Includes bibliographical references. / 'Unknown to most of us, we are living inside and alongside a revolution of stupendous power and energy. It is not a communist, socialist, capitalist or even a religious revolution. It is the ICT revolution, the revolution of information communication technologies that is changing the nature and patterns of our social, commercial and political interactions. Like most revolutions, its true scope cannot yet be grasped nor can all the issues it raises be clearly understood even by those at its cutting edges". The Internet and other new technologies play an important role in today's global information society, are now essential in every sector of human life and can be used for the preparation and commission of serious and transnational crimes.

Published Article / This research is an attempt to verify certain myths surrounding the causes for the low numbers of women participating in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) education and careers through both qualitative and quantitative analyses. The paper approaches this issue through the experiences of women in an ICT workplace in comparison with those of men in the same workplace. This investigation was conducted in the form of case study at South Africa's Advanced African Institute for ICTs – the Meraka Institute. The research found that the ICT environment was engendered, with women representing only a small percentage of the staff. This is because of a weakness in the school curriculum which does not expose large numbers of girls to ICTs at an early age, and does not give adequate support at university and college levels to learners who have come out of such an environment.. Although women are just as capable as men in the ICT workplace, building self-confidence in their abilities to perform well on the job could help in retaining them. The research found that those women who are already in the ICT market are happy and do perform as well as their male counterparts irrespective of their family commitments, long working hours and the demand for networking opportunities. Happiness in the ICT workplace among female employees is determined by a combination of factors such as levels of remuneration, output potential and management style. To improve women's participation in this workplace, there is a need to improve policies for recruitment and on-the-job training and sometimes even adopting affirmative action to provide better-balanced gender representation.

This research addresses pedagogy in relation to Information & Communication Technology (ICT) in secondary education. Computers have been used in classrooms for approximately thirty years, but it remains unclear whether teachers’ pedagogies have changed much in consequence. Thus this research explores the transformation of pedagogy through Information and Communication Technology (ICT). In 1998 a 2-year, multi-site case study linking teams of students and teachers within four broad UK regions was begun. A further six-year period allowed analysis of research data, to support theory building in relation to transformation of teachers’ pedagogy and the conditions necessary to make pedagogical transformation possible. The research made use of Grounded Theory within a case study methodology. Varied data were collected through my records of planning meetings with teachers and engineers during the project; of pedagogical transformation while visiting schools involved in the project; of teachers’, engineers’ and pupils’ case study interview data where more insightful and directly focused questions on pedagogical issues from their different perspectives were involved, and of teachers’ subject knowledge arising from the combined school and industrial manufacturing situated context of the project. The case study interviews involved a representative sample of those taking part in the two-year school and industry project. Theory on pedagogical transformation has resulted from the analysis of these data. Developing this involved modelling alternative meanings of phenomena observed during the case study and developing new concepts as building blocks of the theory. I also used NVivo as a tool to help with handling the mass of raw data collected during the project and with aspects of the qualitative data management. The research concludes that teachers may personally reconstruct their pedagogies when faced in certain ways with certain new pedagogy precedents, and develops precedence as a pre-condition of pedagogical transformation.

This thesis is situated at the intersection between the three themes of education in Africa, impact assessment, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Specifically, it seeks to develop a critique of current practices regarding monitoring and evaluation of ICT for education within Africa, and explores plausible alternatives to such practices that would make the benefits of education and technology more available and structured towards the poor and marginalised. Two participatory case studies of ICT for education programmes in Malawi and Ethiopia were used as the main empirical focus for the research. These involved working in partnership with implementing organisations, whilst simultaneously abstracting myself so as to evaluate the evaluation process and assess the underlying reasons for what was occurring. These case studies were supplemented by three international participatory workshops and a pan-Africa survey of ICT for education practitioners. The findings from the empirical work are examined within four analytical contexts. The first of these analyses the different methodological approaches employed in the case studies and considers the limitations and opportunities encountered. The second focuses on the role of partnerships within ICT for education programmes, especially in regard to their impact in defining the nature of monitoring and evaluation processes. The third investigates the marginalising of pedagogy within many ICT for education programmes, especially in regard to educational outcomes. The fourth explores the significance of aspiration within technology related development initiatives, focussing on consequences for effective impact assessment. The applied nature of the research emphasises the need for both critical rigour and innovative alternatives in assessing ICT for education in Africa. This thesis concludes by demonstrating the ways in which monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment can be positively reframed in the light of the research findings to emphasise process, participation, capacity enhancement, and the centrality of education.

Growing pressure is being placed upon educational institutions as students, employers and governments look at the economic, demographic and technological environments of the present, expecting them to have the answers for the future. Many institutions are turning to information and communication technology (ICT) for some of these answers. The focus of this study is two fold - the use of ICT in teaching and learning by teaching staff within an Australian tertiary institution (Curtin University of Technology) and the mechanisms the University has established in order to realign themselves with the information age. At certain stages these two coincide to provide an insight into the organisational culture and teaching environment of one Australian University. The key research questions that guided this study are as follows: How are Curtin University teaching staff utilising ICT in their teaching and learning?; What is the relationship between the ICT behaviour of a University's teaching staff and the strategies used to implement the University's ICT strategic planning initiatives?; What is an appropriate model for future implementation of ICT into teaching and learning at an Australian university? A combination of qualitative (interview and case study techniques) and quantitative (survey and Likert-type instruments) methods was employed. Overall, this study can be described as longitudinal in nature, relying upon such tools as observation, interviews and survey instruments, to collect data at appropriate points in time from the various samples. Since it has already been acknowledged that such change takes time, the study focused specifically on those changes which occurred during the two academic years (1999-2000) at Curtin University of Technology. / It appears that the critical mass stage for integrating ICT into teaching and learning has been reached by the teaching staff involved in the Curtin survey sample. The most common teaching mode adopted by the survey sample is the traditional lecture and tutorial (workshop or laboratory) mode. However, the data revealed that over the 16 month period of the study there was a large increase in the use of Web-based material for teaching and learning. The data revealed that a number of factors emerged which affected the adoption of ICT. These factors included: leadership across the university, attitude toward the use of ICT; the perceived benefits of adopting ICT in teaching and learning; incentives, modeling mechanisms, the provision of adequate support structures; the time factor; training; facilities and resources. The reflective monitoring system utilised in this study (the TracIT reports) revealed the changes in ICT behaviour and the changes in the ICT environment, as well as the source of initiation of the change. It appears that most of the 'real changes' which occurred in the teaching practice of the case study sample were individually driven, with some others being influenced by their own Department/School or by student pressure. The study also found that the adoption of ICT into the working environment of a university teacher significantly increases the workload of individual staff. The existence of transformational leadership across all levels of the University was identified as a major factor in the promotion and adoption of ICT and ultimately the development of a truly professional learning community. / From the extensive data collected in this longitudinal study an empirical model or framework, the "Curtin University Professional Learning Community Model", was introduced. Many of the teaching staff at Curtin University involved in this particular study have clearly demonstrated their commitment to the adoption of ICT for teaching and learning. The detailed case study data has also revealed that many of the teaching staff possess professional attributes which would be admired and valued in any university. Universities are facing the challenge of identifying what role ICT will play in the future of higher education and how to implement the appropriate strategies which will meet these needs. This study has found that the key to meeting the challenge seems to be to harness strategies that lead to the development of a professional learning community. The Curtin University Professional Learning Community Model has identified the key elements which need to be in place if the use of ICT for teaching and learning is to be not only adopted, but sustained and more importantly, effective in the teaching and learning process. This study has clearly revealed that it is only through the synergy of university commitment and individual commitment that real change can actually take place, the change in this case being the adoption of ICT in teaching and learning practices. The strategies suggested by the empirically derived model can begin this journey to a truly professional learning community.

Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / The use of information and communication technology to support physiotherapy students in South Africa Over the past few decades, there has been a global shift toward the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in healthcare, which has been shown to enhance the support provided to healthcare professionals, as well as to improve service delivery, patient care and student education. This study aims to investigate the use of ICT at South African universities to provide support to physiotherapy students and what the experiences and perceptions of those students are on the use of ICT as a means of receiving support. The study design was a cross-sectional, descriptive survey using a self-administered questionnaire. The survey population included all of the undergraduate physiotherapy students (n=1105) from six of the eight universities offering the physiotherapy degree in South Africa. The sample size consisted of the 529 students from the survey population who had completed and returned questionnaires, indicating a response rate of 47.8%. The results of the study showed that the use of ICT varied according to racial demographics, as well as the university attended and that there was a preference among students (94.7%) for face-to-face contact as the method by which support was accessed. Furthermore, confidence in the use of ICT for research and in promoting academic development was low (42.9% and 39.1% respectively), which raises concerns with the shift in healthcare toward evidence-based practices. In conclusion, there is a concern that with the move toward community based service delivery in South Africa, certain groups of physiotherapy students may not be well placed to make use of ICT services as a means of accessing support.

Masters of Commerce / Information and Communication Technology is a mixed set of technological tools and resources used to create and manage information. It involves technologies such as radio, television, video, DVD, telephone (both fixed line and mobile phones), satellite systems, computer (network hardware and software) as well as the tools and services associated with these technologies. ICT is increasingly seen as a major enabler of efficiencies and a catalyst for innovations. With adequate skills to effectively use ICT, it can also prove to be a foundation upon which sustainable socio-economic developments can be built. The problem in South Africa, however, is that of a severe shortage of technical skills in the ICT sector. The paradox is that despite the efforts at national, provincial and organisational levels to redress the shortage of skills, the problem persists. The aim of this study thus, was to understand the magnitude of skills shortages in under-developed areas of the Eastern Cape, so as to inform corrective measures. The Actor Network Theory (ANT) was used mainly as an analytical framework to analyse the problem of e-Skills shortages in South Africa. ANT helped in framing the context of the problem. It offered useful lenses of viewing the e-Skills development phenomenon as a network of stakeholders (actors), subjects (actants), processes and a determinant of information flows within the e-Skills development network. The study was mostly descriptive (and partly explanatory), seeking to clarify the status quo, the causes, and ultimately, to explore appropriate solutions. The interpretive approach was followed to conduct qualitative research. In this instance, a purposive sampling method was used to draw participants mainly from un/employed grade 12 (grade 12) graduates of 26 participants, consisting of 18 to 35 years of age. Participants were also drawn from high-level management in the training and development organisations and local employers of ICT graduates of Centane and Butterworth villages in the Eastern Cape. Content analysis technique was used to analyse and interpret data. Findings do reflect a severe lack of basic ICT skills, with causal factors varying from a lack of awareness about ICT careers, to a lack of access to ICT tools, with the majority of the affected grade 12 graduates neither being employed nor doing any tertiary studies. It is therefore recommended for the government to revisit the e-Skills policy and its implementation structures in rural areas. The Department of Education (DoE) in the Eastern Cape should also create educational networks that will provide remote schools with low cost, but high performance Internet access. A re-look into the general quality of education in rural areas is also urgent.

Yes / Purpose This study aims to provide insights into the scale and use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in managing medical devices in the NHS, with a focus on Reverse Exchange (RE) systems, as part of the broader Reverse Logistics (RL) systems, within which medical devices are returned and exchanged. Design/Methodology/Approach Two case studies were conducted with NHS Hospital Trusts, while another was built upon secondary resources. Primary findings were triangulated with information collected from the NHS Trusts’ reports, direct observation and a preliminary round of consultations with 12 healthcare professionals working in other NHS Trusts or Integrated Equipment Community Services. Findings The findings suggest that the sophistication of ICT implementation increases with the risks and value associated with medical devices. Operational attributes are derived from ICT implementations which can positively impact on RE performance. The forces that drive the adoption of ICT in the NHS include pressure from government, business partners and patients, competitive pressure, perceived benefits, organisation size, top management support and the availability of sufficient resources. Obstacles are mainly centred around the lack of sufficient resource. Research limitations/implications Although the Trusts that participated in this research are representative of different regions, the generalisation of the study results may be limited by the size of the sample organisations, so the results can only provide insights into the research problem. As this work is exploratory in nature, there is insufficient data on which to form definitive recommendations. Practical implications NHS Trusts may use the 6 operational attributes identified and verified by the case studies to benchmark their ICT implementation for device management. The actual and potential benefits of ICT implementation could inform technology development and encourage the uptake of ICT in healthcare. Governmental bodies can utilise this information to develop directives to actively drive ICT adoption in device management and the associated RE system. A well-considered training programme is needed to improve staff ICT skills in order to fully realise the potential of ICT systems which support the effective RE of medical devices. Originality/value The results suggest that ICT supported reverse exchange of medical devices backs up the supply chain reduces capital costs and medical risks and, facilitates the redeployment of funds to frontline medical treatment.

Published Article / The current debate within the ASGISA and NEPAD policy structures of the South African Government is to enhance E-service delivery via Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for all citizens. This paper deals with the problem how ICT in governance may be constructed to facilitate greater accountability, transparency and reducing corruption through better financial, public information management, procurement and administrative systems. South Africans especially in rural areas have a limited access to ICT. The main barriers to ICT access relate to high cost of Internet access, connectivity problems, lack of technical skills to support maintenance and low number of computers with Internet connectivity at schools, libraries and other public places.

The thesis is a study about the usage of BIM in construction projects in relation to how the software can support the site manager in the building production. The goal is to analyze the barriers and drivers to integrate BIM into the site manager’s work. The compositions of questions which are the basis for the thesis are “What obstacles does the site manager experience in his daily work routine and how can BIM be an option?” And “What mechanisms and factors is needed for BIM to be applied in the activities of site managers in construction projects?” For the answer to the first question, the daily work routine of a site manager has been studied in relation to today’s obstacle that is the basis for the production stoppages and how BIM can be an option. With information from the first matter as basis the study analyzes external and internal forces against the introduction of BIM. The study also clarifies the implementation problem and how it can be eliminated to thereby give rise to a change of the software in a conservative industry. In order to answer the question two scientific methods have been used; literature study and interviews. The Literature study reports the facts that may lead to the development of the construction process in its entirety. The interviews have given a reality perspective on the facts linked to the literature study. The results show that good planning with good coordination between the various disciplines t is the fundamentals for a successful production. The study demonstrates current shortcomings due to the disciplines inadequate coordination and information loss in an industry with high growth potential. With software that allows synchronization between different disciplines at the same time stands as the source for storing relevant information about a project would solve many of the daily obstacles in the production. The conclusion of this work is to BIM as new software minimizes the current barriers in relations to the site manager and production where information storage and synchronization of disciplines is a great advantage towards the elimination of obstacles in the production. To eliminate barriers that lead to minimization of production downtime and good balance in the daily operations there is a demand for change in the view towards new technology and work routines in the industry.