Approaching towards the global information society, the development of information technologies in the Lithuanian regions in which there is a high level of digital divide becomes very topical. To develop the topic of the paper, the analysis of literary sources, legal documents, projects under implementation was carried out and qualitative questionnaire of experts was done. Having analysed the e-government situation, factors constructing digital divide, the present policy of the development of information technologies and the projects under implementation, solution models enabling to integrate separate regions successfully were suggested.

Cette thèse porte sur les processus de sélection, formation et encadrement (SFE) des gestionnaires, appelés pilotes et considérés comme agents de changement dans les télécentres communautaires au Mali. Ces processus sont étudiés sous l'angle de leur contribution positive ou négative à l'implantation et au développement de ces centres. Les projets "technologies de l’information et de la communication", initiés par les partenaires techniques et financiers, répondent au besoin des autorités maliennes préoccupées par un souci de connecter les 703 communes du pays. À la suite du sommet mondial sur la société de l’information en décembre 2003 à Genève, l’UNESCO et la Coopération suisse ont décidé d’installer des centres multimédias communautaires dans trois pays d’Afrique (Mali, Mozambique, Sénégal). Ces implantations de télécentres ont été réalisées sur le modèle de ce qui avait été fait en Asie sans tenir compte des besoins réels des bénéficiaires et des conditions particulières (économiques, politiques, culturelles) des sites d’implantation. Malgré les conditions parfois difficiles de l’Afrique, les populations témoignent un enthousiasme réel pour les technologies de communication. Les TIC ont connu une croissance considérable et se sont multipliées partout en Afrique, à des degrés divers. Néanmoins, elles n’ont pas encore atteint la majorité des populations africaines, car 70% de celles-ci vivent en zones rurales souvent marginalisées par les difficultés économiques. Après l’implantation des télécentres, les sites ont donc été confrontés à la difficile tâche de sélectionner les pilotes comme agents de changement. Les responsables chargés de la mise en œuvre des projets ont choisi les pilotes dans leur réseau familial. En ce sens, la thèse met l’accent sur l’importance du rôle d’un pilote dans un télécentre et l’appui qu’il peut générer dans la population bénéficiaire. Nous proposons un modèle qui part de l’action des agents de changement, et ce, afin de potentiellement susciter une prise de conscience chez les décideurs locaux. Nous avons fait une étude de cas sur quatre sites pour mieux connaître les processus de sélection, formation et encadrement des pilotes et nous avons tenté d'identifier les facteurs qui, dans ces processus, ont pu influencer le niveau de réussite de chacun de ces centres. / This dissertation examines the processes of selecting, training, and mentoring managers, also known as "pilots," and considered as change agents in the development of community telecentres in Mali. These processes are analyzed according to their positive and negative outcomes regarding the establishment and development of telecentres. The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) project, launched by technical and financial partners, responds to the needs of Malian authorities in their efforts to connect the country’s 703 communes. Following the World Summit on the Information Society, held in Geneva on December 2003, UNESCO and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) decided to establish multimedia community telecentres in three African countries (Mali, Mozambique, and Senegal). The setting-up of these telecentres was modeled after a similar project conducted previously in Asia, without however taking into account the primary needs of the beneficiaries, nor their specific conditions (both economic, political, and cultural). Despite the difficult conditions that sometimes characterize the African context, African populations express a genuine interest for Information and Communication Technologies. The ICT sector has witnessed a considerable and widespread growth throughout many African countries, although with various degrees of success. However, a majority of the African population has still not been connected, since 70% of the population lives in more economically marginalized rural areas. Once the telecentres were established in various locations, most of them were confronted with the difficult challenge of selecting "pilots," to serve as change agents. Those in charge of selecting the pilots favored people located within their own family networks. Therefore, the dissertation emphasizes the pilot’s decisive role in the telecentres, and the support that he is able to generate within the beneficiary population. We put forward a model starting from the actions of the change agents, hoping to stimulate awareness amongst local deciders. We conducted a case study on four different sites in order to better understand the processes of selecting, training, and mentoring pilots, with a focus on the key factors influencing, for each of those processes, the level of success in all the telecentres.

In the late 1990s, many Western governments introduced policy programs to make information and communication technology (ICT) accessible to all. More than a decade later, however, such universal access is far from a reality. Between 2002 and 2005, in response to a request from a group of contingent workers who felt excluded from effective access to ICT training, a university research group on contingency conducted an applied research project in the form of a series of basic ICT courses. This qualitative dissertation both critically examines the training process and treats it as a case study for exploring broader issues of exclusion and resistance in the context of access to ICT. Specifically, it explores: (1) the symptoms of exclusion as they relate to ICT, social capital, and the community; (2) possibilities for resistance that can alleviate the conditions of exclusion; (3) the assumptions, theories, knowledge construction, policy methods, and processes that underlie the symptoms of exclusion; and (4) alternative assumptions, strategies, and activities that offer possibilities for resistive action. The case study provided an environment in which exclusionary and resistive experiences with access to ICT and training were examined from the perspective of excluded contingent workers, as supported by a university research group. A key finding is that generational behaviour in the domestic sphere erects barriers that contribute to the silencing and exclusion of immigrant contingent women; these barriers then reinforce similar patterns of exclusion in institutionalized ICT training. Another major finding is the need for alleviating the barrier that limited English skills create for ICT learning; addressing this issue must be part of any recommendations for curricular change. Guided throughout by a critical approach that focuses on the concept of ruling relations, this dissertation marshals critical knowledge gained from below in support of change by policymakers, educators, and community practitioners.

This study examines young people’s internet access and use in nine locations in Queensland, Australia. The primary aim of the research is to assess if internet use supports young people’s social inclusion: that is, if internet use supports young people to participate in society in ways they have most reason to value. The research findings demonstrate that the digital divide in Queensland – the gap between citizens with and without access to ICTs – continues to inhibit young people’s ability to participate online. This divide is embedded within historic, economic, social and cultural inequalities. To address this, this study proposes that a digital inclusion framework, founded on the concept of social inclusion, offers the Australian federal and state governments an opportunity to extend digital divide policies so that they connect with and complement broader social policy goals. The research outcomes also illustrate that creative uses of online networks provide a powerful means through which young people can participate in a networked society. While young people’s access to a range of ICTs impacts on their ability to use online networks, gradations of use, social networks and informal learning contexts frequently act as mediators to support effective internet use. This study contends that by understanding the social benefits of young people’s online network use and the role that mediators play in different environments, we can move towards a policy framework that supports equitable opportunities for young people’s digital inclusion.

La présente étude essaie de répondre au questionnement : les technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC), contribueraient-elles à la création d’emplois au Maroc et lesquels emplois généreraient-ils des revenus assez suffisants pour permettre aux acteurs TIC les uns, de se prendre en charge pour leurs besoins essentiels (nourriture, habillement, logement décent, soins) et pour d’autres de mener une vie meilleure (se marier, avoir son propre logement, une sécurité sociale , un moyen de transport, l’accès aux loisirs, pouvoir économiser). En prenant en considération d’une part, le niveau de vie de la grande majorité et d’autre part la culture sociale et religieuse des marocains, la notion de développement humain se réduit principalement à l’amélioration matérielle des conditions de vie. Pour vérifier l’hypothèse, une enquête a été effectuée dans la région de Méknès-Tafilalet au Maroc. Cette étude, basée sur les données de 239 sondés par questionnaire exerçant dans 113 entreprises (téléboutiques, cybercafés, centres d’appel, opérateurs, l’administration publique) et sur les interviews et les témoignages de 24 utilisateurs) a révélé que, sur le plan économique, les activités TIC luttent contre le chômage en procurant de l’emploi même à ceux qui n’ont aucune formation dans le domaine et permettent l’accès aux différents indices de la hiérarchie de développement humain et ce proportionnellement aux niveaux de qualification. Sur le plan social, les services rendus par les TIC (téléphonie et internet de proximité, transmission des événements sportifs et politiques, réseaux sociaux, guichets automatiques, services de la e-administration, et de la e-gouvernance…) ont apporté une grande satisfaction aux utilisateurs. Cependant, l’étude a révélé que les TIC ont aussi des impacts négatifs sur la société (perte d’emplois, réduction de revenus, délinquance, cybercriminalité, …) et sur l’environnement. / This study tries to answer the question: the information technology and communication (ICT) to help they create jobs in Morocco and which jobs they generate income sufficient enough to allow the ICT actors some, take responsibility for their basic needs (food, clothing, housing, health care) and for others to live a better life (getting married, having its own housing, social security, means of transport, access to leisure, to save). Taking into account the one hand, the standard of living of the majority and secondly the social and religious culture of Morocco, the concept of human development is reduced mainly to improve material conditions of life. To test the hypothesis, a survey was carried out in the Départment of Meknes-Tafilalet in Morocco. This study, based on data from 239 respondents throught questionnaire practicing in 113 companies (phone shops, cafes, call centers, operators, public administration) and on interviews and testimonies from 24 users) showed that the economic, ICT activities struggle against unemployment by providing employment even those who have no training in the field and provide access to various indices of the hierarchy of human development and in proportion to the level of qualification. On the social services provided by ICT (Internet, telephony, and nearby transmission of sports events and political, social networks, ATM services, e-government and e-governance ...) have made a great user satisfaction. However, the study revealed that ICT also have negative impacts on society (cybercrime, job loss, reduction in income..) and on the environment.

Digitaliseringens framfart skapar problem för seniorer som har svårt att hänga med i den moderna teknikens utveckling. Samtidigt har Sveriges regering satt som mål att år 2025 ha digitaliserat hälsovården. I samband med trenden att använda sig av platt design i digitala plattformar försvåras seniorers situation ytterligare och kan ha en negativ effekt i hänseende att utöka den digitala klyftan. Tidigare forskning visar att den platta designens formspråk är svårare att förstå än den traditionella, skeumorfa design som tidigare använts, då platt design saknar affordanser. Detta examensarbete har haft för avsikt att undersöka huruvida platt design är svårare för seniorer att förstå jämfört med traditionell, skeumorf design, samt se hur designprincipen affordans skulle kunna avhjälpa problemet med förståelsen av platt design. Examensarbetet har vägletts av frågeställningen: Hur påverkas seniorers förståelse av platt design i jämförelse med traditionell design i kontexten av webbplatser och vilken betydelse har affordans för att stödja deras förståelse? För att besvara frågeställningen har en kvantitativ enkätundersökning samt en kvalitativ observationsstudie utförts i syfte att utreda frågeställningens variabler utifrån tidigare teorier. Resultatet visar att affordans inte tycks ha någon betydelse för hur seniorer förstår ett designgränssnitt. Däremot syns indikationer för att designprinciper som visuella ledtrådar, eller signifiers, är av stor vikt att ta hänsyn till vid framtagande av design för en senior målgrupp. / The vast progress of digitization creates problems for the seniors who find it hard to keep up with modern technology development. At the same time, the Swedish government has set itself the goal of digitizing health care by 2025. In connection with the trend of using flat design in digital platforms, the situation of seniors is further complicated and may have a negative effect in expanding the digital divide. Previous research shows that the style of the flat design is more difficult to understand than the traditional, skeuomorphic design previously used, as flat design lacks affordances. The aim of this thesis has been to investigate whether flat design is more difficult for seniors to understand than traditional skeuomorphic design, as well as how the design principle affordance could solve the problem of understanding flat design. The thesis has been guided by the question: How are seniors' understanding of flat design compared to traditional design in the context of websites and what significance does affordance have to support their understanding? To answer the question, a quantitative questionnaire survey and a qualitative observation study have been conducted to investigate the variables of the question based on previous theories. The result shows that affordance does not seem to affect how seniors understand a design interface. On the other hand, indications suggest that design principles such as visual clues, or signifiers, are important to consider when designing for a senior audience design.

The new millennium saw the explosion of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), coupled with the Internet as the way to communicate and gain knowledge. Traditional schooling has moved to open and distance e-learning and many educational institutions are offering these as alternatives. In correctional institutions the education centres have fallen behind in this regard. This dissertation is based on a participatory study that will show how open and distance e-learning can benefit inmates. The researcher has a unique perspective as he is himself, an inmate in a correctional centre in South Africa, and has first-hand knowledge and experience of the correctional institution environment. In-depth interviews with inmates and correctional officers were performed resulting in different views on the subject. A survey was conducted to ascertain inmates’ educational levels and their requirements. This study also determines what role the digital divide plays in the education of inmates or the lack thereof. The research indicates that education can reduce recidivism. With e-learning more inmates could receive education and become better prepared for life outside of the correctional institutions. This could result in them becoming productive members of society. The feedback obtained via interviews shows that the majority of inmates are eager to better themselves. The major problem is financing, and the struggle with communication with the distance learning institution. With e-leaning these two problems could easily be resolved. There are a good deal of educational resources available for free called Open Educational Resources (OER), and communication with the distance institutions can be exchanged via e-mail and/or video-conferencing. A major hurdle that would have to be overcome is to get the government of South Africa behind the drive to implement e-learning. The correctional institutions are the ideal environment to test whether South Africans will be receptive to e-learning. The research in other countries is overwhelmingly positive, and with a successful pilot project e-learning could be shown to be effective in bridging the digital divide / School of Computing / M. Sc. (Information Systems)

This dissertation is focused on the possibilities of using the Internet, especially Internet servers that are focused on English learning, teaching and also practice for lower secondary school learners. One of the aims was to find such servers, to compare and assess them, not only from the didactic point of view. Other aspects have been studied - functionality, orientation in the structure of the internet servers. The text and content of the web pages were also taken into consideration. Another criterion is the utilization of these internet servers by teachers and learners. The aim of this dissertation is to give advice to teachers and learners which servers are appropriate to English teching and learning. The practical part includes a survey based on questionnaires among lower secondary school learners. Its aim is to find out whether they already know and use such servers.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:19:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MariaARS_DISSERT.pdf: 385218 bytes, checksum: c271c81c6f37df5264b85af7209edf87 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-04-28 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The broad objective of the research The pedagogic use of ICT as development of teaching capacity: the case of ProInfo Natal/RN was to realize an evaluation of this program effectiveness in public schools. Specifically, we ve tried to observe if the program: a) succeeded by promoting the pedagogical use of new ICTs, b) stimulated the improvement of teaching and learning using ICT, and c) performed functionings and expanding its capabilities. The methodology consisted of literature revision; realization of half-structured interviews with administrators and teachers, and leading four focal groups with students in 9th grade of elementary school, were also made observations and analysis about the official documents which regulates the program. Our results showed that ProInfo presents various interferences in its effectiveness, causing a gap between its marks and the actual results of its use in everyday life of schools. We ve concluded that the program needs to challenge these weaknesses in order to contribute to the promotion of functionings and expanding its capabilities / O principal objetivo da pesquisa O uso pedag?gico das TIC como expans?o das capacidades: o ProInfo Natal/RN foi realizar uma avalia??o da efetividade desse programa nas escolas p?blicas do munic?pio. Especificamente, a pesquisa verificou se o programa: a) conseguiu promover o uso pedag?gico das novas TIC; b) fomentou a melhoria do processo de ensino e aprendizagem com o uso das TIC; e, c) realizou efetiva??es e a expans?o de suas capacidades. A metodologia consistiu na revis?o da literatura; realiza??o de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com gestores e professores; al?m de quatro grupos focais com estudantes do 9? ano do ensino fundamental; tamb?m foram feitas observa??es diretas e an?lise dos documentos que regulamentam o programa. Os resultados desta pesquisa mostraram que o ProInfo apresenta uma s?rie de interfer?ncias em sua efetividade, provocando uma dist?ncia entre o que est? proposto nos objetivos e os resultados observados no cotidiano das escolas. Concluiu-se que o programa precisa superar essas fragilidades, visando contribuir para a promo??o de efetiva??es e a expans?o das capacidades dos estudantes

This paper outlines the current situation of Internet usage and attitudes towards the Internet among ordinary people in Arusha, Tanzania, and examines the views of ordinary citizens on the effects of the arrival of Internet and the possible digital divide. Using qualitative interviews with equal groups of ordinary Internet users and ordinary non- Internet users in Arusha, the authors found varying levels of awareness about Internet services and facilities and their availability. There was also a widespread concern about immoral western influences communicated by the Internet and how it may affect the domestic culture. It was clearly shown that Internet usage and the possibility to utilize the information found is dependent on education levels and the economic situation of the users, two closely related factors. To get additional views on the subject interviews were also carried out with representatives for Radio and TV stations as well as newspapers located in Arusha, institutions for higher education in the ICT field, Internet providers, and Arusha Municipal Council. To examine the actual Internet usage we extracted random samples of visited websites in several of the Internet cafés, which most of the Arushans use to access the Internet. It was found that government action is necessary that the in order to bridge the digital divide, but as a result of systematic censorship of media government efforts meet a profound distrust among people, neither does the government consider this to be any of their responsibilities.