This research briefly introduces the roles of art museums and presents selected digital technology implementation challenges and benefits in art museums in the Gauteng Province. An art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of work of art, usually visual art. Art museums collect objects of art and other historic artefacts that are documented and exhibited for different purposes, such as aesthetic value, social, historic cultural and educational, significance and research values that are traceable to a specific society or group of individuals. In South Africa, particularly in the Gauteng Province, art museums are failing to keep pace with international trends about the use of digital technology. It is, therefore, important for art museums as information dissemination centres to incorporate digital technology in their daily museum business as it may offer the opportunity for these museums to become more effective and competitive in the global information society. A literature review is done to understand the trends of different digital technologies in other first world international cities. The examined literature revealed that the Internet and other technological applications of the new millennium prompted a re-evaluation of cutting edge museum research, education roles, and documentation capabilities. Consequently, digital technology became an integral component of the digital policies of many art museums, allowing them to satisfy the demand for online information sharing abilities. A qualitative research approach together with a constructivism educational theory is used to fully understand South Africa’s position regarding the use of digital technology. In South Africa, digital technology usage in art museums is predominantly limited to email exchange, electronic invitations to exhibitions, data capturing of collections and viewing of basic websites. In other words, digital technologies are not optimally used in the South African art museum environment. The study explores the benefits of digital technology interfaces at art museums against fixed traditional art museum information dissemination practices. The objectives of the study are to create an awareness of best practice in the implementation of digital technology interfaces at art museums in Gauteng. The findings in this study indicate that digital technologies have proved to be useful in several spheres of public life resulting in the popular utilization of e-learning, e-mail, e-health, e-government and e-commerce. It is, therefore, proposed that art museums in South Africa embrace digital technologies to enhance the transformation of these museums. In essence, the implementation of digital technologies such as ‘virtual tours’ and other popular social media platforms and applications may raise the profile of art museums and market their contents to wider audiences, and may also help to popularise their heritage collections for leisure and scholarly purposes. / Mini Dissertation (MCHS)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Department of Arts & Culture / University of Pretoria / Visual Arts / MHCS / Unrestricted

These master's thesis "Use of mobile technologies for personal goals achievement" deals with a comprehensive, multifaceted view of mobile applications designed to support physical acti- vity in the general population. The four main chapters are devoted to physical activity in relation to mental health, a detailed introduction to the Transtheoretical model of behavior change, the development of digital technologies and the issue of implementing theoretical concepts in mo- bile applications. The empirical part presents qualitative research, which deals with the intentions of the authors of selected mobile applications and analysis of the presence of psychological concepts of beha- vior change in these applications. The research goal was only partially achieved because it was not possible to get answers to the submitted questions from the addressed respondents. The analysis of mobile applications themselves using behavior change techniques shows the appli- cation of some processes of change. Keywords Behavior change, motivation, processes of change, mobile applications, digital technologies.

Recent estimates suggest that there are currently around 4.8 million people who consider themselves to be digital nomads. They are widely depicted in the media, most often as young professionals who successfully combine work, leisure and travel into one holistic lifestyle. Despite this significant presence in today's popular culture, from a research point of view, digital nomadism is almost unexplored phenomenon. Therefore, the aim of this work is the analysis and interpretation of the phenomenon of digital nomadism, not only through my own ethnographic research and reflection, but also in terms of current theoretical concepts in anthropology of tourism and mobility. The research itself focuses mainly on selected aspects often associated with digital nomadism in the mainstream media, and how informants reflect them. I deal with aspects such as the blurred boundaries between work and leisure, mobility slowdown, the origin of co-working spaces, the concept of freedom and, last but not least, the social changes that have led to the global expansion of this phenomenon. Keywords: digital nomadism, anthropology of tourism, mobility, travelling, digital technologies, work

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to explore how libraries’ storytime for babies and toddlers can be construedas a reading promotion event which boosts early literacy, by ways of a multiple-case study of storytime at four public libraries in western Ireland. The study will also explore how the different libraries design these events and include different elements of traditional reading and storytelling, multimodal reading and technology, participation, and accessibility and inclusion through a sociocultural lens. The theoretical framework is constructed on the concepts and theory related to literacy development and reading promotion, and works as an analytical tool through which the empirical data collection will be examined. Data was collected through observations of storytimes at four public libraries in Ireland, as well as interviews with the involved librarians. The results show that although the librarians do not actively work to implement national and EU storytime templates, they offer programmes which are in tune with their participants’ needs, and invoke engagement and excitement about reading among children and parents or guardians alike.

This master thesis aims on the means of how Czech children and youth spend their leisure time. Great focus is also given to attractivness of the activities. The problem addressed by the author in this thesis is the increasing percentage of the prevalence of childhood obesity in the Czech Republic and it's connection with the increase in technological dependency of children and youth. The main goal of this thesis is to describe whether there is a connection between the aforementioned phenomena. Another goal focuses on ways of spending free time and base on author's own research adresses the attractivness of the activities, i.e. which leisure time activities are more and less attractive for children and youth, what children enjoy in their free time and how they really spend it. For these purposes, the author sets up hypotheses in the thesis, the validity of which is addressed by the research questions in order to achieve the main objectives of the work. The author defines the basic concepts for better orientation in the text which is divided into analytical and empirical parts. The author even introduces two new concepts: the online world and the offline world. In the final part of the thesis the author suggests the possibility of connecting the online world and the offline world for further...

Den digitala utvecklingen i samhället har under lång tid påverkat redovisningsbranschen och redovisningskonsulters arbete i form av att det gått från pappersarbete till att använda datorer och digitala hjälpmedel för att utföra arbetet. Denna utveckling har även inneburit ett mer effektivt och noggrant arbete tack vare digitaliseringen. Tidigare forskning har behandlat hur redovisningsbranschen påverkas av den digitala utvecklingen, det som däremot inte har studerats tidigare är den inverkan Covid-19 har i relation till digitaliseringen och redovisningskonsulters arbete. Samhället påverkas av den pågående Covid-19-pandemin i flera avseenden där redovisningsbyråer berörs av de restriktioner som uppkommit till följd av pandemin.  Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för hur digitaliseringen påverkar redovisningskonsulters arbete under rådande Covid-19-pandemi. Syftet är även att studera om det föreligger skillnader mellan redovisningskonsulter från små, medelstora och stora redovisningsbyråer gällande dess arbete. För att besvara syftet har en kvalitativ studie tillämpats där det empiriska materialet samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Totalt intervjuades elva redovisningskonsulter från redovisningsbyråer av varierande storlek runt om i Sverige.  Resultatet visar att redovisningskonsulters arbete påverkas av både Covid-19 och digitaliseringen där konsulterna även anser att Covid-19 har påskyndat digitaliseringen till viss del. Samtliga redovisningskonsulter är positiva till den digitala utvecklingen och menar att det bidrar till ett mer effektivt arbete. En slutsats som framkommit är att Covid-19 ökat distansarbetet bland redovisningskonsulter på medelstora och stora byråer, medan majoriteten från små till största del fortfarande arbetat från kontoret. Även det fysiska mötet har minskat bland samtliga redovisningskonsulter till följd av Covid-19, vilket har resulterat i att digitala hjälpmedel används i större utsträckning. Enligt konsulterna har distansarbetet fungerat tack vare att digitaliseringen gett de förutsättningar som krävs för att kunna arbeta digitalt och på distans. Ytterligare presenterar även studiens resultat att redovisningskonsulter från små byråer generellt sett är mer positiva till att ta hjälp av andra i branschen, medan de från medelstora och stora snarare anser att det handlar om att följa med i konkurrensen. / The digital development in society has for a long time affected the accounting profession, where the accounting consultants' work has changed from working with papers to the usage of computers and digital technologies. This has led to more efficient and accurate work, owing to the digitalization. Previous studies have investigated how digital development impacts the accounting profession, however, the effect of Covid-19 has not been investigated in relation to digitalization or the work of accounting consultants. The restrictions which arose as a result of Covid-19 have affected companies, including accounting firms. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of how the digitalization affect the work of accounting consultants during the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, to observe if there are differences between accounting consultants from small-, medium- and large-sized accounting firms regarding their work. A qualitative method has been used to answer the purpose, where the empirical material has been collected from semi-structured interviews. Eleven consultants from accounting firms of different sizes located in Sweden have been interviewed.  The result of the study shows that the accounting consultants' work is affected by both Covid-19 and the digitalization, furthermore the consultants also imply that Covid-19 has accelerated the digitalization to some extent. All consultants are positive regarding digital development and its contribution to more efficient work. A conclusion that has emerged among consultants from medium-sized and large accounting firms, is that Covid-19 has led to more work from other places than the offices. Those from small firms have instead had the opportunity to work from the office to a higher degree. Physical meetings have decreased due to Covid-19, which has resulted in the use of more digital technologies. According to the consultants, digitalization has provided the conditions needed to be able to practice the work more digitally and from other places than the office. Further, the result shows that consultants from small accounting firms are generally more positive to exchange experiences with others in the profession, in comparison with those from large and medium-sized firms.

[pt] Esta dissertação aborda práticas e processos presentes em espaços independentes de fabricação digital, ressaltando que a principal contribuição desses laboratórios experimentais é promover uma mudança cultural no seu entorno. O trabalho se insere no contexto marcado pela democratização da tecnologia de manufatura aditiva e das ferramentas de prototipagem, consequência da evolução do processamento matemático computacional, que permitiu a popularização de computadores pessoais, o acesso à internet e a disseminação das máquinas de fabricação digital de baixo porte, de componentes eletrônicos e de outros aparatos que, antes de tal evolução, eram inexistentes ou exclusividade da indústria e dos grandes centros de pesquisa. Como resultante, tem-se um cenário em que qualquer cidadão pode materializar suas ideias, expressar sua visão de mundo, sua criatividade e construir conhecimento a partir da interação com artefatos – o que representa um resgate de valores presentes na produção pré-industrial. A dissertação dialoga com os campos da Educação, Tecnologia e Sociedade e entende o Design como o articulador entre essas áreas, ressaltando o seu importante papel no desenho de futuros e a sua dimensão política ao expressar a intenção humana. / [en] This dissertation addresses practices and processes present in independent spaces of digital fabrication, highlighting that the main contribution of these experimental laboratories is to promote cultural change in their surroundings. This analysis is inserted in the context marked by the democratization of additive manufacturing and prototyping, a consequence of the evolution of computational capacities, which allowed the popularization of personal computers, access to the internet, the dissemination of small digital manufacturing machines, electronic components and other devices that were nonexistent or exclusive to industry and major research centers in the past decades. As a result, there is a scenario in which any citizen can materialize their ideas, express their creativity and build knowledge from the interaction with artefacts – which represents a return to values presented in pre-industrial production. This work dialogues with the fields of Education, Technology and Society, and understands Design as the facilitator among those areas, emphasizing its essential role in designing futures and its political dimension in expressing human intentions.

Объект исследования – реализация концепции «Умный город». Предмет – особенности цифровизации городской среды в рамках концепции «Умный город» и ее внедрения на территории Свердловской области. Цель – осуществление анализа особенностей цифровизации городской среды в рамках концепции «Умный город» и ее внедрения на территории Свердловской области и разработка рекомендаций по совершенствованию этого процесса. Решение поставленных в работе задач осуществлялось на основе применения таких методов исследования, как анализ теоретических и нормативно-правовых документов, анализ статистических данных. Проведено социологическое исследование с использованием метода вторичного анализа данных и анализа документов. В ходе исследования были рассмотрены теоретические и нормативно-правовые вопросы цифровизации городской среды, особенности концепции «Умный город»; проведен территориальный анализ особенностей цифровизации городской среды на территории Свердловской области, выявлены основные проблемы внедрения проекта «Умный город» в городах. Результатом работы стала разработка рекомендаций по совершенствованию цифровизации городской среды и внедрению элементов «Умного города» в муниципальных образованиях Свердловской области. / The object of the research is the implementation of the “Smart City” concept. The subject is the features of digitalization of the urban environment within the framework of the “Smart City” concept and its implementation in the Sverdlovsk region. The goal is to analyze the features of the digitalization of the urban environment within the framework of the “Smart City” concept and its implementation in the Sverdlovsk region and develop recommendations for improving this process. The solution of the tasks set in the work was carried out on the basis of the application of such research methods as the analysis of theoretical and regulatory documents, analysis of statistical data. A sociological study was carried out using the method of secondary data analysis and document analysis. In the course of the research, theoretical and regulatory issues of digitalization of the urban environment, features of the concept of "Smart City" were considered; a territorial analysis of the features of digitalization of the urban environment in the territory of the Sverdlovsk region was carried out, the main problems of the implementation of the "Smart City" project in cities were identified. The result of the work was the development of recommendations to improve the digitalization of the urban environment and the introduction of elements of the "Smart City" in the municipalities of the Sverdlovsk region.

В данной диссертационной работе исследуется как в культуре информационного общества происходит репрезентация современного танца благодаря цифровым технологиям. / This dissertation examines how the representation of contemporary dance occurs in the culture of the information society thanks to digital technology.

Detta examensarbete handlar om svenska förskollärares användning av digitala teknologier på förskolan. Fokus på denna studie ligger på att få en förståelse i vad som påverkar förskollärarnas användning av digitala teknologier och om det kan kopplas till deras ålder och examensår. Resultatet som framkommer i arbetet är konstruerat genom empiriska individuella forskningsintervjuer, som leder till större diskussioner med förskolläraren om deras användning av digitala teknologier. Teorin för detta arbete är TPACK-ramverk, vilka kunskaper och kompetenser som förskollärarna har. Genom detta arbete framkom det att deltagarna ser både möjligheter och begränsningar när det kommer till användningen av digitala teknologier. Det som begränsar förskollärarna är tiden och kommunens insättning, men förskollärarnas egen inställning och kunskap inom digitala teknologier påverkar också användandet. Fast dessa begränsningar använde sig förskollärarna av digitala teknologier i det administrativa arbetet och lite i undervisningen. Förskollärarna använder sig av digitala teknologier som de själva känner sig trygga med och har kunskap inom.