technology actions of respondents in regard to what they do with the mobile technology that they own and to investigate the respondent's attitude towards mobile technologies. A survey was designed and distributed to a sampling of the academic staff and students of the North–West University (NWU) in South Africa, specifically the Potchefstroom Campus. There is ample proof from the empirical study that there is a gap with regard to the level of accessibility, usage, and attitude with regards to the different interest groups in the higher education environment. Higher education institutions should invest in investigating these gaps further and in leveraging off the benefits of the effective management of these technologies to improve teaching and learning. The final chapter concludes with a summary of the secondary objectives researched in the literature (Chapter two) and empirical research (Chapter three) chapters in order to support recommendations towards the primary objective of this study. The rapid pace of adoption and advancement of mobile technologies creates opportunities for new and innovative services provided through such mobile devices. Higher education finds itself in the early innings of the mobile Internet pulling both lecturers and students towards the same place: smaller, faster, cheaper devices working together in a web of connectivity. Recommendations were made in this final chapter on how higher education institutions can leverage the benefits of the effective management of mobile technologies to improve teaching and learning. M–learning has the potential to increase the capacity of higher education through improving efficiency and productivity of teaching and learning. Mlearning could address challenges related to quality of teaching such as continuous professional training, lifelong upgrading, connecting with academics worldwide and communicating effectively with students. Higher education is discovering the potential of mlearning to promote student engagement and improving the quality of learning. Management of higher education institutions and systems, management of policymaking including storage and analysis of data, construction and assessment of policy scenarios, and tracer studies or academic tracking systems can be improved through the use of m–learning. Mobile technologies will continue to increasingly become an integral part of students' and lecturers' private and day to day lives and m–learning will be integral in educational content delivery. Additional research is required to study the effective and optimal implementation of m–learning. A better understanding of the benefits and leverage thereof is required and additional research should provide answers to these questions. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The aim of this study is to conduct a thorough theoretical study on mobile learning (mlearning) in order to achieve the primary objective of the study which is to develop a general framework to implement and manage mobile technologies in a higher education environment. The focus of the literature study was to research the state of mobile technologies and their relevance to teaching and learning. The literature study investigate the implications of mobile technologies for students, lecturers and thus for the institution and provided an overview of frameworks found in literature with the emphasis on the management of m–learning within the higher education institution. M–learning is part of a new mobile conception of society, with the mobility of the technologies impacting on the mobility of the students, the lecturers and ultimately on the mobility of higher education. Literature suggests that, while m–learning is proving to be innovative, the factors that most strongly impact on the ultimate success or failure of mlearning will depend on human factors, the balancing of technological ideals and pedagogical imperatives, and the successful management of the interface between human educational systems and technology systems. The proposed general framework focuses on addressing key issues related to m–learning from the perspective of the student, the lecturer and thus the institution. In order to remain competitive higher education needs to be diligent in maintaining the complex technology infrastructure that supports a thriving mobile culture that will meet and exceed the expectations of both lecturers and students. The empirical research conducted had as objectives to investigate the mobile technology assets of respondents with regard to the hardware and the software that they own, the mobile technology actions of respondents in regard to what they do with the mobile technology that they own and to investigate the respondent's attitude towards mobile technologies. A survey was designed and distributed to a sampling of the academic staff and students of the North–West University (NWU) in South Africa, specifically the Potchefstroom Campus. There is ample proof from the empirical study that there is a gap with regard to the level of accessibility, usage, and attitude with regards to the different interest groups in the higher education environment. Higher education institutions should invest in investigating these gaps further and in leveraging off the benefits of the effective management of these technologies to improve teaching and learning. The final chapter concludes with a summary of the secondary objectives researched in the literature (Chapter two) and empirical research (Chapter three) chapters in order to support recommendations towards the primary objective of this study. The rapid pace of adoption and advancement of mobile technologies creates opportunities for new and innovative services provided through such mobile devices. Higher education finds itself in the early innings of the mobile Internet pulling both lecturers and students towards the same place: smaller, faster, cheaper devices working together in a web of connectivity. Recommendations were made in this final chapter on how higher education institutions can leverage the benefits of the effective management of mobile technologies to improve teaching and learning. M–learning has the potential to increase the capacity of higher education through improving efficiency and productivity of teaching and learning. Mlearning could address challenges related to quality of teaching such as continuous professional training, lifelong upgrading, connecting with academics worldwide and communicating effectively with students. Higher education is discovering the potential of mlearning to promote student engagement and improving the quality of learning. Management of higher education institutions and systems, management of policymaking including storage and analysis of data, construction and assessment of policy scenarios, and tracer studies or academic tracking systems can be improved through the use of m–learning. Mobile technologies will continue to increasingly become an integral part of students' and lecturers' private and day to day lives and m–learning will be integral in educational content delivery. Additional research is required to study the effective and optimal implementation of m–learning. A better understanding of the benefits and leverage thereof is required and additional research should provide answers to these questions. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

In this dissertation of limited scope, the phenomenon of providing effective workintegrated learning mentorship to nature conservation undergraduate students is explored, specifically to determine if mobile technology can be offered as an alternative or supplementary mentoring strategy for an Open Distance Learning university. Mentoring of work-integrated learning undergraduate students is an integral component of the Nature Conservation Diploma offered by the University of South Africa. The prerequisite mentoring of students is not consistent across all required sector-based placements and this could be construed as being unjust and discriminatory. This possible negative perception has motivated this investigation into work-integrated learning mentorship approaches within the Nature Conservation Diploma. This exploratory case study provides insights into and lays a foundation for the development of a supplementary mentorship provision strategy, for students who find it difficult to secure mentorship opportunities. Applying a social learning and integration perspective, three cohorts of undergraduate nature conservation work-integrated learning students participated in this study. This qualitative exploratory case study focused on the interaction and subsequent results achieved by students, through engaging with one of three different mentorship methods available to students at the University of South Africa. The three methods were: face-to-face mentoring by an academic, digital mentoring provided by means of a mobile phone application and sector-based mentoring. The latter method represents the current mentorship provision status quo for all nature conservation work-integrated learning diploma students. The findings reveal that the three mentoring methods are effective in supporting workintegrated learning students. The students indicated their preference for mentorship provided by the University of South Africa, over that of the sector-based mentors. No significant difference between the two university-provided methods of mentorship was found. This study recommends that the University continue with its development of the digital mentor option, to function as a fully functioning supplementary mentor. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Open and Distance Learning)