The obesity epidemic remains a serious issue in the United States leading to significant public health implications and costs. Few weight loss interventions paring mobile technology with face-to-face interventions have been conducted in rural communities. Yet, mobile technology interventions offer good potential for delivery but it is unclear if the combination of these weight loss strategies are beneficial. This study sought to examine how integrating mobile technology with face-to-face weight loss interventions in rural communities affects weight loss. Additionally, to determine if mobile technology paired with face-to-face interventions could increase autonomous and controlled motivation levels among adults in rural Kentucky. The addition of mobile technology with face-to-face intervention provided no significant interaction effect for weight loss compared to the mobile technology group alone. However, a group and time effect was observed for weight loss change. An interaction effect for autonomous motivation indicated that neither group changed independently, but comparing their change over time, the intervention group increased while the control group decreased. A time effect was found as controlled motivation decreased from baseline to final. Future research is required to develop weight loss interventions using technology and face-to-face strategies that may enhance motivation and weight loss outcomes.

Ineffective deployment of mobile technology jeopardizes healthcare quality, cost control, and access, resulting in healthcare organizations losing customers and revenue. A multiple case study was conducted to explore the strategies that chief information officers (CIOs) used for the effective deployment of mobile technology in healthcare organizations. The study population consisted of 3 healthcare CIOs and 2 healthcare information technology consultants who have experience in deploying mobile technology in a healthcare organization in the United States. The conceptual framework that grounded the study was Wallace and Iyer's health information technology value hierarchy. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and document reviews, followed by within-case and cross-case analyses for triangulation and data saturation. Key themes that emerged from data analysis included the application of disruptive technology in healthcare, ownership and management of mobile health equipment, and cybersecurity. The healthcare CIOs and consultants emphasized their concern about the lack of cybersecurity in mobile technology. CIOs were reluctant to deploy the bring-your-own-device strategy in their organizations. The implications of this study for positive social change include the potential for healthcare CIOs to emphasize the business practice of supporting healthcare providers in using secure mobile equipment deployment strategies to provide enhanced care, safety, peace of mind, convenience, and ease of access to patients while controlling costs.

Användningen av GPS-teknik har på senare år tagit ett stort steg framåt. I dag finns den inbyggd i våra datormobiler som inte sällan rapporterar var vi befinner oss. I denna uppsats undersöks hur datormobilanvändare påverkas av datormobilens inbyggda GPS. Teknik utvecklas ständigt, det som var nytt i går kan kännas gammalt i dag. De senare åren har försäljningen av datormobiler expanderat kraftigt. I takt med detta har Internet blivit något som människor ständigt bär med sig. Då allt fler datormobiler sålts har även mobilapplikationer blivit allt vanligare. Många av dagens applikationer kräver GPS för att fungera och sociala medier erbjuder användare att dela med sig av positionering i samband med inlägg och uppdateringar. En fråga som uppstår i och med detta handlar om bevakning och integritet. I denna uppsats redovisar vi hur datormobilanvändare ser på lokaliseringsfunktionen i mobiltelefonen och hur de ser på GPS-teknologin överlag. De främsta för- och nackdelarna diskuteras och sätts i proportion till varandra. / The use of GPS technology has during the last couple of years made significant progress. Today GPS is a standard function in modern cellphones. The GPS function in the cellphones enables tracking and is also one of the fundamental building stones in many smartphone applications. This essay investigates how users are affected by the GPS function in modern smartphones. Technology is always changing, smartphones and GPS are no exceptions. During the last year the sales and usage of smartphones has increased significantly. As the Internet gets more and more available and people have the possibility to go online with their mobile phones, the usage of smartphone applications also have increased. As of this, applications are now a well-known concept. Many applications need location data in order to function. It’s the smartphones GPS-functionality, built in to whatever application that provides data for positioning. Different social media provides users with their location, which can be used in status updates. A question that often comes up is about the personal integrity and monitoring that follows with GPS tracking. In this essay smartphone users share their comments about the technology. The primary advantages and disadvantages are discussed in proportions to each other.

<p>Managing customer relations had become a necessity for companies who want to succeed in today’s customer oriented market. New systems are developed that allow firms to manage and govern their relationships to the customers. These applications are called Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems and have become one of the most widely adopted business solution in the private sector. In the mean time, mobile internet and mobile marketing have become two of the most popular subjects mentioned in business literature today.</p><p>A new system that combines CRM and mobile technologies has recently been developed: mobile CRM (mCRM). This type of system will allow companies to enhance their way of working with customer relations and enables new ways of offering value to customers. The market size of mCRM systems has grown from a $120 million industry in 2001 to a $1, 7 billion industries in 2005. The combination of the growing trend of customer focus, mobile technologies and mCRM systems will most likely lead to more companies investing in mCRM solutions. Still an interesting question of the reasons behind mCRM adoption remains unanswered. The main focus of this thesis is to find out why companies chose to adopt or not adopt mCRM systems.</p><p>Theories about CRM, mCRM and the spreading of technology (The Technology Acceptance Model) have been gathered and examined in order to support the research. After a gained insight of the subject matter, a methodology is discussed explaining research approach. A qualitative approach is used and interviews are conducted in order to find barriers and facilitators to mCRM adoption. Four companies from different industry sectors where interviewed, answering to questions concerning their level of IT adoption, CRM strategy and perception of mCRM.</p><p>The research resulted in several reasons for mCRM acceptance and rejection. The primary reason for investing mCRM, or considering investing in mCRM, was found to be the need to reach customers and sales force anytime and anywhere. Also, current IT adoption and IT dependency, as well as industry sector, are found to influence attitude towards mCRM. Factors that are found not to affect mCRM adoption are size of the firm and external pressure from the market. The overall perception of mCRM is positive among the respondents and all believe that the mobility aspect of CRM will become increasingly popular.</p>

This study focuses on the theme of technology-based Indigenous language revitalization and maintenance efforts by looking at new developments in mobile technology and how they are used within Indigenous communities for language learning and teaching. I assessed four mobile apps through the use of an evaluation rubric, online user reviews, and developer consultations. The findings from the assessments were then used to determine what essential themes are important when developing an effective and successful language application model (Appendix C), with the intention of developing a user-friendly template for use by other Indigenous communities. Three essential elements were found to be common among the four language applications assessed: (1) successful integration of interactive and digital media that provides a purposeful learning environment for the user; (2) accuracy and testing of both media and the user-interface, and; (3) successful usability and functionality of the mobile platform.

Obesity is a widespread topic across the country as healthcare costs continue to rise. The field of health communication encompasses many efforts made by scholars and those working in health education and promotion to help individuals live healthier lives. As technology continues to evolve, e-health and mobile health programs are being explored as creative avenues for this endeavor. This study takes a mixed methods approach consisting of an experiment and a series of in-depth interviews. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, the experiment examines the effects of a popular mobile phone application, “my fitness pal,” on the users’ attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control of health behaviors. The interviews investigate how and why the mobile application has health benefits. There were 35 University of Kentucky employees who participated, and then a few follow-up interviews were conducted. Although, several hypotheses were not supported by the data, the results show there was an increase in the overall health statuses of participants encouraged to interact with co-workers about the mobile application through social media as well as face-to-face communication. Several applications can be taken from this study in order to improve future mobile health applications and workplace health and wellness programs.

Interna privata nätverk har länge använts av företag för att främja kommunikation och informationsspridning genom lokala accesspunkter till intranätet. Då teknologiutvecklingen fortsätter mot en högre grad av mobilitet genom inte bara WiFi, utan även 3G och 4G, har behovet av att utvärdera extern tillgång till företagets intranät blivit allt större. För att uppskatta värdet av extern tillgång av intranät via mobila enheter är det av intresse att identifiera de förutsättningar som skapar ett lyckat mobilt intranät. Det är även viktigt att identifiera potentiella möjligheter till optimering av företagsprocesser som mobil tillgång till intranät kan skapa inom organisationer. Mobil tillgång till kritisk data, dokument eller verktyg kan hjälpa anställda ute på fält. I denna rapport utförs tre studier för att identifiera faktorer som bidrar till ett lyckat mobilt intranät. En fallstudie av ett företag som önskar nyttja mobil tillgång till sitt intranät, en studie av ett annat företags lyckade intranätsatsning samt en studie av en existerande plattform för intranätlösningar i termer om dess lämplighet som mobil intranätplattform. Observationer från dessa tre studier analyseras sedan för att identifiera områden som ett mobilt intranät behöver utmärka sig inom för att bli lyckat. De kritiska funktionerna i en vanlig intranätlösning identifieras som minst lika viktiga i det mobila sammanhanget. Dessutom ligger stor vikt i att leverera nyckelfunktioner till mobila användare. Rapporten avslutas med en formulering av en generell strategi för att utvärdera och implementera mobila intranätlösningar. / Internal private networks have long been used by companies to promote communication and information sharing through local access points. As technology proceeds towards higher mobility through not only WiFi, but also 3G and 4G telecommunication systems, the need for companies to evaluate the need for externally accessing the company intranet has become apparent. To assess the value of external access through mobile devices it is of interest to identify the prerequisites needed for a successful mobile intranet. Also of note is the potential opportunities that mobile access of intranet can create within an organizations work to optimize business processes. Mobile access to important data, documents or tools could help employees on the field. In this report three studies are made to identify factors that contribute to a successful mobile intranet; a case study of a company that wishes to utilize intranet access through mobile technologies, a study of another company’s successful intranet implementation, and a study of an existing platform for intranet solutions in terms of its potential as a mobile intranet platform. Findings from these three studies are then examined to identify areas in which a mobile intranet must excel to be successful. The critical functions of regular intranet implementations are found to be equally important in a mobile context along with the importance of delivering key functions to mobile employees. The report is concluded with a presentation of a general strategy for examining and implementing mobile intranet solutions.

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Is There an App for That? The Usage of Mobile Technology for the Purposes of Teaching Health Education in Grade 4 and 5. Wahid Khan. Master of Arts. Curriculum, Teaching and Learning. University of Toronto. Year of Convocation: 2014. The use of mobile devices in elementary schools has steadily increased in the last few years. These mobile devices harness many tools that can help teachers teach classroom material and help students become better students academically. The research question was “How can mobile devices be used to teach health education?” Research was conducted in a grade 4 and 5 classroom to see which mobile apps worked best among teachers and students in conveying health education. Anecdotal notes and daily journaling over a two-month period documented how the students enjoyed playing games and also how engaged they were when they subsequently used the devices for non-gaming purposes. It is still unknown how well these apps conveyed messages of health. How the mobile apps are being used in the classroom and the content inside the mobile apps largely dictates the messages they can convey to the students.

abstract: This dissertation reports on an action research study that sought to discover how a new WiFi, tablet computing device, the Apple iPad, affected, enhanced, and impacted student engagement in an English Honors course at Scottsdale Community College. The researcher was also the instructor in the two semester, first-year, college composition sequence (English 101/102) in which all 18 students were provided the new Apple iPad tablet computing device. The researcher described how students adapted the Apple iPads to their academic lives, assessed iPad compatibility with current instructional technology systems, and interviewed participating students to document their beliefs about whether iPad activities enhanced the course. At the conclusion of the college composition sequence, 13 students agreed to participate in focus groups to describe how they made use of the iPad and to report on how the iPad influenced their engagement. Among other findings, students reported that there were compatibility problems with current SCC instructional technology systems, that the iPad increased their efficiency in completing informal educational tasks, but that the iPad was not useful for doing word processing and research. Recommendations for future use of the iPad in this course include reducing the number of iPads accessing the WiFi network at the same time, piloting the use of iPad word processing applications, researching more "mobile-friendly" web sites and documents, and developing innovative assignments that take advantage of iPad capabilities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2011