Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 49 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 46).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-02T11:16:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2014-04-16Bitstream added on 2014-12-02T11:21:00Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000797254.pdf: 1834457 bytes, checksum: 0a01abf785650ae6e3f2f051a90051bb (MD5) / Este estudo analisa a relevância da Internet para a inclusão digital dos cidadãos, na sociedade da informação, sobretudo a viabilidade como canal de retorno do Sistema Brasileiro de TV Digital (SBTVD). Apresenta, também, uma revisão bibliográfica, no que se refere às tecnologias que, hoje, permitem a comunicação entre os usuários e os serviços interativos disponíveis pelas emissoras de TV Digital aberta, ou seja, o canal de retorno. o trabalho analisa a eficácia do Plano Nacional de Banda Larga brasileira, frente aos planos e estratégias nacionais de banda larga. Adotados por países como Argentina e Estados Unidos. Estas experiências relativas ao desenvolvimento da oferta e na garantia da universalização do acesso a essa tecnologia, serviram de base para a análise e ao final de forma sistematizada destaca-se suas características, objetivos e contribuições para a implementação no Brasil / This study analyzes the digital inclusion fo citizens in the information society, mainly its viability as a return channel of the Brazilian Digital TV System (SBTVD). It also presents a literature review, concerning the technologies which, today, enable communication between users and the interactive services available through the open Digital TV stations, in the other words, the return channel. The article also analyzes the effectiveness of the National Brazilian Broadband Plan heading the national broadband plans and strategies adopted by other countries like Argentina and the United States. Some international experience from different countries in the development of supply and in the guarantee of universal access to this technology, provided the basis for the analysis, and in the end, in a systematized way, it highlights its characteristics, objectives and its contributions to implementing it in Brazil

Orientador: Eduardo Martins Morgado / Banca: Vânia Cristina Pires Nogueira Valente / Banca: Sérgio Amadeu da Silveira / Resumo: Este estudo analisa a relevância da Internet para a inclusão digital dos cidadãos, na sociedade da informação, sobretudo a viabilidade como canal de retorno do Sistema Brasileiro de TV Digital (SBTVD). Apresenta, também, uma revisão bibliográfica, no que se refere às tecnologias que, hoje, permitem a comunicação entre os usuários e os serviços interativos disponíveis pelas emissoras de TV Digital aberta, ou seja, o canal de retorno. o trabalho analisa a eficácia do Plano Nacional de Banda Larga brasileira, frente aos planos e estratégias nacionais de banda larga. Adotados por países como Argentina e Estados Unidos. Estas experiências relativas ao desenvolvimento da oferta e na garantia da universalização do acesso a essa tecnologia, serviram de base para a análise e ao final de forma sistematizada destaca-se suas características, objetivos e contribuições para a implementação no Brasil / Abstract: This study analyzes the digital inclusion fo citizens in the information society, mainly its viability as a return channel of the Brazilian Digital TV System (SBTVD). It also presents a literature review, concerning the technologies which, today, enable communication between users and the interactive services available through the open Digital TV stations, in the other words, the return channel. The article also analyzes the effectiveness of the National Brazilian Broadband Plan heading the national broadband plans and strategies adopted by other countries like Argentina and the United States. Some international experience from different countries in the development of supply and in the guarantee of universal access to this technology, provided the basis for the analysis, and in the end, in a systematized way, it highlights its characteristics, objectives and its contributions to implementing it in Brazil / Mestre

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / This research project looked at the role of public libraries in bridging the digital divide which is both a symptom and a cause of social exclusion. Public libraries offer free information services to ordinary citizens by means a wide range of media, including the Internet. But they offer more than just access as their information literacy programmes educate people in the use of the various media. Across the world there are many initiatives employed by public libraries to help bridge the digital divide. The purpose of the case study of one library district was to investigate if and how libraries in Cape Town were taking on this responsibility. The project had two parts: a survey of one district of the city’s libraries and a closer case study of one selected library in the district. The overall findings from both phases of the study were that Public libraries do help to narrow the Digital Divide by providing free internet access to the public. One of the initiatives the Public libraries that were surveyed including Masiphumelele library employed to help narrow the Digital Divide is SmartCape. Not only did Masiphumelele have SmartCape, but it also offered free computer literacy classes to its users.

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This dissertation explores the persistent gap between rural and urban areas in the percentage of households that access the Internet at home (a discrepancy commonly known as the "digital divide"). The theoretical framework underlying a household's Internet adoption decision is examined, with emphasis on the roles that household characteristics, network externalities, and digital communication technology (DCT) infrastructure potentially play. This framework is transferred into a statistical model of household Internet access, where non-linear decomposition techniques are employed to estimate the contributions of these variables to the digital divide in a given year. Differences in Internet access rates between years are also analyzed to understand the importance of temporal resistance to the continuing digital divide. The increasing prevalence of "high-speed" or broadband access is also taken into account by modeling a decision process where households that choose to have Internet access must decide between dial-up and high-speed access. This nested process is also decomposed in order to estimate the contributions of household characteristics, network externalities, DCT infrastructure, and temporal resistance to the high-speed digital divide. The results suggest that public policies designed to alleviate digital divides in both general and high-speed access should focus more on the broader income and education inequities between rural and urban areas. The results also imply that the current policy environment of encouraging DCT infrastructure investment in rural areas may not be the most effective way to close the digital divide in both general and high-speed Internet access. / Ph. D.

Research suggests that high stakes testing impacts teachers' decisions regarding curriculum and instruction, which, in turn, impacts student learning. Because Virginia administered SOL tests for Computer/Technology, then discontinued them, a study was possible comparing teachers' perceptions and actual student achievement of those taught while the high-stakes tests were in place and those taught after the tests were discontinued. A survey was administered to all elementary and middle school classroom teachers in a midsize urban Virginia school division to determine their perceptions of the effects of high-stakes testing. Cross tabulations were performed based upon: school level; on whether the teacher had taught prior to, or only after, the SOL tests were implemented; and whether the teacher perceived he/she was teaching a high or low percentage of lower socio-economic status (SES) students. In addition to the survey, the 2002 versions of the Virginia Computer/Technology Standards of Learning (C/T SOL) assessments were administered to all 2005 fifth and eighth grade students within the same school division. Statistical comparisons of the means of raw scores from the 2002 fifth (n = 625) and eighth (n = 641) grade groups and the 2005 fifth (n = 583) and eighth (n = 522) grade groups were conducted. Comparisons were also conducted on scores from each test between groups of students who qualified for free and reduced price lunches and those that did not qualify. Finally, statistical comparisons were made between the scaled scores of students who were eighth graders in 2005 (n = 397) and their scaled scores as fifth graders when tested in 2002. The study found a majority of teachers felt high-stakes testing creates pressure and changes the focus of instruction to tested areas at the expense of other activities and non-tested content. When the means of the scores of students who took the C/T SOL tests in 2002 were compared to those from 2005, the scores for the students taught under the high-stakes testing pressure were significantly better than those tested in 2005. Further, this gap in student achievement was more pronounced for lower SES students, suggesting a widening of the "digital divide." 74b769a6-e0db-4582-ac4d-7a2ab1e0118c,"Research surrounding older adults, social support, and emotional well-being are richly researched topics. However, literature is devoid of qualitative studies and research focusing specifically on community centers and older adults' social networks, which are integral for understanding the growing needs of older adults in today's society. Guided by the theoretical frameworks of phenomenology, activity theory, and ecological theory, four in-in-depth interviews were conducted and then coded for themes. The central themes highlighted family connection, connection with others, resiliency, helping others, type of activity, restoring self, community connection, exploration, convenience, and life stages. Suggestions for future research and possible impacts for clinical practice are discussed. / Ed. D.