Relatively little research on blended learning (BL) addresses institutional adoption in higher education. Graham, Woodfield, and Harrison (2012) proposed a framework for institutional BL adoption, identifying three stages: (a) awareness/exploration, (b) adoption/early implementation, and (c) mature implementation/growth. The framework also identified key strategy, structure, and support issues universities may address at each stage. In this series of articles, the authors applied that framework to institutions of higher education implementing BL. In the first article, the authors applied the framework to 11 Next Generation Learning Challenge (NGLC) grant recipients transitioning from Stage 1 to Stage 2 of BL adoption. The authors compared U.S. institutional strategy, structure, and support approaches to BL adoption and identified patterns and distinctions. In the final two articles, the authors applied the framework as well as Rogers' (2003) diffusion of innovations theory to determine the degree to which and why institutional strategy, structure, and support measures would facilitate or impede BL adoption among higher education faculty. The authors also explored whether faculty's innovation adoption category would affect which measures facilitated or impeded BL adoption. To achieve these objectives, the authors surveyed and interviewed faculty at BYU-Idaho (BYU-I). In the second article, the authors reviewed the survey results to determine (a) the appropriate innovation adoption category for each faculty member and (b) the factors that impacted faculty decisions to adopt BL. In the third article, the authors reviewed the results of the interviews to identify why participants reported strategy, structure, and support decisions would impact their decision to adopt BL.

Utilizing a sample of lesbian, gay, and heterosexual adoptive parent families with school-age children, results suggested that parents engage in adoption communication less but racial-ethnic socialization more when a child is transracially adopted. No differences were found in lesbian and gay parents socialization practices for adoptive or racial-ethnic identity. Further, lesbian and gay parents engaged in sexual minority parent socialization less than adoptive or racial-ethnic socialization. Children’s self-worth was related to sex but not socialization practices such that girls reported lower self-worth, and no significant associations were present for children’s closeness. Children’s age, sex, and transracial adoptive status were predictive of their understanding of adoption and only children’s age was predictive of their recognition of sexual minority parent socialization. Children’s sex and transracial adoptive status as predictors of understanding of adoption have not yet been reported on in the literature. Further, no work has reported on associations between parent and child socialization practices in the context of sexual minority parent socialization. The implications of differences emerging in parent socialization frequency (i.e., racial-ethnic communication higher than adoptive communicative openness), as well as how children’s sex and transracial adoptive status contribute to children’s understanding of adoption will be discussed.

Transnational adoption generates ample controversy both within and outside the adoption community. In recent times transnational adoption made international headlines following a wave of ‘celebrity adopters’ and calls to airlift children for overseas adoption from the economically disadvantaged nation of Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake on 12th January 2010. Some see the practice as being about ‘rescuing’ orphaned children, while others argue that it is parent-centred, intrinsically racist and represents a form of Western colonialism. Igniting such fears is the fact that transnational adoptions both in the past and at present, typically involve Non-White children from mostly Non-Western developing nations and adoptive parents of predominantly White, Western backgrounds. 
 
 This thesis is based on research conducted from 2005 to 2010 among 35 transnationally adoptive parents who reside in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The key question explored is: What impact does transnational adoption have on the lives of adoptive parents and their own sense of identity and belonging? In answering this question I consider the ways these parents legitimise, define and explain the role of being ‘suitable’ carers of children adopted from overseas, with a particular focus on the racial, cultural and ethnic dimensions involved. This includes how they imagine, reconstruct and integrate aspects of adoptees’ birth heritage into their family lives. 
 
 The distinct feature of this thesis is that most existing adoption research in both Australia and overseas is overwhelmingly focused on the lives of adoptees and many of these studies are often conducted by researchers who themselves are White adoptive parents. This study represents an interesting contrast as it focuses on transnationally adoptive parents, written from the perspective of someone adopted from Vietnam into a White Australian family. 
 
 The theoretical framework chosen to guide my research draws upon sociological studies on the family, on migration including cosmopolitanism and transnationalism, and issues of diversity such as critical race theory and studies of ethnicity. Such scholarship is well suited to explain the challenges adoptive parents face in building families who do not share blood ties or the same racial, cultural, ethnic and national backgrounds. The methodological approach is inductive, reflexive and employs multiple methods to generate qualitative data. This thesis is organised around three main stages across the participants’ life course: before, during and after they have adopted. The findings were that most parents grew up in predominantly White environments, with many identifying as patriotic Australians in childhood before developing more cosmopolitan dispositions in adulthood. Most chose to adopt after struggling with issues of infertility but also claim to have been influenced by their interest in other cultures. However, in the process of adopting, the participants display frustration with the government’s adoption assessment process, which they viewed as highly bureaucratic and expecting an unfair level of cultural knowledge concerning adoptees’ birth heritage.
 
 Despite these frustrations, all the participants were observed to attempt to integrate various ‘culture keeping’ and symbolic ethnic practices into their lives in the lead up to adopting as well as after their adopted children joined them. A number also develop transnational ties to adoptees’ countries of origin, such as sending financial remittances to surviving birth relatives and making return trips there. These combined activities and processes are observed to have a transformative effect on transnationally adoptive parents’ constructions of identity resulting in a shift from many identifying as being ‘just’ Australians to co-identifying with the ethnicity of their children or even describing themselves as ‘world citizens’. 
 
 At the same time, most participants did not appear to have a significant level of understanding how issues of ‘racial’ and cultural privilege shape and complicate their lives as Whites raising Non-White children in predominantly White environments. This includes lacking robust strategies to challenge forms of racism that can undermine their own status as ‘real’ parents and their adopted children identities. As such, I conclude that further attention needs to be given to exposing and challenging how issues of race shape the lives of White transnationally adoptive parents and their ongoing efforts to be ‘suitable’ carers of Non-White overseas born children.

<p>The respondents can be classified into 3 groups as follows,</p><p>users 47%, non users 37%, non awareness customers 16%.</p><p>We found that the group of users perceived more positive</p><p>toward Bualuang ibanking than the group of non users in four</p><p>aspects, relatively advantage, complexity, compability and</p><p>observability, while, trialability was not perceived as a</p><p>significant attribute facilitating the use of Bualuang ibanking.</p><p>However, in some circumstances, such as, time processing,</p><p>mental effort, frustrating, privacy and security, the attitude</p><p>toward these circumstances is positive but not divergent</p><p>between these two groups. For the non awareness customers,</p><p>there are 58% of them preferred adopting this technology in</p><p>the future and the most frequently selective duration that they</p><p>will adopt this technology is within one month.</p>

The respondents can be classified into 3 groups as follows, users 47%, non users 37%, non awareness customers 16%. We found that the group of users perceived more positive toward Bualuang ibanking than the group of non users in four aspects, relatively advantage, complexity, compability and observability, while, trialability was not perceived as a significant attribute facilitating the use of Bualuang ibanking. However, in some circumstances, such as, time processing, mental effort, frustrating, privacy and security, the attitude toward these circumstances is positive but not divergent between these two groups. For the non awareness customers, there are 58% of them preferred adopting this technology in the future and the most frequently selective duration that they will adopt this technology is within one month.

Ce mémoire sur l'économie de l'adoption porte autant sur l'adoption locale qu'internationale. Il a été développé dans le but de mieux comprendre le fonctionnement du marché de l'adoption. Qu'on le veuille ou non, l'adoption fonctionne comme un véritable marché économique et mieux en comprendre le fonctionnement peut aider les enfants qui passent à travers ce processus. Le mémoire fait état de la littérature sur le sujet, il présente les grands enjeux de l'adoption, il développe un modèle où des individus de manière endogène choisissent d'adopter ou de donner en adoption un enfant. Une offre et une demande d'enfants peuvent donc être déterminées. Le modèle nous permet de mieux comprendre le fonctionnement du marché et d'envisager des politiques pour éventuellement l'améliorer. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Adoption, Marché noir, Réglementation, Marché économique

Adoption är ett av många sätt att bilda familj på, dock är det inte så vanligt i vårt samhälle. Då adoption inte är vanligt förekommande finns det inte heller mycket kunskap kring adoptionsprocessen därför har vårt syfte varit att undersöka vilka emotioner som uppkommer i adoptionsprocessen och hur dessa bearbetas både inom individen och i en gemenskap. Vårt syfte var att undersöka hur paren och den enskilda individen hanterar emotionerna som uppkommer i adoptionsprocessen men även hur normerna påverkar synen på adoptivföräldrar. Därefter ville vi även se hur den enskilda individen kunde genomgå denna process och om föräldragruppen hade någon betydelse. För att ta reda på detta utförde vi fyra solidariska intervjuer med fyra olika par som ingick i samma föräldragrupp. Materialet analyserades utifrån tre teoretiska utgångspunkter, normer enligt M. Foucualt, T. Scheffs begrepp skam och stolthet samt S. Freuds försvarsmekanismer. Med hjälp av dessa teorier kom vi fram till att adoption som familjebildning ses som normbrytande då dessa föräldrar väljer att inte skaffa biologiska barn, vårt resultat visade även att föräldrarna använde sig av försvarsmekanismer för att försvara sig mot ångest och depressiva känslor i olika delar av adoptionsprocessen samt att föräldragruppen hade en stor betydelse. / Adoption is one of many ways to start a family on, however, it’s not so common in our society. When adoption is not usual, there is not much knowledge about the adoption process, therefore our aim was to explore the emotions that arise in the adoption process and how they are processed in both the individual and in the affinity. Our aim was to examine how the pairs and the individual dealing with emotions that arise in the adoption process, but also how the norms affect the view of adoptive parents. Then we wanted to see how the individual could go through the adoption process and if the parent group was important. We have performed four interviews with four couples that was part of the same parent group. The materials were analyzed according to three theoretical points, norms according to M. Foucault, T. Scheffs concept of shame and pride and S. Freuds defense mechanisms. By using these theories we concluded that adoption as a family formation is seen as norm-breaking, when the parents choose not to have biological children, our results also showed that parents used the defense to defend against anxiety and depressive feelings in different parts of the adoption process and that the parents' group had a significant impact.

In the past, the Ministry of Social Services and Housing has placed many native children from the Seabird Island Band, a Salish band in the Sta’lo Nation, in permanent placement or adoption off the reserve. Government agencies imposed a system of child welfare that superseded Seabird Island adoption practices. The Seabird Island Band members would prefer to see these children placed within the band through ‘custom’ adoption. In apprehension and placement court cases, the band social worker has needed documented information defining ‘custom’ adoption, and data regarding the benefits of this Seabird Island process. This thesis investigates and documents the process and results of adoption on the Seabird Island Indian Reserve. This thesis begins with a brief history of Canadian adoption policy as it applies to First Nations people. The thesis is based on detailed taped interviews with Seabird Island Band members who had experienced foster care and/or adoption. This fieldwork was the result of negotiation with the Seabird Island Band to discover the type of research that they needed. The thesis documents four kinds of adoption experience of the Seabird Island members: foster care, closed legal adoption, open adoption, and ‘custom’ adoption. In my analysis of these adoption experiences, three main themes occur: (1) issues of ethnic identity, (2) power and the child welfare system, and (3) the definition and functions of ‘custom’ adoption. The thesis concludes that the imposed system of child welfare based on Euro-western ideas of appropriate child care may have destroyed or seriously damaged some Seabird Island Band members’ sense of ethnic identity. As well, it may be a factor in the break-up of the extended family. ‘Custom’ adoption, as defined by Seabird Island Band members, offers an alternate model for keeping apprehended Seabird Island children within the band. Open adoption, as defined by the pilot project documented, is an alternative for those children who cannot be returned to the band. I have made several recommendations in the conclusion for the Seabird Island Band’s consideration.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

This thesis aimed to investigate the impact of firm- and industry-specific factors on the decision to adopt Internet technologies among SMEs in New Zealand's retail and tourism industries. A mail survey was sent to 500 retail SMEs and 1,000 tourism SMEs, with response rates of 26.4 percent and 33.4 percent respectively. The results indicated that, in a comparison of perceived benefits, organizational readiness and external pressure, the most important factor in determining the adoption decision was the perceived benefits. Overall, the level of Internet support, business size, international business, and years on the Internet were the most important structural factors in determining Internet technology adoption. When comparing retail and tourism SMEs, the level of Internet support within a firm, business size, and years on the Internet were more important factors for the tourism SMEs than for their retail counterparts. On the other hand, business type and international business were more important factors for retail SMEs than they were for tourism firms. The research also found that tourism SMEs experienced greater pressure from the external environment to adopt Internet technologies than did retail firms.