A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND August 2015 / The issue of best practice in the pedagogical integration of ICTs into subject teaching has been debated internationally with the aim to offer guidance to teachers on how to effectively utilise these digital tools in the classroom. The resultant literature has reported that teachers in schools with fewer resources integrate ICTs at a lower level. South African township schools fall under this category. In an attempt to bridge this divide, these schools have received digital technologies from the government and other sponsors. In addition, teachers have been trained on ICT basic skills as preparation for use of technology in their classrooms. However, studies carried out to assess the effectiveness of these interventions have resulted in the call by the South African government for solutions that ‘work’. It is increasingly apparent that more than just digital resources are required if ICT integration is to be achieved. This study investigates selected seven South African township secondary school teachers’ practices and education policies to understand what is of pedagogical value in the use of ICTs for teaching. The findings are employed to develop an ICT teacher training framework that can help teachers in this country to maximise the utilisation of the digital technologies they have in their schools. A multi-case study is employed in which teacher interviews and lesson observations of participating teachers from a district in the Gauteng Province in South Africa are interpreted. Thereafter, a document analysis of four South African education policies is used to form a policy framework that is employed to assess teacher practice compliance to the country’s education context. This is done to customise findings to the South African education setting to facilitate the development of a relevant ICT teacher training framework. Diana Laurillard’s Conversational Framework is adopted as the theory that helps make explicit the teachers’ espoused and enacted practices. Her description of media forms is interacted with Grainne Conole and Martin Dyke’s conception of ICT affordances to help identify the pedagogical value in the teachers’ practices with ICTs. The results reveal how teacher beliefs, experience, subject needs, as well as learner needs, play a substantial role in determining the value ICTs bring to the teaching and learning experience. The significance of these characteristics demonstrates and accentuates the role of the teacher as a mediator in making ICTs of pedagogical value in the classroom. Key Words: ICT Pedagogical Integration, Conversational Framework, Media forms, ICT affordances

M. Tech. Architectural Technology / This research project focuses on determining the costs involved in applying energy efficient green technologies and sustainable principles to Johannesburg's existing commercial building stock. Although South Africa is committed to contributing toward greenhouse gas reduction in terms of the Kyoto Protocol, such contribution unfortunately occurs at a slow pace. Although the current built environment is identified as a key element in the mitigation of climate change, developers and building owners argue that the associated costs remain the largest drawback. Retrofitting existing buildings to meet green standards could significantly contribute to mitigating climate change.

Societal trends have changed more in the last decade than they have in the last century. This is particularly prevalent in the education environment. Concepts such as Lifelong Learning (the continued learning/educating of an individual throughout his/her lifetime), New Competencies (technology that is now part of almost every skill in the workplace) and Telecommuting (more people working from home rather than traditional offices) have become common-place today (Twigg, 1996, pp. 1-2). Education delivery needs to provide for these societal changes in order to ensure competent individuals pass on to the next level of education and ultimately to the work force. With key trends in technology such as Digitization, Maturation and Disintermediation becoming common in the workplace, education delivery must address the ―Digital Divide. (Twigg, 1996, pp. 2-3). Historically, schools in South Africa have used traditional teaching methods that have stayed the same for the last century. Educational institutions in South Africa, in particular, the previously disadvantaged schools of the Eastern Cape, face various challenges such as the dwindling ability to collect school fees from parents of scholars and declining financial support from the government. In Chapter Seven of the Draft White Paper on e-Education, which was gazetted on 26 August, 2004, the DoE, as part of its implementation strategies, urged the private sector to respond by implementing ICT initiatives nationwide. Phase 1 of the strategy advocated that ―Institutions are connected, access the internet and communicate electronically. (Department of Education, 2004, pp. 37-40). This dissertation shows that it is feasible to create a communications’ network among South African schools. It is believed that such a network can add great value to the education system in South Africa. The potential for this network to address the gap in the Digital Divide is enormous. This dissertation examines various ICT communications’ technologies and isolates wireless communications’ technology as best suited for this purpose, due to the speeds offered by the technology and the cost structure associated with it. A case study examines a pilot installation of the network and endeavours to prove the concept.

This study was evoked by a discussion with one of Dimension Data’s Service Management Executives. The discussion was centred around customer service management focus and on how to bring all stakeholders within the organisation to share this common goal. The critical aspect does not merely mean improving quality, but to exceed customers’ expectations according to Manning (1989:63). Quality and customer service have become a way of life rather than, short-term projects that can begin and end at will emphasises Manning (1989:91). There is a myriad of evidence to suggest that services are becoming critical to economic growth in most developing economies, one of such is South Africa. Thus South African industry requires substantial reflection both from the government and private sector regarding issues of service. Organisations therefore need to understand products and services as complex clusters of value adding satisfactions. The main problem of this research is as follows: What customer service management strategies are at the disposal of an information technology organisation? The main problem will be solved in the form of three sub-problems, by identifying what customer service management is. Secondly, depicting a customer service management model and lastly recognising customer service strategies that exist within Dimension Data.

M.Com. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Modern organisations make substantial investments in Information Technology (IT). Corporate governance practices can no longer ignore the importance of effectively governing IT. Consequently, the third King Report on Corporate Governance (King III) makes specific provision for IT governance, which is implemented through the establishment of an IT governance framework. The purpose of this research is to develop a generic IT governance framework, suitable to any large South African organisation in the public or private sector. The literature considered for this research confirmed the extent of standards and practices available in support of IT governance, together with the roles and structures required to implement them. These included well-known publications such as COBIT, Prince2, ITIL and ISO/IEC27000. Based on the literature review, a theoretical Processes, Enablers and Structures (PES) IT Governance Framework was formulated. The framework was further explored by means of a survey of and structured interview with ten Chief Information Officers (CIOs) of South African organisations with a turnover in excess of R1bn per annum. The final PES IT Governance Framework comprises three dimensions, each of which contains a set of constituent components: • Processes: Strategic Alignment, Value Delivery, Resource Management, Risk Management and Performance Measurement. • Enablers: IT Sub Processes, Supporting Documentation, IT Control Framework, Technology Architecture, Desirable Practice, IT Portfolio Management and Regulation. • Structures: The Board, Office of the CIO, IT Steering Committee, Technology Architecture Forum, IT Programme Management Office and Information Security Organisation. As the number of regulatory requirements and associated compliance pressures grow, the importance of an effective IT governance framework also becomes more prominent. The PES IT Governance Framework offers a uniquely practical approach to addressing IT governance principles that are often regarded as abstract. The final PES IT Governance Framework provides clear guidance on how organisations could implement an IT governance framework, which addresses the strategic alignment of IT to business, value delivery by IT investments, IT risk management, IT resource management and IT performance measurement.

Although the concept of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) was only first introduced in 2009, organisations and higher education institutions have shown an increasing interest in and tolerance for employees and students using their own mobile devices for work and academic purposes, to such an extent that it is predicted that BYOD will become the leading practice for all educational environments by the year 2017. Although mobile device usage is increasing in higher education institutions, it has been found that currently no generally recognised framework exists to aid South African higher education institutions with the implementation of BYOD. The problem is further worsened as research suggests that the number of new mobile vulnerabilities reported each year has increased. The primary objective of this study is to develop a framework for implementing BYOD in higher education institutions in South Africa. This primary objective is divided into several secondary objectives, which collectively aim to address the proposed problem. Therefore, the secondary objectives are to understand BYOD in organisations and the challenges it brings; to determine how BYOD challenges differ in higher education institutions; to determine the key components for implementing BYOD in higher education institutions; to determine the extent to which the BYOD key components relate to a higher education institution in South Africa; and to validate the proposed BYOD framework, verifying its quality, efficacy and utility. At first, a comprehensive literature study is used to determine and understand the benefits, challenges and key components for the implementation of BYOD in both organisations and higher education institutions. Thereafter, a case study is used to determine the extent to which the components, identified in the literature study, relate to an educational institution in South Africa. The findings from the case study, in combination with the key components, are then triangulated and a preliminary framework for implementing BYOD in higher education institutions in South Africa is argued. Furthermore, elite interviews are used to determine the quality, efficacy and utility of the proposed BYOD framework. To address the proposed problem, this research proposes a stepby- step holistic framework to aid South African higher education institutions with the implementation of BYOD. This framework adds a significant contribution to the work on this topic, as it provides a foundation upon which further such research can build. It is believed that such a framework would be useful for higher education institutions in South Africa and would result in the improved implementation of BYOD.

Sound IT governance is becoming increasingly important for any public or private organisation. However, based on previous research, it can be argued that local municipalities in South Africa are seemingly struggling to implement sound IT governance practices. As a result, very few municipalities perform strategic IT planning and as many as 80percent of municipalities do not have a Master System Plan (MSP) in place, which is required by law. IT governance and corporate governance are lately viewed as one and no longer as two separate governance disciplines, because computer systems and electronic communication are more important now than ever for the survival of any organisation. Therefore, it is important for municipalities to streamline their efforts towards sound IT governance. There are limitations which are faced by municipalities that limit these efforts. Possibly the biggest contributing factor towards this current municipal IT governance predicament, among others, is the fact that there are very few, if any, guidelines and resources available to municipalities to aid them in implementing proper IT infrastructures, systems and governance procedures. To improve the current state of IT governance in municipalities, better guidelines and procedures are required. This dissertation presents an IT governance framework to meet this aforementioned requirement. It is tailored to the requirements of local municipalities and is based on the international best practice, the Control Objectives for Information and related Technologies (COBIT) and the ISO/IEC 17799 code of practice for information security management. This proposed framework takes into account the Municipal Systems Act (nr 32 of 2000), Municipal Structures Act (nr 117 of 1998) and annual municipal IT audit reports’ requirements. Research was conducted at a district and its underlying, local municipalities to determine the proper IT governance criteria for municipalities. Case studies were performed at the municipalities and consisted of performing literature studies on the available municipal legislation and annual, municipal IT audit reports, conducting COBIT gap analyses, an ISO 17799 analysis, conducting interviews and developing questionnaires and data capturing and presentation tools. The resultant, proposed IT governance framework, titled the IT strategic objective plan (IT-SOP), when implemented by a municipality, should provide a solid governance foundation on which to base its business processes on.

The public higher education sector in South Africa is governed by an act of Parliament which defines the governance organs and mechanisms required within institutions and the sector. This doctoral thesis begins by contextualising ICT governance within the levels of systemic governance in South Africa that have relevance to this study. It then continues by advancing the understanding of the state of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) governance in public higher education institutions in South Africa by investigating the level of pervasiveness, the level of ICT process maturity and the alignment of ICT to the institutional processes within these institutions. Subsequently, this thesis results in the production of a contextually appropriate value framework that contributes towards an understanding of the need for the improvement of ICT governance. A survey of the extant literature on governance, ICT governance, and the frameworks and standards associated with governance indicates that the methodological approach currently favoured in ICT governance research is predominantly interpretive and based on surveys and interviews. This study leans towards a Design Science approach paradigm using surveys for the qualitative data collection process. The empirical research data was gathered from the highest ranking ICT officers at public higher education institutions in South Africa. This study makes contributions on a number of levels – from the first known measurement of ICT pervasiveness within the context of higher education, to the measurement of ICT process maturity and the measurement of the alignment of ICT and institutional processes, to the design of a value framework that breaks down governance into layers indicating which governance organs are appropriate at the relevant layers and which governance mechanisms can be used to address governance at each layer of governance. This study therefore makes a contribution to the ICT domain for development research by demonstrating praxis for the improvement of ICT governance implementation in the public higher education sector in South Africa. This study makes both method design and practical contributions to the ICT body of knowledge at various stages of the research process. These contributions include reflection on and analysis of the data gathering approaches that occur within the public higher education sector and in the complex environment of institutional autonomy and academic freedom; the use of Agency Theory to support the ‗governance intent‘ transfer between the layers of governance in the value framework and the synthesis of the improvement of ICT governance with value creation. The findings of this study further contribute to an understanding of the dynamics and interrelatedness of aspects of governance and management, while making a contribution to theoretical research by extending practical and empirical understanding of the ICT governance environment in the public higher education sector in South Africa.

Bibliography: pages 183-200. / The fundamental question is not whether South Africa should have a National Information Technology Policy to exploit Information Technology (IT), but more fundamentally what kind of government policies and programs for IT make sense. In today's competitive world what kind of policies and programs will be for the betterment of South Africa's economic and social structures? How can the South African government use IT to increase international competitiveness, and at the same time enhance economic and technological progress and create social improvement in the country? These and many other fundamental questions are the basis for this investigation. The starting point of this research was to compare South African IT to that in other countries; Expert opinion was obtained to identify specific issues, goals and technologies, and to propose ideas for government policies to: i) increase the country's competitiveness, ii) enhance its economic and technological progress, and iii) uplift its people. The main points emerging from this research are that the South African government needs to formulate a National IT Policy in order to direct the development of IT. Competitiveness, progress and social upliftment are inseparable and must be balanced when positioning such a policy. The policy should be directed from a high level to ensure that its recommendations are followed.