The purpose of this study was to increase knowledge how preschool children act to explore and managing scientific phenomena. The phenomenon´s that was chosen for this study is magnetism and friction, the study was conducted through qualiative semi-structured interviews in group. By interviewing the children while the experiments were carried out their thoughts and reflections about the chosen phenomena made visible. To deepen the children´s learning in a pleasurable and inspiring way Information and Communication Technology (ICT) was intergraded, with help of a computer where the children got to watch the education program Tiggy test. By the children's act during the experiments you can see that the children follow a certain pattern when they explore and manage scientific phenomena. The children exploratory go through three different phases the "experience phase", the "study phase" and the "reflection phase". The phases build on each other and for the children to reach the final "reflection phase" they need support from the teacher (Fischer and Leicht Madsen, 2004). Furthermore the result indicates that children have ability to reflect, discuss and develop hypotheses in science. / Syftet med min studie är att få ökad kunskap om hur förskolebarn agerar för att utforska och hantera naturvetenskapliga fenomen. I studien valdes de fysikaliska fenomenen magnetism och friktion att utforskas, metoden som användes var semistrukturerade gruppintervjuer. Genom att intervjua barnen samtidigt som barnen genomförde experiment synliggjordes barnens tankar och reflektioner om de utvalda fenomenen. För att fördjupa barnens lärande på ett lustfyllt och inspirerande sätt integrerades informations-och kommunikationsteknik (IKT), med hjälp av en dator fick barnen titta på utbildningsprogrammet Tiggy testar. Genom barnens agerande under experimenten kan man se att barnen följer ett visst mönster när de utforskar och hanterar naturvetenskapliga fenomen. Barnens utforskande genomgår olika faser, upplevelse-upptäckarfasen, undersökningsfasen och reflektionsfasen, faserna bygger på varandra och för att barnen ska nå den slutliga reflektionsfasen behövs stöd från pedagogen (Fischer & Leicht Madsen, 2004). Vidare visar resultatet att barnen har en förmåga att reflektera, resonera och utveckla hypoteser inom naturvetenskapliga ämnen.

Σκοπός της διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι η λεπτομερής ανάλυση κυβερνητικών επενδύσεων για έργα ΤΠΕ. Ο συνδυασμός της στατιστικής ανάλυσης, της συσχέτισης (correlation) και της ανάλυσης με τεχνικές εξόρυξης δεδομένων δημιούργησε χρήσιμα συμπεράσματα για τα έργα ΤΠΕ. Επίσης, περιγράφεται ένα μοντέλο αξιολόγησης με βάση τις αποκλίσεις από τους αρχικούς στόχους και την εκτίμηση των διαχειριστών των έργων (Project managers). Σημαντικό τμήμα αυτού του μοντέλου αποτελεί η πρόβλεψη της ολίσθησης του κόστους με την χρήση κατηγοριοποίησης. Τέλος η παρουσίαση της απόδοσης των ελληνικών έργων ΤΠΕ γίνεται με το σχεδιασμό ενός βελτιωμένου ταμπλό (dashboard) για την παρακολούθηση και τον έλεγχο για τις ελληνικές επενδύσεις στις ΤΠΕ. / The goal of this master thesis is the detailed analysis of governmental ICT projects. The combination of statistical, correlation and mining analysis extracts useful conclusions for ICT projects. Also a detailed description of an evaluation model is presented for evaluating the performance of ICT project and we introduce an improved ICT dashboard for monitoring and controlling for the Greek ICT investments as well as a classification model for predicting the performance’s slippage.

Genom en kritisk diskursanalys söker jag svaret på vilka diskurser som finns i mitt urval av dokument. Med sociokulturellt perspektiv som teoretisk grund väljer jag att titta på kunskap och lärande. Utgångspunkt för analysen är Europarådets rekommendationer inom programmet Utbildning 2010, där ett underlag gavs i form av åtta nyckelkompetenser för livslångt lärande (EU 2006a). Jag tittar på digital kompetens, som är en av nyckelkompetenserna som varje europeisk medborgare ska utveckla. Jag analyserar också dokument som finns med i processen för den reformerade svenska gymnasieskolan Gy 2011. Jag undersöker här vilka diskurser som kan läsas i skrivningen i dessa texter. Hur diskurserna är konstituerade kommer att få en påverkan på IKT-utbildningen inom reformen GY 2011. Efter att ha genomfört en kritisk diskursanalys kan jag se att reformen för GY 2011 bygger på dokument där framträdande diskurser konstitueras. En kvalitetsdiskurs och en specialiseringsdiskurs är utgångspunkten i ämnesplaner och utbildningsdokument som definierar Gy 2011. Det är möjligt att se den självständighet som Skolverket och Regeringen visar, då de europeiska dokumenten, med nyckelkompetenser för livslångt lärande inte påverkar nationella texterna i en större utsträckning. Den säkerhetsdiskurs som jag identifierar i dokumentet för digital kompetens är inte lika framträdande i nationella skrivningar. Samtidigt visar den kritiska diskursanalysen, relationellt, att Skolverket besitter en självständighet gentemot Regeringen och en europeisk utbildningspolitik. Skolverket tolkar syftet med nyckelkompetensernas innehåll, som ”varje medborgares möjlighet till ett gott liv med möjligheter till självförsörjning”. I reformen för GY 2011 visar Skolverket att man i sina dokument använder skrivningar som ligger längre från diskurserna i nyckelkompetensen digital kompetens. / By a critical discourse analysis, I seek the answer to the discourses that are in my selection of documents. With the socio-cultural perspective as a theoretical basis I choose to look at knowledge and learning. Starting point for the analysis is the Council of Europe recommendations in Education and Training 2010, stated in the form of eight key competences for lifelong learning (EU 2006a). I look at digital literacy, which is one of key competences that every European citizen must develop. I also analyze papers contained in the process of the reformed Swedish upper secondary school Gy 2011th I examine here the discourses that can be read into the wording of these texts. how discourses are constituted will have an impact on the ICT education in reform GY 2011th After carrying out a critical discourse analysis, I can see that the reform of GY 2011 is based documents in which the dominant discourses constituted. A quality of discourse and a specialized discourse is the starting point in the subject plans and training documents defines Gy 2011th It is possible to ensure the independence of the National Agency and The government shows, when the European documents, with the key competences for lifelong learning does not affect national texts in a larger extent. The security discourse which I identify in the document for digital literacy is not as prominent in national projections. At the same time the critical discourse analysis, relational, that The Agency possesses an independence from government and a European education policy. The Agency interprets the purpose of the key skills to their content, which "Every citizen the opportunity to live a good life with opportunities for self-sufficiency." IN reform for GY 2011 shows the National Agency that in their documents using wordings located further from the discourses of key digital literacy skills.

The purpose of this study is to highlight some aspects of the increased usage of tablets in preschool environments by answering the questions: what does the tablet become in the preschool environment, how much freedom does the children have over its usage. To answer these questions a series of observations were made at two different preschools. The observations were then complemented by interviews with teachers at the same preschools. This qualitative study focuses on some of the didactic questions regarding the tablets, based on a theoretical framework that is within the design-oriented perspective; which addresses the children's’ autonomy, the institutional framework and affordance. Our conclusion is that the tablet’s introduction in the preschool has helped the teachers in numerous parts of their documentation, but we can also see that the children's opportunities to make choices regarding the tablet are more limited than with any other resource on the preschool. In our results we also see that when the children get access to the tablet they receive a learning experience, which among other things, strengthens their language skills and their social interaction with each other.

During the past decade, growing attention has been given to industrial service offerings in the marketing literature as well as in many manufacturing firms. This phenomenon is often described as a goods-services transition, in which companies increasingly turn to the provision of industrial services in order to achieve competitive advantage, such a closer customer relationships and higher profit margins. Industrial services span a wide range of offerings, from basic after-sales services to process-orientated solutions consisting of both services and capital goods. With industrial service offerings receiving increased attention as their importance is understood, the ability to manage the service business in a manufacturing context becomes ever more vital. The overall purpose of this doctoral thesis is to describe and analyse how capital equipment manufacturing firms strategically manage their industrial service offerings in order to achieve long-term competitive advantage. This includes analysing how to organise the firm for the development and production of service, and, depending on the type of industrial service offering, what the requirements on the service processes are. Furthermore the role of information and communication technologies as enablers for new offerings and processes is analysed. The thesis consists of a compilation of five papers, two case descriptions and an extended summary. The research builds on a multiple case study of the service organisations of market-leading manufacturing firms. The main cases are based on in-depth studies at ITT Water & Wastewater and Toyota Material Handling Group. The results suggest that, as the division between goods and services becomes ever more blurred, there is an increasing need for cooperation between the service and the product organisations. Applying a service logic means that the traditional division between goods sales and after-sales services becomes outdated. Instead, the customer relationship becomes the centre of the offering regardless of its combination of services and goods. Further, the infusion of service in manufacturing firms means that more service processes and interfaces have to be managed simultaneously. Theoretically, this research contributes mainly to the fields of industrial marketing and service as a business logic. One contribution is the proposed typologies for industrial service offerings which make it possible to better understand the dynamics of service processes. Another important contribution of this research is the service function concept. Industrial services must not be equated with the activities of the industrial service organisation only. Although the service organisation most likely is the key entity, it is only one subset of the service function; sales product development, manufacturing, senior management, and other organisational entities, as well as external service providers and customers, are to be seen as part-time service functions that influence the offering. Compared to previously, competitive advantage through industrial service offerings is to a greater extent based on factors outside the service organisation, i.e. in other parts of the service function.

Depuis la dernière décennie, les outils technologiques et informatiques ont connu un essor considérable dans plusieurs sphères d’activité de la société. L’éducation n’y a pas échappé, et le ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS) en a d’ailleurs fait une compétence transversale dans le cadre du Programme de formation de l’école québécoise. L’intégration des TIC s’est faite à travers différents moyens, à commencer par les laboratoires informatiques, les ordinateurs à même la salle de classe et, plus récemment, par l’introduction de projets portables où chaque élève et l’enseignant disposent de leur propre ordinateur. Afin d’être mené à terme, ce projet de recherche a été inscrit dans un projet à plus grande échelle, soit celui d’une recherche financée par le Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada (CRSH), qui a pour objectif d'analyser les obstacles auxquels font face les enseignants dans l'intégration des technologies à l'école. Le présent projet s'est quant à lui attardé plus spécifiquement aux défis technologiques et pédagogiques inhérents aux projets portables. L’étude s'est déroulée en milieu défavorisé, dans une école primaire montréalaise. Une telle intégration demande une planification rigoureuse et un suivi continu afin d’assurer le succès du projet. De plus, il est évident que ce type de projet pose aussi des défis technologiques et pédagogiques particuliers pour les enseignants. À ce sujet, trois catégories de facteurs qui peuvent avoir un impact sur la réussite des projets portables ont été relevées, soit : les facteurs personnels (internes à l’enseignant), les facteurs relatifs au travail (contexte d'enseignement, pratiques pédagogiques, etc.), ainsi que les facteurs relatifs au matériel et à l’infrastructure. À l’intérieur de ce mémoire, différents concepts, dimensions et indicateurs sont donc explicités et mis en relation afin de mieux comprendre les défis technologiques et pédagogiques qui peuvent survenir dans le cadre de la mise en oeuvre de projets portables. Trois enseignantes rattachées à autant de groupes d’élèves ont accepté de participer à une entrevue individuelle et de répondre à un questionnaire. Les échanges par courriel ont aussi été analysés. L'ensemble des données recueillies ont fait l'objet d'analyses qualitatives. Les analyses ont montré que la catégorie de facteurs citée la plus fréquemment était celle des facteurs relatifs au travail avec une forte majorité. Des défis ont toutefois été identifiés pour toutes les dimensions. / During the past decade, the presence of ICT and technology in general has increased significantly in many areas of society. Education was no exception, and MELS has even created a transversal competency for that matter under the Programme de formation de l'école québécoise. ICT integration was made through various means, including computer labs, computers in the classroom and, more recently, by the introduction of ubiquitous computing projects, in which each student and the teacher have their own computer. In order to complete this research project successfully, it has been included within a broader project subsidized by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. This project is taking place in a disadvantaged community elementary school of Montreal. Ubiquitous computing asks for rigourous planning and ongoing follow-up by teachers, administrative and IT staff. Moreover, such a project obviously presents some technical and pedagogical challenges for teachers. Regarding this matter, three major categories of factors that can impact success of ubiquitous computing projects in education were identified. Those categories can be described as follows : factors that are internal to the teacher (personal matter), factors that are related to work, as well as factors related to infrastructure and equipment. Several concepts, dimensions and indicators are explained in this paper and correlated in order to better understand the challenges that can arise in such projects. Regarding the methodoly used in this research, three teachers accepted to participate in individual interviews, and also answered an online questionnaire. Furthermore, the e-mails exchanged between the research group and the teachers were also analyzed. All data coming from those three sources was subject to a qualitative analysis. The data analysis showed that the dominating category of factors was the one with factors related to work, by a vast majority. Challenges, however, were identified for all dimensions and categories.

L’objectif général de cette recherche doctorale est l’étude des déterminants de l’intégration pédagogique des technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC) par les professeurs à l’Université de Ouagadougou (UO). Cela nous a conduit à étudier respectivement les compétences technologiques des professeurs, les facteurs de résistance contraignant l’intégration pédagogique des TIC par ces professeurs, l’acceptation et les usages spécifiques des TIC par les professeurs. Ce travail s’est bâti autour des concepts théoriques sur les usages éducatifs des TIC, les compétences technopédagogiques, les facteurs de résistance, l’acceptation des TIC et l’intégration pédagogique des TIC. Ces concepts se sont inscrits dans les cadres d’analyses des modèles d’intégration des TIC par les professeurs et des modèles d’acceptation et d’utilisation d’une nouvelle technologie. La stratégie d’analyse des données s’est construite autour des approches descriptives et analytiques notamment au moyen de l’utilisation de la psychométrie et/ou de l’économétrie des modèles à variables dépendantes limitées. Utilisant la recherche quantitative, le recrutement de 82 professeurs par avis de consentement à participer, a permis de collecter les données sur la base de questionnaires dont la majeure partie est bâtie autour de questions à échelle de Likert. L’étude des compétences technologiques des professeurs a permis d’une part, de dresser un portrait des usages des TIC par les professeurs. En effet, les usages les plus répandus des TIC dans cette université sont les logiciels de bureautique, les logiciels de messagerie électronique et de navigation dans Internet. Elle a aussi permis de faire un portrait des compétences technologiques des professeurs. Ceux-ci utilisent à la fois plusieurs logiciels et reconnaissent l’importance des TIC pour leurs tâches pédagogiques et de recherche même si leur degré de maîtrise perçue sur certaines des applications télématiques reste à des niveaux très bas. Par rapport à certaines compétences comme celles destinées à exploiter les TIC dans des situations de communication et de collaboration et celles destinée à rechercher et à traiter des informations à l’aide des TIC, les niveaux de maîtrise par les professeurs de ces compétences ont été très élevés. Les professeurs ont eu des niveaux de maîtrise très faibles sur les compétences destinées à créer des situations d’apprentissage à l’aide des TIC et sur celles destinées à développer et à diffuser des ressources d’apprentissage à l’aide des TIC malgré la grande importance que ceux-ci ont accordée à ces compétences avancées essentielles pour une intégration efficace et efficiente des TIC à leurs pratiques pédagogiques. L’étude des facteurs de résistance a permis d’ériger une typologie de ces facteurs. Ces facteurs vont des contraintes matérielles et infrastructurelles à celles liées aux compétences informatiques et à des contraintes liées à la motivation et à l’engagement personnel des professeurs, facteurs pouvant susciter des comportements de refus de la technologie. Ces facteurs sont entre autres, la compatibilité des TIC d’avec les tâches pédagogiques et de recherche des professeurs, l’utilité perçue des TIC pour les activités pédagogiques et de recherche, les facilités d’utilisation des TIC et la motivation ou l’engagement personnel des professeurs aux usages des TIC. Il y a aussi les coûts engendrés par l’accès aux TIC et le manque de soutien et d’assistance technique au plan institutionnel qui se sont révelés enfreindre le développement de ces usages parmi les professeurs. Les estimations des déterminants de l’acceptation et des usages éducatifs des TIC par les professeurs ont montré que c’est surtout « l’intention comportementale » d’aller aux TIC des professeurs, « l’expérience d’Internet » qui affectent positivement les usages éducatifs des TIC. Les « conditions de facilitation » qui représentent non seulement la qualité de l’infrastructure technologique, mais aussi l’existence d’un soutien institutionnel aux usages des TIC, ont affecté négativement ces usages. Des éléments de recommandation issus de ce travail s’orientent vers la formation des professeurs sur des compétences précises identifiées, l’amélioration de la qualité de l’infrastructure technologique existante, la création d’un logithèque, la mise en œuvre d’incitations institutionnelles adéquates telles que l’assistance technique régulière aux professeurs, l’allègement des volumes horaires statutaires des professeurs novateurs, la reconnaissance des efforts déjà réalisés par ces novateurs en matière d’usages éducatifs des TIC dans leur institution. / The general objective of this doctoral research is the study of the determinants of the pedagogical integration of information and communication technology (ICT) by teachers at the University of Ouagadougou (UO). This led us to study respectively the technological skills of teachers, the resistance factors forcing the integration of ICT by these teachers together with the driving forces of ICT acceptance and ICT educational uses by teachers at this university. This work is built around theoretical concepts of educational uses of ICT, techno pedagogical competences, factors of resistance to ICT use, acceptance and use of ICT and pedagogical integration of ICT. These concepts are included in frameworks for analysis of ICT integration models by teachers and acceptance and use of new technology models. The strategy of data analysis is built around descriptive and analytical approaches, including the use of psychometrics and / or econometrics models with limited dependent variables. Using quantitative research, the recruitment of 82 professors of this university by a notice of consent to participate to the survey, has allowed collecting data on the basis of questionnaires, most of which being built around Likert scale questions. The study of teachers’ technological skills enables on the one hand, to portray a picture of ICT use by teachers. The most common ICT uses at the University of Ouagadougou are the office software, software for email and Internet browsing. On the other hand, it allows a portrait of teachers’ technological skills. They use many softwares and most of them recognize the importance of ICT to their teaching duties and research, but their degree of perceived control on some of ICT applications remains at very low levels. The teachers presented very high control over the skills to exploit ICT in situations of communication and collaboration and also those intended to seek and process information using ICT. These skills reflect their use of electronic means of communication and search engines and the importance that teachers attach to these ICT applications. Moreover, despite the great importance that teachers give to some advanced skills in ICT, they were found at very low levels of mastery of these skills which are those to create learning situations in using ICT and those intended to develop and disseminate learning resources using ICT. Although teachers already use and combine several applications of ICT, their current level of technology skills and teaching does not allow them to effectively use these technologies in their teaching practices. They must necessarily acquire these essential advanced skills. The study of resistance factors helped to establish a typology of these factors. They range from material and infrastructural constraints to those related to computer skills and the availability of support and technical assistance at the institutional level to promote the use of ICT applications in education. It also assessed the compatibility of ICT with teaching duties and research faculty, the perceived usefulness of ICT for educational activities and research facilities, the motivation and / or personal commitment of teachers to use ICT and the influence of social conditions on such uses. There are also the costs of ICT access (Internet and computer equipment), which have shown a negative influence on teachers and violating the development of these educational uses of ICT. The empirical assessment of determinants of acceptance and educational uses of ICT by teachers reveals that, it is mainly the teachers’ "behavioural intention" to go to ICT and "the Internet experience" that affect positively these uses. The "facilitation conditions" that represent not only the quality of the technological infrastructure, but also the existence of institutional support to use ICT, have negatively affected these practices. The elements that can improve educational uses of ICT in the university have been identified from the results of this research: these recommend the teachers’ training on specific identified skills, the improvement of the quality of the existing technological infrastructure, the creation a software library, the implementation of adequate institutional incentives such as regular technical assistance to teachers, the reduction of statutory hourly volumes to innovative teachers, the recognition of the efforts already made by these innovative educational uses of ICT within their institution.

Dans un monde de plus en plus interconnecté où le développement nécessite une participation active à la société de l’information, où les différentes cultures rentrent davantage en contact entre elles et où les biens culturels sont devenus des biens de consommation, les minorités culturelles mondiales intégrant les technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC) se retrouvent marginalisées face à la menace d’hégémonie culturelle des réseaux de l’information par les cultures dominantes de certains pays développés. Pour qu’une culture prenne sa place dans la société de l’information, il revient en premier lieu à ses institutions éducatives de former leurs apprenants dans un contexte culturel qui leur est propre et de valoriser et d’encourager la production et l’utilisation de contenu endogène. C’est dans le cadre de cette problématique que la présente recherche s’est donnée comme premier objectif de faire le bilan du contenu culturel accédé et diffusé par les TIC dans des écoles de pays africains dits en développement ; pour ensuite, comme deuxième objectif, de décrire les barrières à une intégration des TIC qui favoriserait la promotion culturelle en ligne dans ces écoles ; et finalement, comme troisième objectif, d’identifier des stratégies pragmatiques favorisant une intégration écologique des TIC dans ces écoles, c’est-à-dire, une intégration durable, adaptée au contexte local et favorisant la pleine participation des enseignants et des élèves. Pour y parvenir, nous avons adopté une approche méthodologique essentiellement descriptive et qualitative. Nous avons réalisé des entrevues avec 168 enseignants et 230 élèves de 34 écoles pionnières TIC situées dans cinq pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre, que nous avons traitées selon une analyse de contenu spécifique à chaque objectif. L’adoption des stratégies décrites dans nos résultats permettrait aux écoles étudiées de surmonter, en partie, la multitude de barrières auxquelles elles font face et de favoriser l’intégration écologique des TIC. Une telle intégration est nécessaire à l’atteinte d’une société de l’information plus équitable et à l’éventuelle réduction du fossé numérique séparant les « info-riches » des « info-pauvres ». / In an increasingly interconnected world, developing countries need to be active participants in the information society. Contact between different cultures is on the rise; cultural resources have become consumer resources; and cultural minorities across the globe who have integrated information and communications technology (ICT) into their societies risk domination by the cultures of developed countries on the global communication networks. In order for a culture to stand its ground online, it is essential that its educational institutions train learners in their own cultural context, and promote and encourage the development and use of endogenous educational content. It is from this perspective that this qualitative study seeks, as a first objective, to assess the cultural content being accessed and distributed via ICT in schools of developing African countries; as a second objective, to describe existing barriers to an integration of ICT that would encourage online cultural promotion in these schools; and finally as a third and final objective, to identify practical strategies for an ecological ICT integration in these schools. Such an integration would be sustainable, adapted to local contexts, and foster the full participation of its teachers and students. To achieve these objectives, we have used a multi-case study based on interviews with 168 teachers and 230 students from 34 pioneer ICT schools located in five West and Central African countries; which content was analyzed according to each specific objective. Adopting the strategies described in our results would allow these schools to overcome some of the barriers they are facing, and to favour the ecological integration of ICT necessary for developing a more equitable information society, thus reducing the digital divide between the ‘information haves and have-nots’.

Den här c-uppsatsen är en studie om hur av delar av Manuel Castells teorier om den digitala klyftan, den informationella revolutionen och flödesrummet överensstämmer med ett urval av akademiska artiklar som publiceras under åren 1990-2010 i databasen LISA (Library and Information Science Abstracts). Den digitala klyftan ett gap med ojämn tillgång till dator med internetuppkoppling. Studien är utförd med litteraturstudier och textanalytiska metoder. Castells fick stor uppmärksamhet för Informationsåldern: Ekonomi, Samhälle och Kultur, Nätverkssamhällets Framväxt. Syftet är att med en litteraturstudie undersöka om det skett någon förskjutning i förklaringen av den digitala klyftan. Studien är begreppsutredande och baserad på forskningsartiklar och litteratur. Studien undersöker om artikelförfattarnas teorier och forskning överensstämmer med Castells teorier om den digitala klyftan, den informationella revolutionen och flödesrum. IKT (informations- och kommunikationsteknik) har på kort tid slagit igenom och blivit en del av många människors vardag. De grupper människor som inte får tillgång till IKT riskerar att marginaliseras. Med tanke på den snabba teknikutvecklingen är det även relevant att undersöka om Castells teorier som numera (2013) är över ett decennium gamla fortfarande är aktuella. / This thesis investigates how parts of Manuel Castell’s theories about the digital divide, the informational revolution and the space of flows coincide with a selection of academic publications from the period 1990-2010 in the LISA (Library and Information Science Abstracts) database. The digital divide refers to unequal access to computers with internet connections. The investigation is based on literature studies and text analysis methods. Castells was widely recognized for The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. The literature study aims to investigate whether there has been a shift in the explanation of the digital divide. The paper is a conceptual investigation and based on scientific publications and literature. The paper investigates whether the theories and research of the authors of these publications is in accordance with Castells’ theories about the digital divide, the informational revolution and the space of flows. ICT (information and communication technology) has emerged rapidly and become part of the everyday life of many people. Population groups without access to ICT face risks of marginalization. Considering the rapid technological development, it is also relevant to investigate whether Castells’ theories, which by now (2013) are more than a decade old, still are valid.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are having remarkable effects and promise potential solutions to many of the South Pacific islands’ geographic, economic and social challenges. Access to ICTs is also an increasingly important factor for education and training in the region. While the Pacific eLearning Observatory, supported by the University of the South Pacific, has been monitoring the development and access to ICT in education across the 12 university’s campuses, studies that specifically examine the attitudes and understanding of educators working on the islands of the South Pacific towards the use of ICT in their profession, as well as for their professional development, are rare. This study aims at addressing the gap in the literature by examining the professional development of facilitators working in blended learning environment across the remote islands of the Cook Islands. The research outcomes of this study are based on the analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interviews, and the theoretical foundation of this thesis is grounded in the social and situated theory of learning. By closely examining the facilitators’ perceptions, the project sheds new light on the still little recognised concept of online communities of practice in teaching and learning. The central finding of the study is that participation in online communities of practice offers on-going opportunities for learning, development and support, and reduces the feeling of remoteness and isolation associated with the geographical conditions of the South Pacific region.