<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Along with the rapid spread of the World Wide Web, internet, and personal computers, e-learning has been increasingly adopted by higher educational institutions (<strong>HEIs</strong>). A serial of studies have been conducted in order to study the implementation of e-learning in HEIs.  This study is a comparative study of two Chinese universities and one Swedish university. It is trying to answer the following research questions:</p><ol><li>What are teachers’ attitudes towards e-learning and purpose for using it?</li><li>What are the driving factors and barriers of e-learning implementation?</li><li>How do national cultures influence the e-learning implementation? </li></ol><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> This study is conducted as an explorative study. It is seeking to find out driving factors and barriers of e-learning implementation in HEIs; Analyse the impact of national culture on e-learning implementation based on the findings and the analysis out of Hofstede´s culture dimension model.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>The deductive approach will be adopted in this study. Therefore, a hypothesis has been built and tested by both primary and secondary data.  Primary data was collected through questionnaires and the secondary was collected from internet resources, books, published articles and conference papers.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>There are similarities and differences between universities from the two countries, however, the differences are relatively greater than the similarities. Taken into consideration the significant differences in culture of these two countries, the conclusion can be drawn that national culture is a significant ingredient of factors that can affect e-learning implementations in HEIs.</p>

Introduction: Along with the rapid spread of the World Wide Web, internet, and personal computers, e-learning has been increasingly adopted by higher educational institutions (HEIs). A serial of studies have been conducted in order to study the implementation of e-learning in HEIs.  This study is a comparative study of two Chinese universities and one Swedish university. It is trying to answer the following research questions: What are teachers’ attitudes towards e-learning and purpose for using it? What are the driving factors and barriers of e-learning implementation? How do national cultures influence the e-learning implementation? Purpose: This study is conducted as an explorative study. It is seeking to find out driving factors and barriers of e-learning implementation in HEIs; Analyse the impact of national culture on e-learning implementation based on the findings and the analysis out of Hofstede´s culture dimension model. Method: The deductive approach will be adopted in this study. Therefore, a hypothesis has been built and tested by both primary and secondary data.  Primary data was collected through questionnaires and the secondary was collected from internet resources, books, published articles and conference papers. Conclusion: There are similarities and differences between universities from the two countries, however, the differences are relatively greater than the similarities. Taken into consideration the significant differences in culture of these two countries, the conclusion can be drawn that national culture is a significant ingredient of factors that can affect e-learning implementations in HEIs.

When it comes to improving schools, context always matters (Murphy, 2013, p. 260). School leaders are "masters at brokering" (Murphy, 2013, p. 259) change. These changes are usually through the transfer of programs, interventions, and structures that worked elsewhere and pay little regard to the conditions and context that made them work (Murphy, 2013). School improvement reform will require "substantive systemic change" (Adelman and Taylor, 2007, p. 55) that considers the "current culture of schools and intended school improvements" (Adelman and Taylor, 2007, p. 56). This study will use a qualitative, multiple case-study methodology, a semi-structured interview protocol, and a document review to identify how school leaders in five, accredited high or mid-high poverty Virginia middle schools both identified and provided resources to address barriers to student learning. The instrumentation tool for this study was based on the learning or enabling components of the Adelman and Taylor improvement model (2008). The tool was used to qualify the school leaders' site-based school resource allocation and then analyzed for common themes. The study found that some learning or enabling supports were more represented than others. The study also found that there were three key leadership traits among school leaders who had effectively resourced the learning supports: instructional leadership; human-resource leadership; and culture and expectations leadership. Implications from this study include the need for further research on models for school improvement that require schools and districts to identify, plan, and provide for barriers to student learning. A second implication is the need for further study on leadership traits that might exist in school leaders who not only recognize but are able to inspire the implicit and explicit need to plan and provide for overcoming barriers to student learning. / Doctor of Education / The process of improving schools is important. The decision-making and school improvement structures that most schools employ is one that focuses mainly on classroom instruction with little regard to planning for students who may struggle because of outside barriers, like the effects of poverty, lack of exposure to background knowledge, or insufficient schooling and experiences. This study used a qualitative, multiple case-study methodology, a semi-structured interview protocol, and a document review to identify how school principals in five, accredited high or mid-high poverty Virginia middle schools both identified and provided resources to address barriers to student learning. The study used the learning or enabling components of the Adelman and Taylor improvement model (2008) to qualify the school leaders’ site-based school resource allocation and then analyzed them for common themes. The study found that some learning or enabling supports were more represented than others. The study also found that there were three key leadership traits among school leaders who had effectively resourced the learning supports: instructional leadership; human-resource leadership; and culture and expectations leadership.

The thesis is concerned with the use of computers and ICT technology in nursery schools in the Czech Republic, those in particular where children have the opportunity to work with Kid Smart computers. The assignment should chart and analyze the information and communication literacy of school directors, to document available ICT technologies suitable for nursery schools, and define potential barriers that prevent their wider usage and to propose measures to directors that would lead to a gradual overcoming of these issues. A comparison with the situation abroad includes schools in Iceland and Portugal. A portion of this thesis deals with research regarding this topic and its subsequent evaluation. The assignment should provide directors with a well arranged description of available ICT for nursery schools and should familiarize them with the appropriate software for managing administration.