<p> </p><p>The aim of this thesis is to find out the attitudes towards using the mobile telephone as a communication tool within the District Education Offices (DEO) in Iringa in Tanzania. This in order to collect an understanding of the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in a work place in a developing country and to develop an understanding of how and why ICT is used.</p><p> </p><p>The theoretical framework which is the base for this study is made up by several theories within the field of development communication. Diffusion of innovations, ICT for developing countries, Technology Acceptance Model and a framework for sustainable ICT are the theories from which factors affecting attitudes have been collected to make up the theoretical framework for this study.</p><p> </p><p>The study was conducted with qualitative interviews with the employees of two out of seven DEOs in Iringa in Tanzania. The interview data was also complemented with data from questionnaires, filled out by employees at the DEOs. The questions in interview guide and the questionnaire were formed with the theoretical framework as the starting point and later also analysed through the same theoretical framework. Four individual interviews and one group interview with five interviewees were conducted and twelve questionnaires were collected.</p><p> </p><p>The compiled data showed that private usage, perceived ease of use, costs of usage, possible side effects of usage and the compatibility of the technology are the factors influencing the attitudes towards using the mobile phone at work and it can be concluded that the employees of the two District Education Offices in general had a positive attitude towards using the mobile phone, but that the technology and the work situation not yet were perfect for them to use the mobile phone without any restrains in their work. </p>

The aim of this thesis is to find out the attitudes towards using the mobile telephone as a communication tool within the District Education Offices (DEO) in Iringa in Tanzania. This in order to collect an understanding of the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in a work place in a developing country and to develop an understanding of how and why ICT is used.   The theoretical framework which is the base for this study is made up by several theories within the field of development communication. Diffusion of innovations, ICT for developing countries, Technology Acceptance Model and a framework for sustainable ICT are the theories from which factors affecting attitudes have been collected to make up the theoretical framework for this study.   The study was conducted with qualitative interviews with the employees of two out of seven DEOs in Iringa in Tanzania. The interview data was also complemented with data from questionnaires, filled out by employees at the DEOs. The questions in interview guide and the questionnaire were formed with the theoretical framework as the starting point and later also analysed through the same theoretical framework. Four individual interviews and one group interview with five interviewees were conducted and twelve questionnaires were collected.   The compiled data showed that private usage, perceived ease of use, costs of usage, possible side effects of usage and the compatibility of the technology are the factors influencing the attitudes towards using the mobile phone at work and it can be concluded that the employees of the two District Education Offices in general had a positive attitude towards using the mobile phone, but that the technology and the work situation not yet were perfect for them to use the mobile phone without any restrains in their work.

Orientador: Gilda Figueiredo Portugal Gouvêa / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-24T11:17:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ribeiro_Barbara_D.pdf: 1293978 bytes, checksum: c591ec7ecfcac0359b86704ee5fa6132 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: Saltam aos olhos a mudança que a amizade e as formas de interação social que a envolvem sofreram ao longo do tempo. Considerando-se a sociedade contemporânea, nota-se que a amizade é influenciada pelas novas tecnologias, como o telefone celular e a Internet, e suas ferramentas (correio eletrônico, redes sociais e programas de mensagens instantâneas). O estudo apresentado nesta tese busca trazer uma abordagem sociológica sobre tal tema, pois a amizade representa um campo relativamente novo de pesquisa na Sociologia. Nesse contexto, é fundamental que se compreendam os impactos das novas tecnologias da informação sobre as relações de amizade, e a função social da amizade na sociedade atual. Devido à importância de se considerar não só as consequências previstas e manifestadas pelo indivíduo, mas também aquelas não expressas, tomou-se como referencial teórico para o estudo da função social da amizade na sociedade contemporânea os conceitos de "função social manifesta" e "função social latente", pensados pelo sociólogo norte-americano Robert K. Merton. Tais funções sociais da amizade na sociedade contemporânea foram investigadas com base em 37 entrevistas, realizadas com homens e mulheres jovens adultos, moradores da metrópole paulistana, sendo a maioria natural da cidade de São Paulo. Também se buscou compreender as principais formas de manutenção social da amizade duradoura, para analisar a importância, ou não, do encontro presencial para a sua conservação / Abstract: It is evident the change that friendship and the forms of social interaction that involve this type of social relationship suffered beyond the time. And, considering contemporary society, the friendship is influenced by new technologies, as mobile telephone, Internet, and its products (email, social networks and instant messenger programs). The study presented in this thesis aims to show a sociological approach about this theme, as friendship represents a relatively new field of research in Sociology. In this context, it is very important to understand the impacts of new technologies on friendship relations, and the social function of friendship in this society. It is important considering not only the manifested consequences but also the unpredictable of social function by the person. That's why we took as the theoretical reference for the study of social function of friendship in contemporary society the concepts of "manifest functions" and "latent functions" of the American sociologist Robert K. Merton. These social functions of friendship in contemporary society were investigated with 37 interviews, done with young adults, men and women, citizens of paulistana' metropolis, most of them born in São Paulo. Also it was aimed to understood the principal forms of social maintenance of lasting friendship to analyze the importance, or not, of the existence of the physical encounter to its maintenance / Doutorado / Sociologia / Doutora em Sociologia

In the age of the risk society, when several actors at an international, national, and local level converge in order to find solutions that help mitigate the global effects of natural disasters, there is a need to study the patterns for communicating and interacting with the public that eventually feel the impact of crises. In the richer parts of the world ICTs have facilitated a framework for having instant information regarding threats that make crisis management a discipline that is centered more in preparing and planning, rather than mitigating actual crises.  In developing countries, the contextual idiosyncrasies of each nation provide a fragmented array of settings that prevents a rapid flow of information in the event of natural disasters. The phenomenal growth of mobile telephony use and its rapid diffusion in developing countries offers a game changing scenario where crisis managers could benefit from new applications and functionalities of mobile devices. In a confluence of multidisciplinary nature, this study aims to explore the role of mobile technology and internet in crisis management, as well as the state of accessibility of mobile technology when addressing the general public in Ghana. This study follows a three-pronged approach with the aim of answering its research questions. First, a qualitative study of the communication processes between crisis managers and the public and the role of mobile technologies during those processes. Second, a quantitative study of the uses of mobile internet and the current mobile internet infrastructure. Finally, a study on the accessibility level of Ghana’s national crisis management organization’s website. Several conclusions can be drawn from this study. Mobile technologies have an important role in the communication process of crisis managers and the public, however the use of internet still has no part in the flows of communication due to deficits in infrastructure and socio-economic factors, leading to a disconnection between international risk policy requirements and local needs. The lack of resources is seen as the biggest challenge for crisis managers; a challenge that leads to issues of trust in the public and non-compliance. Finally, while there have been improvements in accessibility efforts, there is still a wide gap between international web accessibility best practices and the one provided by authorities in Ghana.

Abstract The role of regular physical activity for preventing ill health and chronic disease is well established. Despite the demonstrated role of physical activity for the prevention of ill health, population participation levels among adults remain at stable but unfavourably low levels. Evidence suggests that postnatal women (<12-months postpartum) living in disadvantaged communities are at particular risk of low physical activity participation, even though there are additional physical and mental health benefits of physical activity in the postpartum period. There is a need to develop effective physical activity interventions for postnatal women living in disadvantaged communities. Traditional physical activity interventions are often designed and implemented in ways that exclude disadvantaged groups. Unlike other methods of communication typically used to disseminate mass-reach interventions (e.g., internet, e-mail), mobile telephone short messaging service (SMS) is used equally by disadvantaged and advantaged groups. Few SMS-delivered health behaviour interventions have targeted preventive health behaviours, such as physical activity. The primary aim of this research was to evaluate the efficacy of an individually-tailored physical activity intervention delivered via SMS (“MobileMums”) for postnatal women living in a disadvantaged community. A secondary aim of this research was to explore the role of theory-derived mediators of physical activity behaviour change that were targeted in the intervention. A physical activity intervention was developed based on findings from formative focus groups conducted with postnatal women (n=48) and a pilot study of intervention procedures and content (n=12). This formative research highlighted the need for flexible delivery of a physical activity intervention for postnatal women and identified mobile telephone SMS as a highly used form of communication. Women indicated a willingness to receive health-related messages via their mobile telephones and reported a physical activity preference for walking. The 12-week intervention was delivered primarily via personally tailored SMS and aimed to increase health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) and more specifically Walking for Exercise. The SMS targeted constructs of the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) (self efficacy, outcome expectancy, goal setting skills, social support and perceived environmental opportunity for exercise). Overall, the intervention employed practical strategies to help participants develop skills in physical activity goal setting and social support negotiations, and promoted local opportunities for physical activity. The intervention was evaluated in a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) involving 88 postnatal women. Data were collected at baseline, 6-weeks and 13-weeks. At each data collection point, HEPA was assessed using ActiGraph accelerometers and self-report measures. Walking for Exercise was assessed in the self-report measure. Validated self-report measures of the targeted SCT constructs were also administered at each data collection point. Following the RCT, intervention group participants were invited to participate in a one-on-one qualitative interview to explore their perceptions of the intervention. The intention-to-treat analysis of HEPA outcomes revealed significant group x time interaction effects for change in HEPA frequency (days per week) using both MTI-recorded (F(2,44)=9.17, p<0.001) and self-reported outcomes (F(2,85)=7.15, p=0.001). Intervention group participants increased MTI-recorded HEPA frequency (mean change 1.46 days/wk, SD± 2.16) and self-reported HEPA frequency (mean change 1.67 days/wk, SD± 1.71) from baseline to 13-weeks. There was no significant effect on HEPA duration (minutes per week) as a result of the intervention for either MTI-recorded or self-reported outcomes. Self-reported Walking for Exercise frequency had a significant between-group effect (F(1,86)=5.02, p=0.03) and within-group effect (F(2,85)=8.60, p<0.001) but there was no significant group x time interaction. There were significantly more intervention group participants than control group participants meeting the HEPA guidelines at 6-weeks (86% vs. 37%, χ2=10.25, p=0.001) and at 13-weeks (54% vs. 19%, χ2=5.18, p=0.04). There were significant group x time interaction effects for change in self efficacy (F(2,85)=3.69, p=0.03) and goal setting skills (F(2,85)=4.28, p=0.01) from baseline to 13-weeks. Based on the Baron and Kenny criteria for mediation, changes in self efficacy and goal setting skills mediated the significant intervention effect on change in HEPA frequency over the first 6-weeks of the intervention. None of the SCT constructs mediated the significant intervention effect on change in HEPA frequency during the second 6-weeks of the intervention. There was a generally positive response to the intervention from participants. Results from qualitative interviews showed that intervention group participants believed the intervention helped them to initiate physical activity, and that it was motivating and ‘mother-centred’. At 13-weeks, more intervention group participants (51%) rated the intervention program as ‘extremely useful’ or ‘useful’ than at 6-weeks (44%). Overall, the intervention developed as part of this research resulted in increases in HEPA among postnatal women, which were mediated in the short-term by changes in targeted SCT constructs. This study is an innovative extension of previous research investigating strategies to promote physical activity among postnatal women. The findings provide evidence to support further inter-disciplinary collaborations between researchers in physical activity (and other areas of health behaviour change) and information technology. This research contributes foundation knowledge to the emerging research area of SMS-delivered health behaviour change interventions and the potential for systematic population-wide delivery via an existing low-cost technology.

Orientador: Kamal Abdel Radi Ismail / Dissertação (mestrado profissional) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T07:17:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Goulart_MarceloMagalhaes_M.pdf: 9682705 bytes, checksum: cef6e14e1c5be1d97e9dd8d289828945 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: A partir dos meados dos anos 90, com o surgimento da telefonia celular analógica e posteriormente digital, o número de usuários da telefonia celular aumenta vertiginosamente e em 2004 já supera no Brasil o número de telefones fixos, 54 milhões de celulares e 49 milhões de telefones fixos (Dados Teleco de Junho/2004). Este trabalho descreve de uma forma geral a proposta do desenvolvimento de um protótipo elétrico/eletrônico e mecânico de um sistema de monitoração e controle de inclinação (Tilt) e coordenação (Azimute) das antenas das estações rádio base da telefonia celular, facilitando-se desta forma enormemente a otimização da infra-estrutura já existente das operadoras de telefones portáteis. O estudo se baseia na utilização de microcontroladores para a realização de controle e monitoração dos sensores de inclinação e azimute instalados na simulação de uma estrutura de torre de uma estação rádio base (ERB) / Abstract: Starting from the middles of the nineties, with the appearance of the analogical mobile telephone and later digital, the number of users of the cellular mobile telephone increases vastly and in 2004 it already overcomes in Brazil the number of fixed telephones, 54 million of cellular mobile telephone and 49 million telephones fixed (Data from Teleco jun/2004).This work describe the proposal of the development of a prototype electric/electronic and mechanic of a monitoring and control system of inclination (Tilt) and coordination (Azimuth) of the antennas of the stations radio-base of the mobile telephone, being facilitated this way vastly the optimization of the infrastructure already existent of the operators of telephones mobile. The study if it bases on the microcontrollers use for accomplishment of control and monitoring of the sensor of inclination and azimuth installed in the simulation of a structure of tower of a station radio base (ERB) / Mestrado / Instrumentação e Controle Industrial / Mestre Profissional em Engenharia Mecanica

Orientador: Leonardo de Souza Mendes / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Eletrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-05T15:20:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Pereira_MarceloAugustusCubas_M.pdf: 10308914 bytes, checksum: 0bf0375ce97501ba8d456ed838e18859 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: Neste trabalho realizamos uma contribuição ao tópico governo eletrônico. Foi desenvolvido um sistema de controle municipal de dados utilizando o sistema de cadastro de domicílios e moradores de uma cidade, disponibilizado pelo Sistema Único de Saúde do governo federal brasileiro. Este sistema permite a coleta de dados de forma digital através de telefones celulares ou Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Foi criado também um servidor que irá gerenciar os dados coletados no município e a sua transmissão para o servidor federal que irá controlar os registros de todo o país. As funcionalidades disponibilizadas pelo servidor serão visíveis externamente na forma de um serviço Web, isto é, a comunicação entre cliente móvel e servidor ocorrerá através da utilização da tecnologia Web Services. A plataforma Java foi utilizada em todos os pontos do sistema, pois através da mesma é possível desenvolver aplicativos tanto para dispositivos com baixo poder de processamento, como telefones celulares, quanto para servidores de aplicação / Abstract: In this work we did a contribution in Electronic Government (e-Government) topic. Using, as background, the cadastre system of residences and citizens of a city that was created by unique system of health form Brazilian govern, it was developed a system responsible for control the municipal data. It permits gathering data in a digital way through a cell phone or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). It was also created a server that is responsible for manage the data gathered on the city and transmit them to a federal server that will control the registers of all country. All the system functionalities will be visible as a web service. To reach this goal the Web Services technology was used. The Java platform is present in all points of the system because through this technology, it is possible to develop applications that can run from devices with low processing power, such as cell phones, to applications servers / Mestrado / Telecomunicações e Telemática / Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica

Orientador: Ivanil Sebastião Bonatti / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Eletrica e de Eletrica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-05T15:37:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marques_MarcelodeOliveira_M.pdf: 450626 bytes, checksum: fa1f72472e4929bcf614ccd0a37ab18b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: O dimensionamento de enlace sem fio das redes de telecomunicação com integração de voz e de dados é abordado nesse trabalho. Foram desenvolvidos procedimentos de análise e síntese para os dois modelos de filas considerados: modelos markovianos; e modelos com prioridade, sem e com preempção. Esquemas com ou sem compartilhamento de recursos e com buffer finito e infinito foram considerados. Comparações numéricas foram feitas para os modelos utilizados, bem como, os resultados obtidos no dimensionamento do enlace foram submetidos a condições de sobrecarga do tráfego de voz e de dados de forma a analisar o comportamento dos parâmetros de qualidade de serviço especificados / Abstract: The dimensioning of telecommunications network wireless link, with voice and data integration, is presented in this paper. Analysis and synthesis procedures were developed considering Markovian and priority models (with or without preemption). Schemes with or without resources sharing and finite and infinite buffer were considered. The selected models were numerically compared and the results of the dimensioning were submitted to simulations of traffic overload conditions in order to analyze the quality of service parameters behavior / Mestrado / Telecomunicações e Telemática / Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica

Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) usually participate in disaster response in rural African communities. Disasters in African communities are often characterized by huge fatalities, which are associated with a slow pace of response. The use of information and communication technology in disaster response is recognized as an effective conduit for enhancing response. Previous research indicates the efficacy of the use of mobile telephones in disaster response in advance countries. However, there remains a critical gap in the available literature on the experiences of EMTs with the use of mobile telephones in disaster response in rural African communities. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore the experiences of EMTs with the use of mobile telephones in disaster response in rural African communities. The innovation diffusion theory served as the theoretical framework of the study. Data were collected through face to face, semi-structured interviews with 10 EMTs from 2 institutions in Sierra Leone. Data were analyzed with the use of Nvivo. The findings of this research include (a) The key areas in emergency response where mobile telephones are most useful; (b) The benefits of the use of mobile telephones in disaster response, including the enhancement of communication and search and rescue efforts; (c) Challenges to the use of mobile telephones; and (d) Ways to improve the use of mobile telephones. The results of this study may enhance positive social change through contribution to the reduction of fatalities usually associated with slow disaster response. It is recommended that future research be conducted on the experiences of other categories of first responders, and to explore alternative funding sources for disaster response in rural African communities.

The purpose of this study was to examine opportunities to teach about the mobile phone system for primary school pupils. This was explored by seeing if and how the students' understanding, perception and knowledge changed by taking part in an educational activity about the mobile phone system. Data were collected with the help of audio recording of the lesson itself, but also with the help of worksheets where the students first filled in their prerequisites and then what they had learned about the mobile phone system after the educational activity. The study was performed at three different schools and in three different classes in year 2–3 in the countryside, in an urban area and in a larger city. The last two schools are also multicultural with many second language students in the classes. The fact that three quite different schools were chosen was to increase the reliability of the results and see how well the educational activity works despite the students' differ-ent circumstances.The result show a major improvement in the students' knowledge of the mobile phone system as none of the students had any direct knowledge of how the mobile phone system works, for example, how to make a call or send a text message. The result also shows that the knowledge between the different schools did not differ much, but the difference that was seen was the students' different ways of describing the mobile phone system. / Syftet med denna studie var att ta reda på möjligheter att undervisa om mobiltelefonsystemet för lågstadieelever. Detta undersöktes genom att se om och hur elevernas förståelse, uppfattning och kunskap förändrades av en pedagogisk aktivitet om mobiltelefonsystemet. Data om denna aktivitet samlades in med hjälp av ljudinspelning av själva lektionen men också med hjälp av arbetsblad där eleverna först fyllde i sina förkunskaper och sedan vad det lärt sig om mobiltelefonsystemet efter den pedagogiska aktiviteten. Studien utfördes på tre olika skolor och i tre olika klasser i årskurs 2–3 på landsbygden, en tätort och i en större stad. De två sistnämnda skolorna är även mångkulturella, de vill säga med mestadels andraspråkselever i klasserna. Resultateten visade på stora förbättringar av elevernas kunskap om mobiltelefonsystemet då ingen av eleverna hade något direkt förkunskap om hur det fungerar att exempelvis ringa ett samtal eller skicka ett sms. Resultatet visar även att kunskapen mellan de olika skolorna inte skiljde sig åt särskilt mycket men den skillnad som gick att se var elevernas olika sätt att beskriva mobiltelefonsystemet.