D. Litt. et Phil. / South African academic information services realise that they can no longer rely on their own information resources to provide in the growing information needs of their users, especially after access to the Internet and the vast number of information sources of the World-Wide Web have become available. Access is needed to digital full-text, sound, graphics, images, multimedia and hypermedia documents in national and international organisations. Cooperative resource sharing between the different organisations proved to be the only solution to the growing information problem. Academic information services are required to assist in creating digital study material, and in the transfer of digital text, multimedia and hypermedia for research, instruction and distance education. By implication, the development of an information technology infrastructure within the organisation, as well as nationally and internationally, has become essential. The purpose of this research was to examine what the current circumstances and futuristic information technology developments and events are under which South African academic information services have to develop an information technology infrastructure for resource sharing. To gather information on the current circumstances, a survey was done on initiatives taken by South African academic information services towards the development of an information technology infrastructure for resource sharing. Questionnaires were mailed to 37 South African academic information services, to which 34 responded. The Delphi interviewing technique was used to scrutinise future information technology developments and events that may influence the planning and development of an information technology infrastructure. A panel of 10 experts was selected to take part in the interviews. Scenario building was applied to show how planning and decisions by management could influence the outcome of an academic information service. The focal issue was the timely development of a digital academic information service within an information technology infrastructure. General conclusions of the study are: • Current organisational and national information and telecommunications network infrastructures cannot cope with the transfer of information sources, such as sound, image and digital full-text documents. Insufficient bandwidth for the effective transfer of information is a major problem. A flexible infrastructure which conforms to set standards, can adapt to new information technology developments and supports the business and information technology strategies of the host organisation, must be developed for resource sharing. The main recommendations of the research are: Access should be provided to all digital resources of national and international organisations irrespective of time or location. Electronic text centres can be employed to provide continuous access to digital resources. Development of an infrastructure for resource sharing should be a collaborative effort between the organisations towards acquiring and employing the essential and most suitable information technology. All academic information services should participate in a regional or national resource sharing cooperative. The value of cooperation and consortium membership lies in the availability of information sources in all formats to all users of the member organisations. Standards should be improved and maintained to ensure communication, retrieval and transfer of information sources. Information services should plan for larger bandwidth to cooperate within an international information infrastructure.

A research report submitted to the Wits School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Education by combination of coursework and research. Johannesburg 2016 / Increasingly teachers are expected to integrate ICTs into their teaching practice. Recent studies have focused on the role played by teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge in explaining how they exploit the affordances offered by the new digital technologies, and yet the pace of integration has been far slower than expected. Education is founded on the business of knowledge, and yet there is a knowledge blindness in educational research. This study tries to discern what effect subject specialization and knowledge has on teacher’s adoption of ICTs into their pedagogical practice, using the framework of Legitimation Code Theory, in particular semantic waves. Seeing ICT practices as affording both knower and knowledge practices, and as affording gravitation or levitation allows us to start to unpack further how the forms knowledge takes influences decisions around ICT adoption. / MT2017

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters in Education (Educational Technology) School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2016 / The internet supplies a continuous stream of information to our students. The information gleaned from the internet is ever-changing and scanty and researchers have used the term “paucity” to describe internet information. It is difficult to trust this information and value it as knowledge. The need for developing Critical Thinking and its application is advanced both internationally and in South Africa .This study, investigated the development of specific critical thinking skills for the purpose of evaluating internet materials for trustworthiness. Within this study a series of lessons were designed to develop Critical Thinking skills amongst a group of Grade 11 students at a private high school in South Africa. Once these skills were acquired the students were able to make a comparison between different internet materials and they made a well-reasoned argument about the credibility of these materials. The key skills were taught through the use of a Learning Management System (LMS). The LMS was used as a medium for isolating selected internet materials and to develop a pathway of learning. Several educational theories, models and philosophies were investigated as they were layered into the fabric of this research report. Critical thinking skills were developed through a blended approach. Although a LMS was used as a primary medium of the Critical Thinking process the teacher was the key agent for its facilitation. The research premise was based on deductive reasoning and presumed that it was necessary to use Critical Thinking to search internet material for trustworthiness. The design made use of a case study as the preferred method to investigate the premise. An inductive approach was then implemented to interpret the data obtained from the evaluation of internet materials. Pre and post tests and scales were instituted and a comparison was made of the students’ confidence and ability to evaluate internet materials using specific critical thinking skills. When comparisons were made of both qualitative and quantitative results there was evidence that there was an enhancement and effective application of the specific critical thinking skills brought about through this intervention. / XL2018

A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of BA Masters (Educational Psychology) in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, January 2017 / Educational Technology (ET) is fast becoming a part of South African classrooms. Educators play a major role in the effective and successful integration of this technology within the classroom. This study explores the relationship between educators’ level of access to ET, their attitudes towards ET and their use of ET for various teaching related purposes. The factors of perceived competence, cultural relevance and perceived usefulness are also explored. Roger’s Diffusion of Innovations Theory and Ajzen and Fishbein’s Theory of Reasoned Action and Theory of Planned Behaviour were used as the theoretical framework for this study. A convenience sample of 119 educators from various schools in Gauteng (both public and private) completed a questionnaire consisting of a demographics section, the Attitudes towards Computer Scale (ACTS) and the Information and Communication Technology Survey. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regressions. The study found that while educator’s attitudes towards ET are positive, levels of use and integration of more complex ET items are still low. Varying levels of access were recorded for different ET items at home and at school. Both, perceived usefulness and levels of access were found to be the most significant predictors of educators ET use and integration. These results are in keepings with both Roger’s Diffusion of Innovations Theory and Ajzen and Fishbein’s Theory of Reasoned Action and Theory of Planned Behaviour as attitudes were shown to predict use and integration of ET. This research has potential to contribute to teaching policy, practice and research in South African schools / XL2018

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Unlvcrslty of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, ill partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Mastel' of Commerce / The aim of this research is to determine and analyse the 1110st important critical issues facing Information Technology (IT) Management at a major financial institution in South Africa, namely. First National Bank of Southern Africa Limited (FNB). Much has previously been written and researched on this subject. However, the information and findings has been based largely on international issues and trends. What is of particular relevance and IS emphasised in this research, are facton. influencing the local IT industry trends and critical issues in South Africa. Not only nrc we faced with the traditionally accepted industry-wide challenges, but there are certain issues and market conditions that could be considered unique to the local IT industry. Conclusions derived Iron' this research will provide factual data detailing what is currently considered as the 1110stimpcrtant critical issues at this particulnr financial institution. These will be ranked in order of importance as rated by a respondent group. The information analysed was obtained by means of questionnaires and interviews with a group of IT professionals from FNB. Although this qualitative information was obtained from one particular institution. the findings arc considered as having relevance and benefit to all participants in the local IT industry.

In the rapid technological urbanisation of the built fabric of the city during the 21st century it has changed the way we engage spaces within the city. It has had both a positive and negative effect on existing social structures. The more digitally reliant society becomes the more essential the role of architecture and infrastructure networks become. The city is plugged in. The young tech savvy generations have become consumed by technology in the era of mobile phones, tablets and personal computers while the older generations can feel overwhelmed or even rejected by the new technologically orientated processes and functions of the city. The city has become a network of information exchange; environments of high technical performance and reliance. This has created labour and work environments that require a more skilled work force with digital comprehension and technical proficiency. It calls for an education system that includes advance digital literacy as part of basic education requirements to make students well equipped in a technological utopian state of living (Teletopia). In the context of Johannesburg, South Africa, with our diverse cultures and beliefs we struggle with both past and new social inequalities. In the telecommunication global village technology has no bias for race, age or culture if you are not technically proficient you are rejected and left behind. The permanence of architecture gives it strength and integrity. The solidity of concrete, brick, steel and building materials that are assembled aid to the capacity to withstand loads and stresses. A built form that responds to contextual issues and the resolution of construction details that collectively makes for good design. The integration of technology within architecture calls designers to question its value it will add to the spaces created to the initial capital costs. Would a more technological orientated education system be able to address the issues of schooling in South Africa today? Will technical solutions reach students who can’t afford the high cost of education, the shortage of quality teachers or the struggle to get text books to schools and liberate the school of the timetable and the availability of teachers? The role of technology in both schools and architecture will be determined by the demands of society. The internet is an agent like fire and water only given direction and purpose by those who use it. The true influence will how it will encourage spaces in schools to become more fluid and adaptable which will encourage accidental learning and peer-to-peer learning environments. The role of schools is vital to the social development of the younger generation. They are more than just academic institutions but become community catalysts for the areas they serve. The more technical savvy generation growing up today have become a lot more self-absorbed with Facebook and other social media making the youth more concerned about the way other people perceive them. This makes the role of schools even more important to not only prepare students with the relevant technical skills required to engage the digital “Teletopian” city they live in but to develop the social skills that allows them to engage the physical environments of the city too. Society has drawn to technological advancements like a moth to a light bulb but no matter how technologically orientated we become we will always be tangible beings who need physical interaction with the spaces we appropriate from our homes, offices and schools.

A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA in Research Psychology in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, March 2016 / Despite 20 years of democracy, education in South Africa is still plagued by the inequalities carried over from apartheid. Concerns on issues of standardisation in education, which are linked to socio-economic status, make it increasingly difficult to determine what skills learners are leaving the schooling system with (Blignaut, 2009; Du Plessis & Webb, 2012; Lumadi, 2011; Maiyo, 2015; Watts, 2001). There is a need to bridge the gap that currently exists within education, and one way in which this is thought possible, is through the integration of technology in the classroom (Department of Education, 2004). In 2015 the Smart Schools Project was put in place to promote the implementation of technology in South African schools. One of the aims of this project is to standardise education through redressing the inequalities within the country. This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of parents, with regards to the introduction of technology within primary school classrooms in South Africa. In order to achieve the main aim of this study, perceptions of parents were explored from parents whose children were in private and government-funded schools. This study used a combination of two models in order to understand how parents’ usage and acceptance of technology could possibly influence their children’s interaction with technology. This study found that how parents come to use and accept technology is not influenced by socio-economic status. Further, it was noted that acceptance and usage impacted how they viewed technology being introduced in the classroom. / GR2017

Master of Education (MEd) Research Report University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, 2016 / This study investigates the impact of the Flipped Learning Model (FLM) on the teaching practices of four educators in a private school in Johannesburg. It investigates the pedagogic processes and experiences of these educators’ respective attempts to shift from their standard educator-centered methodologies to the FLM’s highly collaborative and blended methodology. In so doing, the study exposes the educators’ resistance to the primary assumptions of constructivist epistemologically informed pedagogies. It also demonstrates the extent to which epistemological assumptions underpinning the ‘official curriculum’ are imbued within the dominant pedagogic discourse and aligned with educators’ beliefs and professional identities. The study exposes the necessity for transformations in educators’ traditional thinking, epistemological assumptions, perceptions, attitudes and roles to occur before any substantial attempts to introduce the FLM in ‘classrooms’ are made. Furthermore, the FLM takes for granted the ease of embedding technology in the teaching/learning process. This study exposes the relationship between a lack of technological familiarity/ know-how and the strength of resistance to ‘flipping the classroom’. South African educators work in an environment that promotes very strong boundaries between: classroom/home; educator/learner; and schoolwork/homework. Flipping, weakening or altering these, challenges educators’ strongly held notions of what it means to be a professional educator. It is within this context that Bernstein’s work with respect to the development of such seminal concepts as ‘pedagogic device’, ‘classification’ and ‘framing’ provided the language of description and analytical basis for this research study. / MT2017

Professionals often find it difficult to find time to attend training. Still in its infancy in South Africa, mobile learning (m-learning) – learning using a web-enabled mobile electronic device such as a cell phone or tablet – holds promise as a platform to deliver relatively convenient and inexpensive learning programmes. This intensive study sought to identify the factors key to m-learning adoption for professional development and how they affected m-learning in a South African context. Accountancy practitioners and business school students were invited to participate in this study, and human resource directors were interviewed to gauge their responses to similar questions from a corporate point of view. The constructs of Ally and Gardiner’s Hybrid Smart Mobile Device Acceptance Model (2012), which explored the moderating influence of device characteristics and usage on acceptance of smart mobile devices, was adapted to form the framework for the study. Two dimensions were added to the constructs of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use (relevance and tool sets) to explore what aided construction of meaning. The four top factors – relevance, enjoyability, the perception of being in control, and motivation, each bore a signifant relationship to the other, along with a sense of security, organisational beliefs, and others’ beliefs. A third dimension – willpower, added to explore hedonic motivation, brought to light issues that sapped willpower, rather than supported it. Participants expressed a marked preference for independent rather than social learning. While a sturdy framework for m-learning construction emerged from this study, the findings are not generalisable. / MT2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether learners from different primary schools would respond to cell phone SMS (short message service) questions related to their schoolwork after school hours. As young people use cell phone technology to socialise, it seemed appropriate to consider integrating this technology within the school-framework, as many schools do not allow the use of cell phones during school. Another aim was to find out whether socio-economic backgrounds or gender groups responded differently to the SMS interaction study. A concurrent triangulation design research method was applied. The study examined how often and what types of answers learners would submit via SMS after school hours. The principal conclusion was that the learners reacted positively to the SMS feedback response sent in reply to an SMS answer and then engaged to a greater degree with the further questions.