Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

<p> Leaders remain perpetually connected to their work because of the rapid advancement of information technology. This research, using a qualitative approach, explored how increased connective technology is affecting school leaders with the central question: <i>How is hyperconnectivity experienced by school leaders?</i> Using personal interviews, the lived experiences of fifteen international middle and high school principals with one-to-one student-to-device programs were collected. Raw transcriptions of their experiences were analyzed using the descriptive phenomenological approach as outlined by Giorgi (2009). This approach allowed for the data to be reduced into a single narrative description shared by all participants indicating the essences of their lived experience as hyperconnected school leaders. </p><p> This shared narrative highlighted complex and paradoxical experiences associated with how these school leaders interact with technology. Their experiences indicated that work-life balance for hyperconnected leaders required strong personal boundaries and skillful use of connective technologies. Examples of effective leader development of self and community highlighted, paradoxically, the need to unplug to effectively deploy connected technology within their leadership practice. Conversely, this study also showed how leaders can be controlled by connectivity. They associated their roles as responsible school leaders with perpetual connectivity; in consequence, they fused their work and home lives, experienced increased stress, and struggled with work overload. These results imply that international school principals are impacted by increased connectivity in different ways. Findings from this study indicate those leading hyperconnected schools must pay attention to how connectivity is affecting themselves and members of their school communities. Principals must protect themselves from the increasing demands upon their attention that constant connectivity presents in order to make mental room for the self-reflection and creativity needed to provide novel solutions and approaches towards their leadership work.</p>

<p> The increased presence of technology in all aspects of daily life makes computational thinking a necessary skill. Predictions say that the rising need for computational thinkers will be unmet by computer science graduates. An e-textile learning module, based on principles of constructionism, was designed as a method to develop computational thinking skills and encourage interest and confidence in the computing fields in both male and female graduate education students. The module leveraged the affordances of the LilyPad Arduino, a technology that allows for the creation of projects that integrate textiles and electronics without soldering. The creation of the learning module relied on design-based research methodologies and followed the use-modify-create principle for the included activities. Multiple data sources were analyzed using The Computational Thinking Rubric for Examining Students&rsquo; Project Work to examine artifacts and interactions for indications of computational thinking concepts, practices, and perspectives. Students participated in debugging activities and created their own projects as part of the learning module. Analysis of the learning module activities showed students using computational thinking concepts, engaged in computational thinking practices, and exhibiting computational thinking perspectives. During the coding process, several new computational thinking concepts, practices, and perspectives emerged. There was evidence of both an increase and decrease in confidence among the student participants. Improvements for the next iteration of the learning module were presented and the implications for the study of computational thinking explored. The study helps contradict the shrinking pipeline metaphor by showing that it is possible to encourage interest in computation in university students, not just middle-school students.</p><p>

<p> Prior research has explored many facets of innovation, provided models of governance maturity, and analyzed the impact of corporate decision-making on innovation. However, there is little research on IT governance maturity in higher education or on IT innovation in organizations outside of the IT industry. Findings from previous research were ambiguous regarding whether a mature IT governance process helps or hinders innovation. This study fills a gap in existing knowledge by reviewing the literature and examining the interaction of IT governance and information technology innovation at five major U.S. universities. It provides insights into the structures and processes necessary for IT governance to facilitate technology innovation and the factors required for effective IT governance in higher education. </p><p> Highly effective IT governance processes focused on collaboration and communication were associated with greater integration of radical innovation into institutional processes than effective IT governance processes that focused primarily on the prioritization of large enterprise projects. Incremental technology innovations were pervasive among all schools studied. IT governance was found to be more effective under a delegated model of decision-making authority that empowers IT governance bodies than under a CIO-centric model. The inclusion of a faculty, students and business units in IT governance committees was associated with a stronger innovation culture.</p>

<p> A large career-centered university in the state of Florida has received a grant to fund what is known as a multidisciplinary center (MDC), which will utilize innovative information communication technologies (ICT), such as video conferencing, to support educators of students with disabilities in eight primarily rural school districts in south-central Florida. Through using video conferencing technologies (VCT), rural educators can request and receive 1:1 consultation, training, and technical assistance from non-rural MDC staff on instructional strategies and interventions geared toward students with complex disabilities. Research on technology acceptance suggests that technology systems aimed at improving job performance may go underutilized if organizations fail to understand the ways certain variables impact end-user decisions to accept and use a given technology system (Venkatesh &amp; Davis, 2000; Venkatesh, Morris, Davis &amp; Davis, 2003). This instrumental collective case study utilizes the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) framework theorized by Venkatesh et al. (2003) to guide the exploration and understanding of end-user perceptions of a video conferencing technology system. Findings suggest that the collective case base their overall decision to accept and use VCT on the belief that using the system provides more timely access to service providers and that these services add value to job-related duties.</p><p>

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2006. / Theses (Faculty of Education) / Simon Fraser University. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--East Carolina University, 2008. / Presented to the faculty of the Department of Educational Leadership. Advisor: James McDowelle. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Apr. 23, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed. Mgt.)--Unitec New Zealand, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-93).

Thesis (M.A.)--Acadia University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.)--Acadia University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.