A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by research in the discipline of Psychology. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017. / Education is an immensely powerful agent of development and innovation and as such, educational outcomes are given high priority in most settings. The advent of highly functional mobile personal computing (PC) devices such as tablet computers and related technologies has helped to generate great interest in and hype surrounding educational technology and its potential to improve educational outcomes, democratize knowledge and skills development and to kick-start development, particularly in socio-economically depressed environments. However, education has made use of technology from its very inception, with the written word itself being a prominent example, making PC device-based educational technology simply a newer entrant into the field, equally worthy of scrutiny along with other existing technologies. The written word plays a fundamental role in learning and is therefore a key vehicle through which to examine the impact of PC device-based educational technology on learning. This dissertation examines the notion of the analogue (physical) and digital word and uses both existing theoretical considerations and research experiments to better understand differences which may exist between the two and the subsequent impact on learning. Existing empirical evidence and a range of theoretical contributions are used to construct a theoretical framework which argues for the uniqueness of the digital in comparison to its analogue predecessors. A research experiment was conducted with high school-age research participants using tablet PCs and printed paper to complete a reading task or a reading and note-taking task, followed by a test on the text passage read approximately one week later. Results obtained suggest real, but weak effects, with participants using paper performing better for questions which test factual recall in the reading-only condition and better for questions testing conceptual understanding in the reading and note-taking condition. These findings support the view that the digital word is not necessarily equivalent to its analogue predecessors and point towards further research in this area. It is concluded that further research is required in order to better understand the mechanisms which underpin the digital word and that its primary strength lies in its ability to expand the usefulness of the written word in conjunction with the more traditional analogue word. Key words: educational technology, reading, handwriting, the digital word, tablet PCs e-learning. / XL2018

A research report submitted to the School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Education. Johannesburg 2017. / In this study, the affordances of Digital Mobile Devices for educational purposes was explored, with an emphasis on determining the feasibility of integrating Digital Mobile Devices into secondary education in South Africa; particularly in the area of Learner Social Support. An empirical, qualitative research approach was adopted, where a questionnaire was administered for the collection of data, and this data was analysed for possible trends. The experiences and perceptions of both educators and learners at both schools have been detailed. It was ascertained through both the literature and the analysis of data that Digital Mobile Devices are advantageous, and ubiquitously owned and used by both educators and learners. This exposed the fallacy of the existence of a digital divide on the basis of access to ICTs. Conclusions have been drawn as to the feasibility of integrating Digital Mobile Devices into secondary education in South Africa, and recommendations have been made for further investigation into the non-adoption of Digital Mobile Devices into secondary education in South Africa. / LG2018

Submitted in partial fulfilment of an M.Com. degree in Information Systems, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, March 2017 / Purpose – The aim of this research is to examine one case of the adoption and contextualisation of an international computing curriculum at a South African university in order to improve the understanding of this process for literature as well as practice. An international computing curriculum is a curriculum developed by international professional and scientific bodies such as the Association for Information Systems (AIS), Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) or the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Design/methodology/approach – The research adopts an interpretivist approach and follows an exploratory research design using qualitative methods to gather data and directed content analysis for data analysis. The research site is a traditional South African university which has used the IS2010 curriculum as a guideline for their undergraduate Information Systems degrees. The site was chosen using convenience sampling. Data was obtained through interviews with staff at the Information Systems department as well as university documentation. Findings - The research indicates that university objectives, university context and industry skills needs have shaped the way the university has adopted and contextualised the IS2010 curriculum. The research also indicates that there are two types of challenges that were encountered: challenges caused by IS2010 and existing challenges that affected IS2010. The major challenges caused by IS2010 were the absence of important elements related to teaching and learning, particularly pedagogy. The challenges that affected the adoption of IS2010 but were not caused by IS2010 were challenges that the university was already facing. These include the language of instruction, institutional culture, staff shortages and students’ cultural and educational background. Originality and Practical contribution – Most of the research on this area focuses on African countries other than South Africa. Researchers have argued that it is important to conduct this kind of research on an individual country level because of the unique nature of the challenges facing each country. This research is an attempt to conduct such research specifically for South Africa. The research findings have shed light on how a South African university may adopt and contextualise an international computing curriculum and the challenges the university might face in doing so. This will in turn help computing educators in addressing such challenges and provide some guidance on how to go about doing so. The research also puts forward a conceptual framework that can be used to research computing curriculum contextualisation in South Africa. / GR2018

The primary purpose of the study was to identify major causes and subsequent effects of curriculum lag in industrial-technical education. The subsidiary purpose of the study was to compare hierarchical rankings of major causes of curriculum lag in industrial-technical education as perceived by superintendents, secondary school principals, and industrial-technical education teachers in Indiana public school systems.Usable data collected by questionnaire from 406 out of 540 sample subjects were computed to generate respective rank hierarchies of selected twenty causes of curriculum lag in industrial-technical programs. Decisions about two Null Hypotheses were made at 0.05 level by use of multivariate, univariate, and chi-square analyses.Findings1. Superintendents, principals, and industrial-technical teachers were in agreement that three most severe causes of curriculum lag in Indiana secondary industrial-technical programs were inadequate funding, outdated laboratory equipment, and lack of in-service training for industrial-technical teachers.2. Ninety percent agreement occurred between the three respondent groups on ten most severe or ten least severe causes of curriculum lag in Indiana secondary industrial-technical programs.3. As perceived by teachers, inadequate funding and lack of in-service training opportunities affected school corporations with smaller enrollments than school corporations with larger figures.4. There were no significant differences between sizes of school corporations and causes of curriculum lag in industrial-technical programs as perceived by school administrators.5. Items involving structuring of courses, students' interest to study, and evaluation process were ranked as three least severe problem's in industrial-technical education. Sixty-seven percent agreement occurred between the respondent groups in ranking the last three severe problems.Conclusions1. Indiana public high schools are not funded for industrial-technical programs.2. Indiana industrial-technical education teachers are not offered opportunities to improve already acquired skills through in-service training programs.3. Industrial-technical programs are taught with outdated equipment in Indiana secondary schools.4. Lack of funds and in-service training for industrial-technical teachers affected smaller school corporations more than larger school corporations.Additional observations made during the study were presented.

The dissertation describes a case study conducted in a Hong Kong secondary school, which investigated educational practices relating to the adoption of Information and Communication Technology(ICT). The study examined the changes in the educational practices; identified obstacles, success factors, strategies and interventions for ICT integration into teaching and learning from a professional development and leadership perspective; and investigated teachers’ pedagogical practices and students’ classroom activities with the use ICT. A framework based on the literature was developed to address the professional development and leadership issues related to integrating ICT into teaching and learning, with the aim of providing a holistic view and achieving better understanding of relationships between these issues and educational practice and change. The researcher’s school has experienced three major ICT initiatives in Hong Kong, and was selected for the study. The principal, the ICT coordinator, five Mathematics teachers and four Science teachers participated in the study. A mixed-methods approach was used to collect and analyze the data. The study first adopted parts of the questionnaire survey instruments used by the SITES 2006, which depicted a general picture of participants’ attitudes towards ICT on teaching and learning. Lesson observations and semi-structured interviews were then conducted to provide an in-depth understanding about the adoption of ICT on teachers’ pedagogical practices and students’ classroom activities from the perspective of professional development and leadership. Analysis of documentation and archival records were done for supplementing the understanding of the study. The findings of the study showed that the school leaders enacted ICT policies and practices with various strategies to ensure the effectiveness of teaching and learning. The school provided a rich-ICT environment conducive to teaching and learning. The teachers used a variety of ICT tools to develop their pedagogical practices and adopted a student-centered teaching approach in designing classroom activities, allowing students to control their learning progress. In regard to professional development, the school organized different related activities to meet the teachers’ individual professional needs and improve student achievement. The professional development activities not only equipped teachers with various ICT knowledge and skills, but also supported their pedagogical practices through collaboration and sharing among teachers. Furthermore, the school leadership was found to be effective at building an ICT vision and supporting teachers in exercising their leadership at different levels. Trust relationships were built among the school leaders, empowering them to risk integrating ICT into pedagogical practices. The school leaders also provided equity of ICT access and a ubiquitous network on campus to ensure that teaching and learning could occur anywhere and at any time. Finally, teachers were provided opportunities to share their good pedagogical practices with colleagues. This study provides educational practitioners with an in-depth insight into the current state of pedagogical approaches and how technologies can be integrated into pedagogical practices and classroom activities with the support of professional development and leadership, resulting in a genuine improvement in students’ learning outcomes. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This dissertation explores the symbiotic relationship resulting from the merging of situated learning's socio-cultural conceptualization of the nature of learning with community service learning's ethos of service. As such, I enquired into the effects of the integration of situated learning as the conceptual framework, and community service learning as both an instructional methodology and educational philosophy. Specifically, through an ethnographic investigation I sought to discover the nature and outcomes of learning which result when high school students take their skills out of the classroom into the community to help solve authentic problems. The students with whom I worked were members of a high school computer technology class in which expectations were that they (the students) would combine learning with service by devoting ten to twenty hours to help a community agency solve technology-related problems. In this regard, eight different student groups applied their technology skills within a variety of school and community environments. Thereupon, I looked to ascertain not only if the students improved upon their already sufficient technical skills, but also what other abilities and knowledge of themselves and/or the world they appropriated. Thus, as per the defining features of situated learning and community service learning, I hoped to find evidence of learning in areas related to technological development, workplace knowledge and expertise, problem solving, group skills, personal and social maturity, and an ethos of service. Such learning occurred and, thus, I concluded that the integration of community service learning and situated learning in this technology classroom resulted in a symbiotic relationship in which the nature and specific outcomes of learning were 1) accounted for by situated learning and 2) enhanced beyond what would normally be expected in a non-service Information Technology Management classroom in the Province of British Columbia. Hence, the well documented and rigorously determined empirical findings: 1) argue that situated learning provides a viable theoretical framework for community service learning, 2) add empirical support to the learning claims of both situated learning and service learning, and 3) suggest a means of enabling education to become more responsive to the students and the community.

Submitted in full compliance with the requirements for a Master’s degree in Technology: Dental Technology at the Durban University of Technology, 2009. / The Dental Technology profession in South Africa is currently undergoing a possible role transformation. In the past, Dental Technicians were restricted to laboratory work only and were not permitted to have direct contact with patients. Due to a demand for oral care, and a gap that is perceived to exist in service delivery, Clinical Dental Technology has emerged as a possible new profession in South Africa. The 1997 amendment to the Dental Technicians Act allows Dental Technicians to broaden their scope of practice through further education into the clinical aspects of the profession. South Africa is one of few countries that have an enabling legislation in terms of the recognition of Clinical Dental Technology. However, there is to date no training programme or curriculum for people who would like to practise as Clinical Dental Technicians. The three institutions in South Africa that provide training for Dental Technicians do not provide training to those technicians who would like to pursue a clinical career path. Internationally, Dentists have argued that Dental Technicians have insufficient clinical capabilities. They feel that technicians do not have sufficient knowledge and experience in dealing directly with patients, and consequently have identified a need for further training of Dental Technicians before they are recognised as Clinical Dental Technicians. The aim of this study was to evaluate educational institutions’ readiness in terms of the role transformation of Dental Technicians and to establish perceptions about the introduction of this new profession by Dentists, Dental Technicians and Dental Technology lecturers. The views of these three stakeholders have implications not only in terms of the development of a new curriculum, but were also found to raise serious concerns about the implementation of this profession in South Africa. Data was collected by means of questionnaires and personal interviews with Dentists, Dental Technicians and Dental Technology lecturers in South Africa. The responses were transcribed and then coded according to pertinent themes for interpretation purposes. The data revealed major differences in the perceptions of the proposed profession by the three sectors. This has important implications for the likely success of Clinical Dental Technology, given the need for these sectors to work together as members of the dental team. The data also reveals concerns about the type of training that would need to be incorporated into the curriculum and who would be able to provide such training. By using an overview of curriculum theory, this study also raises concerns that clinical aspects might be infused into the curriculum as simply the acquisition of additional technical skills, rather than as a significant shift in professional identity to incorporate patient care.

Despite growing global awareness and importance of Information Communications Technologies OCT), little has been done regarding introduction of ICT in rural schools as a new way of creating path for learners and educators to engage in information selection, gathering, sorting and analysis. This study explores the status/role of ICT in rural Setlakgobi schools by examining the needs, and support for school managers, and other senior managers in managing the integration of computers and related resources into teaching and learning activities in their schools. It researches five key problematic areas, namely, understanding context, clarifying purpose, identifying values, setting goals and developing vision. The study amongst other things identifies lack of resources, language barrier, technical know how, and staff development as the main challenges of providing modern technologies to rural school in order to enhance quality of learning and teaching. Hence, the need to fast-track the e-learning by developing South African languages, providing physical and human resources, and support for professional development of educators in ICT. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2006.

Abstract available in pdf file.