Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: 'Housing' has been addressed as a basic human right. In South Africa this right has become a challenge, which cannot be met by the government alone. It also requires a vast contribution from the broader non-State (private) sector. This includes large companies who need to provide housing assistance to their employees. The aim of this research was to develop an educational computer programme which can be used by companies in their employee housing assistance programmes. The objectives of the research included establishing the extent to which companies provide employee housing assistance; the viability of an educational computer programme; the requirements of companies; criteria and content of a computer programme; and the development and testing of a pilot demonstration module of an educational computer programme for employee housing assistance. Exploratory research was carried out on a sample of 112 companies by means of both postal and telephonic questionnaires. The results of these surveys indicated that 41 of these companies have already established employee housing assistance, providing general information on housing and housing related issues. Most of these companies, however, are only offering financial assistance to their employees without the necessary education and training which should accompany it. A programme which provides these aspects benefits both the company and the employees and should be implemented by many more institutions throughout the country. The main findings of this research, indicated the viability of an educational computer programme and the surveyed companies were positive about using it as part of their employee housing assistance. Throughout the world, computers have proved to offer high-quality interaction and unique learning opportunities to users of varying levels of understanding. They have also demonstrated that they are convenient to use and assist in promoting effective management of time and finances. On the basis of the responses to the survey, essential elements of an educational computer programme for the use of companies in employee housing assistance were identified. A pilot demonstration module was developed using a holistic and didactically sound approach. The development of this educational computer programme, will allow lower income employees to receive beneficial housing assistance at their own pace and level of comprehension and education through an enjoyable and contemporary medium. The results of the initial (but limited) testing of the pilot demonstration module, suggested that there is justification for the further development of the programme and for research to be carried out to examine its effect in the private sector. This research sheds light on the present trends in the provision of employee housing assistance in the private sector and the positive contribution which companies can provide to the housing crisis in South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 'Behuising' word as 'n basiese reg van die mens beskou. In Suid-Afrika het hierdie reg 'n uitdaging geword wat nie deur die regering alleen aanvaar kan word nie. Dit verg ook 'n groot bydrae van die breër gemeenskap, veral die privaatsektor, en dit sluit groot maatskappye wat behuisingshulp aan hulle werknemers behoort te verskaf, in. Die hoofdoel van hierdie navorsingsprojek was om 'n opvoedkundige rekenaarprogram te ontwikkel wat deur maatskappye as deel van 'n behuisingsondersteuningsprogram aan hulle werknemers gebied kan word. Die doelwitte van die navorsing was onder meer om die mate waartoe maatskappye reeds behuisingsondersteuningsprogramme vir hulle werknemers aanbied, te bepaal. Verder is die lewensvatbaarheid van 'n opvoedkundige rekenaarprogram bepaal, asook die maatskappye se behoefte aan so 'n program. Daar is ook vasgestel wat maatskappye se menings oor die kriteria vir en inhoud van 'n opvoedkundige rekenaarprogram, wat as deel van hulle behuisingsondersteuningsprogram aan werknemers gebied kan word, is. Verkennende navorsing is onderneem met 'n steekproef van 112 maatskappye deur middel van telefoniese- en posvraelyste. Die resultate van hierdie vraelyste het aangedui dat 41 van die maatskappye reeds 'n behuisingsondersteuningsprogram aanbied wat algemene inligting oor behuising en behuisingsverwante aangeleenthede aan die werknemers verskaf. Die meeste van dié maatskappye, wat behuisingsondersteuningsprogramme aanbied, bied egter alleenlik finansiële hulp aan hulle werknemers, sonder die nodige meegaande opvoeding en opleiding. "n Program wat beide finansiële en opvoedkundige hulp aanbied kan maatskappye en werknemers tot voordeel strek en behoort landswyd deur baie meer inrigtings geïmplementeer te word. Die hoofbevindinge van die navorsing het getoon dat die opvoedkundige rekenaarprogram lewensvatbaar is, en die deelnemende maatskappye het bereidwilligheid getoon om so "n program as deel van hulle werknemers se behuisingsondersteuningsprogram in te sluit. Die ontwikkeling van die rekenaarprogram sal dit moontlik maak vir werknemers om op verskillende vlakke van begrip en opvoedingspeil, voordelige behuisingsondersteuning teen hulle eie tempo en deur middel van "n genotvolle en kontemporêre medium te kan ontvang. Dit is wêreldwyd bewys dat rekenaars hoë kwaliteit interaksie en unieke leergeleenthede op alle begripssvlakke kan bied. Daar is ook bewys gelewer dat rekenaars nie net gerieflik is nie, maar ook effektief met die bestuur van tyd en finansies is. Op grond van die vraelys resultate, is noodsaaklike elemente van 'n rekenaargebaseerde behuisingsondersteuningsprogram vir werknemers geïdentifiseer, en "n proefmodule ontwikkel wat gebruik maak van "n holistiese en didakties gesonde benadering. Die uitslae van die eerste (maar beperkte) toetsing van die proefmodule dui daarop dat daar regverdiging is vir die verdere ontwikkeling van die program asook vir navorsing om te bepaal wat die effek van so "n program op die privaatsektor sou wees. Hierdie navorsing het lig gewerp op huidige neigings in die verskaffing van behuisingsondersteuning aan werknemers in die privaatsektor, asook op die positiewe bydrae wat deur maatskappye gelewer kan word tot die oplossing van die behuisingkrisis in Suid-Afrika.

This study compared cooperative and individual staff development methods for planning lessons with integrated technology. Twenty-three teachers from one elementary school participated in the study. The sample was the entire population. Nine participants were assigned to the control group, and fourteen participants were assigned to the experimental group. Names of participants were randomly drawn to determine group assignment. Participants in the control group worked individually in all three staff development sessions, while participants in the experimental group chose a partner, with whom they worked cooperatively in all three staff development sessions. Each participant or pair of participants submitted a lesson plan prior to participation in three staff development sessions. Following the sessions, each participant or pair of participants submitted a lesson plan. Three independent raters rated lesson plans to determine the participants' respective levels on the Level of Technology Implementation Observation Checklist (Moersch, 2001). The ratings of the lesson plans submitted before the training were compared to those collected after the training using a two-by-two mixed model ANOVA. The occasion (pre- vs. post-test), group, and interaction variables were all statistically significant at the .1 level; however, only the occasion variable had a strong effect size. These data suggest that (1) all teachers who participated in the training, whether individually or cooperatively, were able to develop lesson plans at a higher level of technology implementation and (2) cooperative staff development methods had no advantage over individual staff development methods with respect to teachers' ability to write lessons with integrated technology.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, August, 2014. / The research described in this thesis is a case study of the factors influencing teachers’ use of computers for teaching at a private secondary school in South Africa. Two problems motivated the study. Firstly, teachers were not using ICT for meaningful learning despite the South African Education Department's emphasis on the use of ICT in education. Secondly, teachers were not coping with the demands of a new school curriculum involving innovative practices and new content. The case study school had purchased a software package for the sciences which claimed to be suitable for the new South African curriculum. The software package was evaluated as part of the study, to investigate its usefulness for supporting Life Sciences teachers to teach new content during a period of curriculum change. The study comprised two phases, one before and one after the school introduced an innovation promoting the use of ICT for instruction. In the absence of a suitable model to underpin the investigation a literature-based mind-map was constructed to provide a conceptual framework to guide the study. An analysis of 48 papers reporting on the factors affecting teachers’ use of computers led to the identification of 43 factors, which were classified into categories and sub-categories in the form of a hierarchical map showing the relationships between the factors, and providing the framework used to structure the investigation of factors. This was later developed into a holistic model showing the relationships between the factors, based on the theory of planned behaviour, but modified by the addition of knowledge and skills, which were found to influence teachers’ computer usage directly, as well as impacting on teachers’ beliefs, attitudes and behavioural intentions about using technology. This model could be useful for stakeholders to identify factors that could be used to promote the use of ICT in ways that benefit learning. During the first phase factors were identified using participant observation recorded by means of a researcher’s journal and semi-structured interviews with four teachers, with open-ended checklists being used for the software evaluation. Five categories of teacher-level factors (factors within teachers' control) were identified which affected their use of ICT: teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of ICT; teachers’ attitudes towards ICT; teachers’ level of innovativeness; teachers’ technological knowledge; and teachers’ level of ICT proficiency. Five categories of institutional factors (beyond teachers’ control) also emerged: the availability and accessibility of computer hardware; the availability of suitable software; the level of technical support available; the provision of training; and the amount of time available to plan for and use technology for teaching and learning. The biodiversity section of the software package purchased by the school was evaluated in terms of supporting teachers with teaching this new section of content required by the new curriculum. Five features of software design were evaluated: the extent to which the software promoted seven of the nine new classroom practices required by the new South African curriculum, the extent to which the package covered the content needed to teach biodiversity and the pedagogical strategies used to teach this content, how effectively the user interface conveyed messages to users, and the multimedia strategies used in the software package to promote effective learning. The software evaluation aspect of the study led to the development of several open-ended checklists to evaluate different relevant curriculum-related criteria, and a new model for the context-based evaluation of software which could be useful for designers of instructional software. iii The introduction at the case study school of an innovation promoting the use of ICT for instruction allowed the study to enter a second phase extending the sample for investigating factors affecting ICT use, and focusing on teachers' use of computers in response to being provided with more ICT resources and being required to set computer-based tasks for learners to complete at home on dedicated technology days (DigiDays). During this phase multiple online questionnaires were administered to a sample of 29 teachers, semi-structured interviews were conducted, and 33 ICTbased tasks set by the teachers were reviewed using content analysis, to see whether they used technology effectively. The innovation allowed three obstacles which had emerged during the first phase of the study to be investigated in more depth. Firstly, the setting aside of time for computerbased work addressed the lack of time for using computers in lessons, mentioned by teachers during the first phase of the study, and permitted an investigation of whether this alleviated the time pressures teachers associated with using computers. Secondly, the effect of the training provided for using Moodle on DigiDays was investigated to see whether it adequately prepared teachers to use computers in ways which enhanced learning. A lack of training which met teachers' needs had emerged during the first phase as a major factor hindering teachers' use of computers. Thirdly, the influence of teachers’ levels of innovativeness on their computer use outside of the mandated usage on DigiDays was investigated. Teachers were classified into groups based on Rogers’ adopter categories (Rogers, 1962, 2003), but using additional features to just the rate of uptake of an innovation, used by Rogers. A quick and easy method involving a questionnaire and associated key for placing teachers into adopter categories was developed. This method could facilitate the classification of teachers into adopter categories and the tailoring of support aimed at promoting the rate of uptake of ICT, based on the characteristics of the different adopter groups. Case studies of selected teachers were carried out to better understand why they were using computers in certain ways. Based on the model of Donnelly et al. (2011) the selected teachers were grouped according to whether they were using ICT for teaching in instructivist or constructivist ways, and whether or not they showed discerning use of ICT for teaching. A number of subgroups emerged, highlighting the need to understand the complex reasons underlying teachers' behaviours relating to using ICT and underscoring the importance of designing training programmes based on why teachers use ICT for teaching in a particular way.

by Lau Sui-yin, Eddie, Chan Wan-kam. / Bibliography: leaves 110-111 / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1982

by Tsui Yuen. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-151). / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Computer-assisted Education --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2 --- Motivation and Problems --- p.4 / Chapter 1.3 --- Objectives and Approaches --- p.7 / Chapter 1.4 --- Organization of Thesis --- p.9 / Chapter 2 --- Related Work --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1 --- Existing Research Projects --- p.10 / Chapter 2.2 --- Structural and Navigational Hypertext Presentation --- p.11 / Chapter 2.3 --- Multimedia Integration for Hypermedia Courseware --- p.13 / Chapter 2.4 --- Standalone Java Applets --- p.14 / Chapter 2.5 --- Software Tools Using Browser Plugins --- p.17 / Chapter 2.6 --- Chapter Summary --- p.18 / Chapter 3 --- SIS Education Scenarios --- p.19 / Chapter 3.1 --- Library System --- p.21 / Chapter 3.2 --- Groupware System --- p.24 / Chapter 3.3 --- Student-Monitoring System --- p.25 / Chapter 3.4 --- Management System --- p.26 / Chapter 3.5 --- Chapter Summary --- p.27 / Chapter 4 --- Software Architecture of SIS --- p.29 / Chapter 4.1 --- Client-server Model --- p.29 / Chapter 4.2 --- Software Configuration --- p.31 / Chapter 4.3 --- Software Design --- p.33 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Module 1: Access Authorization Identifier (AAI) --- p.34 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Module 2: Multimedia Presentation Tools (MPT) --- p.35 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Module 3: Intelligent Questions Selector (IQS) --- p.38 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- Module 4: Online Examination Center (OEC) --- p.40 / Chapter 4.3.5 --- Module 5: Student History Recorder (SHR) --- p.41 / Chapter 4.3.6 --- Module 6: Student Performance Analyzer (SPA) --- p.42 / Chapter 4.3.7 --- Module 7: Electronic Mail Manager (EMM) --- p.43 / Chapter 4.3.8 --- Module 8: Result Querying Agent (RQA) --- p.44 / Chapter 4.3.9 --- Module 9: Group Activity Area (GAA) --- p.45 / Chapter 4.3.10 --- Module 10: Integrated Systems Logger (ISL) --- p.48 / Chapter 4.4 --- Chapter Summary --- p.50 / Chapter 5 --- Demonstration --- p.52 / Chapter 5.1 --- Login Dialog Boxes --- p.52 / Chapter 5.2 --- Services Menu for Students --- p.53 / Chapter 5.3 --- Teaching Materials for Students --- p.54 / Chapter 5.4 --- Teaching Materials for Students ´ؤ Chinese --- p.56 / Chapter 5.5 --- Teaching Materials for Students - English --- p.60 / Chapter 5.6 --- Teaching Materials for Students - Mathematics --- p.64 / Chapter 5.7 --- Tests for Students --- p.66 / Chapter 5.8 --- Tests for Students - Chinese --- p.66 / Chapter 5.9 --- Tests for Students - English --- p.68 / Chapter 5.10 --- Queries for Students --- p.70 / Chapter 5.11 --- Discussion Area for Students --- p.71 / Chapter 5.12 --- Educational Television for Students --- p.72 / Chapter 5.13 --- Flow of Services for Students --- p.75 / Chapter 5.14 --- Services Menu for Teachers --- p.76 / Chapter 5.15 --- Teaching Materials for Teachers --- p.77 / Chapter 5.16 --- Teaching Materials for Teachers - Chinese --- p.78 / Chapter 5.17 --- Teaching Materials for Teachers - English --- p.82 / Chapter 5.18 --- Tests Papers for Teachers --- p.86 / Chapter 5.19 --- Queries for Teachers --- p.87 / Chapter 5.20 --- Preparation of Test Papers for Teachers --- p.88 / Chapter 5.21 --- Modification of Questions for Teachers --- p.91 / Chapter 5.22 --- Flow of Services for Teachers --- p.95 / Chapter 5.23 --- Chapter Summary --- p.96 / Chapter 6 --- System Implementation --- p.97 / Chapter 6.1 --- Characteristics of Java --- p.97 / Chapter 6.2 --- Platform Independence --- p.98 / Chapter 6.3 --- Integration with Existing Packages for Java Technology --- p.100 / Chapter 6.4 --- Cryptography of User Passwords --- p.103 / Chapter 6.5 --- Transmission of Data Packages --- p.105 / Chapter 6.6 --- Multithreading for Multitasking --- p.108 / Chapter 6.7 --- Management of User Interfaces --- p.110 / Chapter 6.8 --- Data Structures for Temporary Storage --- p.112 / Chapter 6.9 --- Messages Broadcasting in Chat Rooms --- p.116 / Chapter 6.10 --- Playback of Audio and Video Data Files --- p.121 / Chapter 6.11 --- Progress of System Implementation --- p.125 / Chapter 6.12 --- Chapter Summary --- p.128 / Chapter 7 --- Discussion and Future Work --- p.129 / Chapter 7.1 --- Wide Spread of the World Wide Web --- p.129 / Chapter 7.2 --- Communication between Schools and Families --- p.130 / Chapter 7.3 --- Pedagogical Uses --- p.130 / Chapter 7.4 --- Virtual Student Community --- p.131 / Chapter 7.5 --- Differences between SIS and Other Web-based Educational Systems --- p.132 / Chapter 7.6 --- Future Work --- p.133 / Chapter 7.7 --- Chapter Summary --- p.138 / Chapter 8 --- Summary --- p.139 / Bibliography --- p.144

Student affect can play a profoundly important role in students' post-school lives. Understanding students' affective states within online learning environments in particular has become an important matter of research, as digital tutoring systems have the potential to intervene at the moment that students are struggling and becoming frustrated, bored or disengaged. However, despite the importance of assessing students' affective states, there is no clear consensus about what emotions are most important to assess, nor how these emotions can be best measured. This dissertation investigates students’ self-reports of their emotions and causal attributions of those emotions collected while they are solving math problems within a mathematics tutoring system. These self-reports are collected in two conditions: through limited choice Likert response and through open response text boxes. The conditions are combined with students’ cognitive attributions to describe epistemic (neither purely affective nor purely cognitive) emotions in order to explain the relationship between observable student behaviors in the MathSpring.org tutoring system and student affect. These factors include beliefs, expectations, motivations, and perceptions of ability and control. A special emphasis of this dissertation is on analyzing the role of causal attributions for the events and appraisals of the learning environment, as possible causes of student behaviors, performance, and affect.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries / Department: Computer Science.

Orientador: Vera Teresa Valdemarin / Banca: Luciana Maria Giovanni / Banca: Marilda da Silva / Banca: Fabricio José Mazocco / Banca: Denis Domeneghetti Badia / Resumo: O trabalho aqui apresentado é composto por estudos teóricos e empíricos com o objetivo de investigar a interferência da cultura digital no processo educacional de estudantes de cursos superiores. Considera-se a premissa de que a cada dia é maior a presença de dispositivos móveis e da internet como recursos para a vida escolar. No nível superior, a tecnologia digital torna-se cada vez mais presente como recurso das atividades acadêmicas e como resultado de uma cultura digital da sociedade atual. É proposta deste trabalho estudar o conceito de cultura, cultura digital e cultura escolar e em uma segunda etapa, serão revisados aspectos do desenvolvimento dos meios de comunicação e seus impactos até a compreensão da contemporaneidade com a presença dos dispositivos móveis. Como procedimento teórico-metodológico, a pesquisa está ancorada em diferentes autores que tematizaram as questões das práticas e da cultura escolar, como Marilena Chauí, Pierre Bourdieu, Pierre Levy, Raymond Williams, Roger Chartier, Anne Marie Chartier, Bernard Lahire, Marsall McLuhan, Melvin Defleur, Peter Burke, Asa Briggs, entre outros. O trabalho apresenta também estudos sobre a evolução do ensino superior no Brasil frente à expansão provocada por políticas públicas. São analisados dados da expansão em universidades públicas e privadas, assim como dados relativos aos cursos de graduação pesquisados. No presente estudo, também são abordados os preâmbulos da pesquisa empírica, composta por duas fases de inve... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The work presented here is based on the development of studies about culture, school culture and digital culture and will present the first notes on theoretical reflections. It considers the premise that the presence of mobile devices and the internet as a resource for school life is increasing every day. At the higher level, digital technology becomes more and more present as a resource for academic activities and as a result of a digital culture of today's society. The purpose of this study is to review the theoretical issues involved in the process that will lead us to identify the changes in the daily life of the school culture, taking into account the use of mobile devices, the Internet and social networks by university students. In a second moment, aspects of communication means and its impact will be revisited on the comprehension about contemporaneity with presence of mobile devices. As a theoretical-methodological procedure, the research is anchored in different authors who have studied the issues of school practices and culture, such as Marilena Chauí, Pierre Bourdieu, Pierre Levy, Raymond Williams, Roger Chartier, Anne Marie Chartier, Bernard Lahire, Marsall McLuhan, Melvin Defleur, Peter Burke, Asa Briggs and others. This work presents also studies about the evolution of higher education in Brazil with regard to expansion on public and private universities, as well as data about the graduate courses researched. In the present study, will be approached the preamble... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

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