CAPES / O conhecimento científico produzido nas universidades e nas instituições de pesquisa tem sido divulgado através da Internet em portais acadêmicos, revistas científicas online e repositórios digitais. Repositórios digitais de acesso aberto ao conhecimento científico têm sido implementados como uma maneira de disponibilizar a literatura acadêmica sem custos para as pessoas que acessam esses textos. Elaborar os repositórios visando proporcionar acessibilidade para as pessoas com deficiência e com especificidades de acesso é uma maneira de promover a inclusão no meio acadêmico, favorecendo os estudos dessas pessoas no Ensino Superior. As pessoas surdas possuem uma forma diferenciada de apreensão do mundo, que ocorre por meio da percepção visual, resultando em uma demanda de acesso à Internet distinta em relação às pessoas ouvintes. O idioma usado pelas pessoas surdas é a Libras, que possui uma construção gramatical diversa da língua portuguesa, motivo pelo qual a leitura de textos para as pessoas surdas pode ser dificultosa. O presente trabalho buscou conhecer quais as percepções que as pessoas surdas têm em relação à acessibilidade em sites de acesso ao conhecimento científico via Internet. Por meio de entrevistas em profundidade, foi possível coletar dados que foram analisados conforme o método comparativo constante. Os resultados obtidos revelaram que o acesso ao conhecimento científico não é apenas inacessível, é também excludente, pois não oferece alternativas em línguas de sinais para que as pessoas surdas possam ter entendimento dos conteúdos presentes nesses sites. / The scientific knowledge produced in universities and research institutes has been published through Internet in academic portals, online scientific magazines and digital repositories. Open access to scientific knowledge digital repositories have been implemented as a manner to offer academic literature without costs to people who access these essays. Developing repositories aiming at providing accessibility to people with a disability and impairment is a way to promote social inclusion in academic environment, favoring these people's studies in higher education. Deaf people have a differentiated way of the world apprehension, which occurs through visual perception, resulting in an Internet access demand distinctive from hearing people. The language used by Brazilian deaf people is Libras, which has a grammatical structure apart from Portuguese, the reason that reading to deaf people can be difficult. The present essay ought to know which perceptions deaf people have in relation to accessibility in open access to scientific knowledge websites. Through depth interviews, it was possible to collect data that have been analyzed according to constant comparative method. The results obtained revealed that scientific knowledge access is not only inaccessible, but also exclusionary, as it does not offer options in sign language so deaf people can understand the content on these websites.

The ways people go online have been transformed by the emergence of new mobile Internet technologies. As modes of Internet access are becoming increasingly diverse, this thesis sets out to examine how various forms of access shape engagement with online resources. Inequalities in Internet access have been neglected in the "second-level digital divide" research, which has focused on differences in skills and usage. Thus, I argue that inequalities of access have to be revisited and their role in digital inclusion reassessed. To study individuals' arrangements of Internet-enabled devices and locations holistically and as a dynamic entity, access is conceptualised as infrastructure. Theoretically, I distinguish between material dimensions of access and social practices shaping access, and draw on existing models of digital inclusion to examine the role of these dimensions and practices in online engagement. Empirically, a mixed methods research design is employed, complementing longitudinal analyses of survey data representative of the British population with 29 qualitative interviews with British Internet users. This study contributes to our understanding of material and social dimensions of access and their impact on Internet use patterns. First, the conceptualisation of Internet access as infrastructure is empirically validated. Second, quality, locality and ubiquity are established as material dimensions of access, where offline social and economic resources most strongly affect inclusion in high-quality, multi-local and ubiquitous Internet access. Third, three specific practices encompassing how users develop and maintain their access infrastructures are identified: spotlighting, distributing and being stranded. They reflect differences in roles Internet technologies play in individuals' daily lives as well as differences in availability of offline resources. Fourth, the results show that, controlling for a range of digital inclusion factors, the access inequalities have significant effects on a range of online engagement types, but are most strongly related to commercial and communication uses of the Internet. In sum, this study provides a nuanced understanding of how different mechanisms underlie the development, maintenance and engagement with Internet access, depending on whether access arrangements are shaped by digital exclusion or choice. Specifically, by outlining critical differences among all-round, mobile-mostly, mobile-only and home-only Internet users, broader policy and research implications are also discussed.

158 f. / Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-04-30T15:32:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Amaleide Santos.pdf: 4564983 bytes, checksum: 785ac27eb536579e016e2ed172aeda84 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Auxiliadora Lopes(silopes@ufba.br) on 2013-06-12T16:54:23Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Amaleide Santos.pdf: 4564983 bytes, checksum: 785ac27eb536579e016e2ed172aeda84 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-06-12T16:54:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Amaleide Santos.pdf: 4564983 bytes, checksum: 785ac27eb536579e016e2ed172aeda84 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / O tema da “inclusão digital” vem sendo objeto de vários estudos no país, mas constata-se que pouca atenção ou pesquisas acadêmicas estão voltadas para a relação que jovens e adultos não alfabetizados estabelecem com as tecnologias digitais. A pesquisa busca responder a pergunta: Como pensa, interage e faz uso das TIC – Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação o imenso contingente da população não alfabetizada? Para compreender as “agruras” vivenciadas pelos trabalhadores não alfabetizados, optou-se por uma metodologia que permitisse dar voz aos sujeitos da pesquisa. Os capítulos estão organizados em ordem do percurso de vida dos trabalhadores, sendo os discursos dos mesmos entremeados por reflexões de autores de diferentes áreas, o que possibilitou-nos conhecer e compreender os processos que os sujeitos que não dominam a leitura e a escrita desencadeiam em torno das tecnologias digitais, suas dificuldades, suas conquistas. A pesquisa faz emergir a realidade vivida, e sofrida, por jovens e adultos não alfabetizados, especialmente os profissionais da indústria da Construção Civil, por ser este o setor que emprega maior número de pessoas com baixa ou nenhuma escolaridade, trazendo à tona as lutas diárias que estas pessoas travam com os recursos digitais que estão a sua volta. A pesquisa identifica uma situação de “peleja digital” do não alfabetizado diante das TIC. Os resultados revelam que as salas de aula implantadas nos canteiros de obras, seguem uma proposta didática centrada no analógico e não alcançam a efetividade digital demandada pelos trabalhadoresalunos. Como conclusão, a pesquisa chama a atenção para o perigo das tecnologias serem utilizadas como argumento para uma possível “exclusão” ou incapacidade atribuída aos jovens e adultos não alfabetizados para lidar com os recursos da informação e da comunicação, da mesma forma que durante séculos de educação no Brasil não foram oportunizadas igualdades educacionais básicas que permitissem a universalização da “alfabetização analógica”. / Salvador

Public Administration and Management / D.P.A.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / A presente investigaÃÃo cientÃfica tem o intuito de discutir a comunicaÃÃo popular comunitÃria no Ãmbito dos movimentos sociais populares, construÃda tendo como suporte a Internet. O objeto de estudo escolhido foi o site do bairro Ellery (www.bairroellery.com.br). A escolha se justifica devido Ãs relaÃÃes de proximidade que havia forjado anteriormente, atravÃs de outras pesquisas realizadas, ao fato do site do bairro Ellery ser um dos mais antigos sites de bairro de Fortaleza e, ainda, pelo histÃrico que o bairro tem em torno da produÃÃo da comunicaÃÃo popular comunitÃria em um contexto de lutas sociais. O objetivo central à compreender as caracterÃsticas que essa comunicaÃÃo passa a ter quando construÃda em uma plataforma digital. Empreendi um estudo de caso do site do bairro Ellery procurando, entretanto, analisar nÃo apenas o virtual - o site - mas tambÃm o concreto, ou seja, o lugar onde este surgiu. Interessa-me lanÃar um olhar para o cotidiano de produÃÃo dessa mÃdia, no sentido de melhor compreender as conquistas e desafios dos atores sociais que a produzem. O olhar para o concreto foi construÃdo a partir do uso do mÃtodo etnogrÃfico e para anÃlise do site, fiz uso de uma vertente deste mÃtodo, a etnografia virtual. LanÃei mÃo, ainda, do uso de entrevistas, optando pela entrevista antropolÃgica. / This research aims to discuss communication popular community within popular social movements, built and supported by the Internet. The object of study was the chosen site of the neighborhood Ellery (www.bairroellery.com.br). The choice is justified because of the close relationships they had forged earlier by other surveys, the fact that the site of the district Ellery be one of the oldest sites in the neighborhood of Fortaleza, and also by the historic neighborhood has around Community production of popular communication in a context of social struggles. The main objective is to understand the characteristics that communication is replaced when built on a digital platform. Undertook a case study of the site\'s neighborhood looking Ellery, however, consider not only the virtual - the site - but also the concrete, ie, the place where it arose. It interests me a glimpse into the daily production of this media in order to better understand the achievements and challenges of social actors who produce it. The look for the concrete was constructed from the use of the ethnographic method and site analysis, I use a part of this method, the virtual ethnography. Threw hand, still, the use of interviews, opting for anthropological interview.

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to examine how teachers of primary school students view the concept of information literacy and their classroom practices related to this subject. In addition, the study was designed to compare teachers’ understanding of information literacy in two European countries, Norway and Hungary. In spite of the fact that both countries are European developed countries with a similar culture and educational purposes, the economic difference can affect their possibilities to profit from the rapidly developing internet and information technologies. This study investigates the assumption that the differences between teachers’ answers in the two countries will be more and more significant on each further step of Van Dijk’s model of access: motivational, material, skills, and usage access. The study has a socio-economic perspective and the empirical data was collected through quantitative web-based questionnaire. The findings indicate that most of the teachers have a good understanding of the concept of information literacy and they are aware of the importance of information literacy skills to some level. Exploring the teachers’ classroom practices, I found that they do teach information literacy skills, and they do have classroom practices which can facilitate the improvement of information literacy skills, but there is a difference between the Norwegian and Hungarian teachers’ practices. The findings of the study confirm my initial assumption and are consistent with the pattern that I would expect to find according to the Van Dijk’s model, and thus, with the influence of the socio-economic features on teachers’ view on information literacy and their classroom practices related to teaching information literacy skills.

This study reflects on an outreach initiative between two differing tertiary cultures established on different continents. The aim is to develop an understanding of what happens when a prestigious American university and a South African Higher Education Institution meet around a computer-mediated situation. Various inter-relating aspects such as cooperation and cooperative learning, educational technology, Higher Educational Institutions, globalisation, the international Digital Divide, cultural diversity, commonalities, cultural differences, an international learning programme, and power relations in international partnerships are explored. The effect of technology on education is that information is no longer restricted to a single geographical setting, instead it has expanded and became a dynamic international driving force. Increasing educational needs compel Higher Education Institutions to provide in these needs and to adapt to a more flexible learning style. Globalisation causes the world to get smaller, compressed, interconnected and resulted in a world that is in effect flat. Information communication technologies are changing the world. On the one hand the Internet promotes communication and freedom but on the other hand causes uneven development all over the globe. The Digital Divide pertains to the divide between the global well-resourced learners and the local under-resourced learners. Cultural differences between nations and organisations can be interpreted against the background of different models of cultural dimensions. The focus of the study is to explore the effect of commonalities and cultural differences on cooperative learning at organisational level. Power relations between international partners were challenging and resulted in conflict and differences of opinion. The project started with the University of Pretoria’s visit to Stanford University in November 2004. The preparation, organisation and planning phases continued through 2005. The ELISA project was intended as a three-year intervention from 2006 through 2008. The first year was supposed to be a pilot phase to gather and provide information for use in the second and third years. This study pertains to the pilot phase which started in February 2006 until June 2006. It was successfully completed and achieved a 93% success rate. However, in September 2006 Stanford unexpectedly informed the South African partners that the project would be discontinued due to several reasons. Their objections related to the lack of visible progress regarding content scheduling, media production, course logistics, and research practicalities. Although there were accommodating personalities among the project leaders on both sides interpersonal conflict between the remaining project leaders developed. The partners on both sides could not generate sufficient commonality regarding the need to continue. The situation was worsened by the fact that the initial rationale for the project lacked shared motivation among the project leaders on both sides. It is suggested that more research be conducted to explore possible differences of opinion and undercurrents among project leaders throughout the project, and to scrutinize the initial rationale as well as curriculum issues in good time, and to investigate the role of power relations between international partners that are funded by international grants, and the effect of these power relations on the learning experiences of the students involved. Copyright / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

The purpose of this research was to investigate the e-readiness of warehouse workers in a supply chain management environment. Organisations increasingly contemplate e-learning as a training option to develop their employees. Globalisation of commercial ventures increasingly demands that organisations become more competitive by introducing Information Technology (IT). e-Learning is seen as a stepping stone for empowering employees. Supply-chain management organisations use unskilled warehouse workers to perform manual duties such as registering, storing and quick location of stock for distribution. IT supports these logistic procedures – emphasising the need to introduce e-learning to warehouse workers. Questionnaires confirmed that the unit of analysis was multi-racial, mostly black, between eighteen and sixty years old and of both genders. Their limited educational qualifications are representative of many similar developing communities of work across Africa. e-Learning requires access to technology, computer literacy, self-discipline, the drive to develop and the confidence to use technology to achieve objectives. Warehouse workers as developing communities are trapped by the digital divide amidst calls to bridge the divide by introducing IT to such communities. Questions are raised whether they have the discipline, motivation, and skills to learn from such a complex learning strategy. Interviewed corporate learning experts cautioned that specific infrastructures and personal attributes are crucial. Insufficient computer experience, anxiety and technophobia, may cause warehouse workers to become unlikely candidates for e-learning. My inquiry was an interpretive, qualitative case study, intent on understanding emotional, technical, and social aspects influencing e-readiness. I collected my data in four phases. Phase one was a questionnaire to collect biographical information of the warehouse workers. During phase two, by means of a Delphi technique, I established consensus from a group of e-learning experts of what ereadiness encompasses. Phase three consisted of interviews with and observations of workers performing their daily tasks and also while completing a computer-based tutorial. In phase four I conducted interviews with warehouse managers on their perceptions of the e-readiness of their workers. From the literature I extracted Reeves’ (1999) three learner inputs, as well as six fundamental categories of e-readiness. With these nine theory codes, I followed an inductive-deductive grounded theory approach to analyse the data. I constructed six sub-questions as basis for the enquiry. I tallied the frequencies of the conceptual codes of e-readiness and created an inventory of applicable conceptual codes according to the theory codes. Patterns of technical and affective experience, aptitude, origins of motivation, access to computer infrastructure and organisation culture culminated as my seven main findings on the e-readiness of warehouse workers. I determined inter alia that warehouse workers do not suffer from technophobia, nor are they really intimidated by technology. However, they need guidance and expert facilitation to become successful e-learners. They are aware that they are dependent on the organisation’s infrastructure to develop their skills and capabilities. Therefore, the e-maturity of an organisation can greatly benefit from warehouse workers’ involvement in e-learning. / Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

In a world that is increasingly united in time and distance, I examine why the world is increasingly divided socially, economically, and digitally. Using data for 35 variables from 93 countries, I separate the countries into groups of 31 each by gross domestic product per capita. These groups of developed, lesser developed and least developed countries are used in comparative analysis. Through a review of relevant literature and tests of bivariate correlation, I select eight key variables that are significantly related to information communication technology development and to human development. For this research, adoption of the Internet in the developing world is the innovation of particular interest. Thus, for comparative purposes, I chose Internet Users per 1000 persons per country and the Human Development Index as the dependent variables upon which the independent variables are regressed. Although small in numbers among the least developed countries, I find Internet Users as the most powerful influence on human development for the poorest countries. The research focuses on key obstacles as well as variables of opportunity for Internet usage in developing countries. The greatest obstacles are in fact related to Internet availability and the cost/need ratio for infrastructure expansion. However, innovations for expanded Internet usage in developing countries are expected to show positive results for increased Internet usage, as well as for greater human development and human capital. In addition to the diffusion of innovations in terms of the Internet, the diffusion of cultures through migration is also discussed in terms of the effect on social capital and the drain on human capital from developing countries.

This study sought to explore the utilization and perception of best practices by community-based technology training programs when instructing older adults to become technologically literate. The target population included adults age 55 years and older of the Baby Boomer generational cohort who ranged academically from possessing a high school diploma or General Education Diploma (GED) through a college degree and had enrolled in a local technology training program to improve their technological skill level with the goal of obtaining employment and/or to remain functionally independent. This study was conducted at three community technology training centers located in the southeast that offered computer training classes for both civilian and ex-military older adults and employed a mixed methods research design. Data was collected through a series of participant interviews, surveys, and class observations to establish an understanding of current participant computer literacy status, demographic details and experiences, class structure, the computer curriculum, and training execution. It was the intent of this study to help maintain increased focus on the necessity of reducing the present digital divide that exists between younger and older adults by highlighting the importance of designing technology training programs that incorporated both expert recommended best practices for instructing older adults, as well as the expressed benefit and personal needs of the Baby Boomer population being served by local technology training centers.