In recent years, a number of advanced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions have been developed to assist in the management of business processes and working environments. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tagging technology and mobile computing are two such technologies which have been adopted for use in hybrid systems because they can monitor and manage industrial health, safety and welfare activities.

This thesis is situated at the intersection between the three themes of education in Africa, impact assessment, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Specifically, it seeks to develop a critique of current practices regarding monitoring and evaluation of ICT for education within Africa, and explores plausible alternatives to such practices that would make the benefits of education and technology more available and structured towards the poor and marginalised. Two participatory case studies of ICT for education programmes in Malawi and Ethiopia were used as the main empirical focus for the research. These involved working in partnership with implementing organisations, whilst simultaneously abstracting myself so as to evaluate the evaluation process and assess the underlying reasons for what was occurring. These case studies were supplemented by three international participatory workshops and a pan-Africa survey of ICT for education practitioners. The findings from the empirical work are examined within four analytical contexts. The first of these analyses the different methodological approaches employed in the case studies and considers the limitations and opportunities encountered. The second focuses on the role of partnerships within ICT for education programmes, especially in regard to their impact in defining the nature of monitoring and evaluation processes. The third investigates the marginalising of pedagogy within many ICT for education programmes, especially in regard to educational outcomes. The fourth explores the significance of aspiration within technology related development initiatives, focussing on consequences for effective impact assessment. The applied nature of the research emphasises the need for both critical rigour and innovative alternatives in assessing ICT for education in Africa. This thesis concludes by demonstrating the ways in which monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment can be positively reframed in the light of the research findings to emphasise process, participation, capacity enhancement, and the centrality of education.

This intrinsic case study is about people who worked in partnerships. Each of the partnerships emerged from relationships formed between the business, education, government and community sectors. A principle aim of the cross-sector partnerships was to enhance learning opportunities, integral to which was the incorporation of ICT. The study explores through interweaving narratives, some of the key interrelationships that emerged from the evolving partnerships as they strived to accomplish their aims. The partnerships represented a rich and complex context for dynamic and strategic change occurring, not only in the evolving partnerships, but also in the systems they intended to consolidate and optimise. Furthermore, such complexity pervaded ideological notions of instability and discontinuity arising from difference that may be implicit or explicit in open, distributed complex systems. The metaphor of hypertext serves to both retain textural qualities of organisation and address key problematics associated with visualisation and representation and also as a means to reflect upon the study by encouraging improvisatory processes akin to those experienced by the participants. In this respect, hypertext is not used to simply challenge artificial boundaries, linearities and determinisms but rather, prompt the construction of meanings further to those partially represented. It also serves to maintain a clearer relationship between those contexts within which research has been, or becomes situated. The thesis largely rests on its representational form in terms of its self-sufficiency to portray, convey, express, evoke, engage and inform. Ambiguity forms a fundamental facet of the thesis. In addition to those that rest within the texts, graphic illustrations are used to provide narratives in different forms whereby, readers are not bound by the same inadequacies or constraints in drawing meaning about the subject from text alone. By taking the view of the artist, the illustrations provide a flexibility that overcomes some of the dimensional limitations of the thesis and further emphasises its connectionist, constructivist and aesthetic undertones. The links between components and nuanced meanings emphasises the interdependencies in terms that transcend the representational form of discursive language. The case is thus, synthesised in the following illustration:

In recent years and as a result of the increasing pace of advances in technology and especially developments in the use of ICT in schools, teachers are now expected to make routine use of ICT in their teaching. This research sought to obtain deeper insight into Saudi secondary school teachers' ICT usage and its relation with ICT educational policy, teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards the use of ICT in the teaching and learning process, and their envisions of possible and preferable usage of ICT in education in the future. The study utilised a sociocultural approach: data was collected via interviews and self completed questionnaires. A total of 14 interviews were conducted with teachers, ICT coordinators and head teachers, and 266 teachers drawn from ten secondary schools in Riyadh City completed the questionnaire. The findings indicate there is widespread use of ICT in secondary schools and most teachers have positive views towards ICT. Teachers pointed to a number of motivators summarised in this formula: internal incentives + school encouragement = competent ICT use in education. Three main factors were found to be hindering teachers' ICT use: time constraints, lack of training, and financial issues. Teachers’ ICT use is guided by policies: the research found that teachers’ ICT use is more influenced by schools’ policy than Ministry of Education policy which they are either unaware of or do not fully understand because of difficulties in implementing it. Finally, teachers anticipated future changes in their role to a facilitator and advisor. Teachers hoped for comprehensive improvement of education, radical curriculum change, and continuous teacher training.

IT projects continue to fail at an alarming rate. The majority of IT initiatives have a significant impact within organisations due to the integrative nature of IT systems and as a result the cost of this failure is high. The purpose of this research report is to investigate the prevalence of „accidental project managers‟ in the ICT industry (employees that have demonstrated technical expertise and been promoted to project management positions without any regard for project manager training and competencies) and examine what effect these untrained project managers have on project performance. A descriptive, quantitative research methodology was employed, and the sample that supported this research was taken from members of the Internet Service Provider‟s Association and the Project Management Institute of South Africa. The results indicated a positive association between project manager training level and projects being completed within budget, on time, and resulting in an operational system. The results also supported a correlative relationship between project manager training level and overall project outcome. These findings highlight the importance to organisations of investing in project manager training and developing effective recruitment criteria in order to boost IT project success rates.

The purpose of this study is to examine how students in third grade use ICT equipment intheir home environment, and if there are any correlations between their usage and the nationalpolicy documents, including the planned revision of those documents planned for 2017. Furthermore will potential differences between individual students ICT usage, and their teachers perception of said use be highlighted. The methods used for this study will be both quantitative and qualitative, where a quantitative survey taken by two classes in third gradefrom different schools is used to poll ICT usage. A qualitative interview with both classesteacher is also performed to highlight their perspective on ICT and their students use of it. The conclusion of the study shows that there are differences between how both students as individuals and classes as micro cultures use ICT, and that the teachers have a superficially correct perception of their individual classes. The study highlights that the ICT activities that the students claim to participate in during their leisure time have practical connections to the national policy documents, but that different activities have different connections. The study also shows that said micro cultures affects how the different classes use ICT as groups and by doing so, also affects the classes competency, within ICT as well as traditional school subjects.

Purpose: The purpose of our research was to study the role and impact that ‘information and communication technologies’ and the MEC centers might have on the Uruguayan society. We want to examine how MEC and ICT usage could affect daily lives of marginalized people in Uruguay. We want to explore how it might benefit individuals living in small communities by evaluating indicators of positive impact of how ICT usage could strengthen capitals and increase freedom. Furthermore, our aim is to understand how digital literacy and the access to ICT’s can be related to democracy, and try to understand if greater individual empowerment also could enhance democracy. Method: For a period of eight weeks, from March 3rd to 28th of April 2014, we were in Montevideo and vicinity to gather material that we later have analyzed qualitatively. The material is based on observations in the field, interviews with various stakeholders, manuals and national policy documents concerning MEC, as well answers we received from an online survey. Main conclusions:We have found that the MEC centers and ICT, combined with education, could be an important tool to facilitate the inclusion of marginalized groups in the Uruguayan society. Our findings indicate that the MEC centers in Uruguay could contribute to the decentralization of the country and have a positive impact on gender- and generation equality. The result suggests that the centers could have a positive impact on democracy in Uruguay by teaching participants how to use e-governmental services as well as encouraging them to participate in online governmental websites. Furthermore, we found that MEC lets the local communities be in charge of their own development, which indicate that the sustainability of the project is increased as well as the positive development outcome. Through the MEC centers we found that both the freedom and the social capital of the participants were positively affected.

This thesis focuses on eGovernance – the use of ICT as a means to improve public sector practice. Previous research has shown that there is a lack of long-term discussion on the purposes and directions of eGovernance development, often outlining it as unequivocally positive, while missing to consider the complexities and conflicts involved in this process. In order to understand the complexities of eGovernance a future-oriented perspective is needed. In other words a perspective that not only focuses on using ICT to be responsive to present needs but also making it possible to discuss which goals public sector ICT initiatives should strive for and how these correspond to goals and means in the public sector as a whole. In order to do this I employ a sustainability perspective. The aim of this thesis is to understand how eGovernance can be sustainable in such a complex organizational environment. This is approached in four papers; based on two case studies, situated in the public sector of Sweden, and a structured literature review of the use of the sustainability concept in eGovernance research. The findings of this thesis include a framework of sustainable eGovernance, including an outline of the different dimensions of sustainability: social, economic, environmental and technical. These dimensions are seen as carriers of different values and goals which are in a process of continuous dialogue and conflict. Cutting across these four dimensions are two themes: decision making and information infrastructure, which make up the backbone of how ICT can be used in order to improve public practice. The theoretical lens of sustainability widens our understanding and helps in the questioning of motivations, directions and implications of eGovernance initiatives. This thesis thus contributes with a theoretically and empirically founded framework, which is suitable as a foundation for sustainable eGovernance development and further research into that area.

The topic of my diploma thesis is the current situation of gender aspects of education in primary schools, mainly concerning information and communications technologies. The theoretical part deals with the basic issue, which caused and still causes gender stereotypes. The practical section analyses results of my survey that was dedicated to the present situation of gender sensitive education in subjects of ICT. The survey paid attention to the attitude of the male and female students as much as the view of the male and female teachers on the gender issues. Further, there is a gender analyse of two of the textbooks used for the second grade of primary education. In the final part, there are conclusions of my research with a few suggestions for teaching practices.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the possibilities of involvement of information and communication technologies in teachers' training. It defines the terms teacher, director, education, mapping interest and availability of teachers of information and communication technologies, but also presents various options that can contribute to teachers' education. It clearly explains how the subsequently used data had been collected. The information obtained from the questionnaires and unstructured interviews were processed and analyzed. Obtained results are further used and compared with the statements. The conclusion summarizes the results and on their basis recommendations are elaborated in the annex, which is intended for the school management, taking into account the different sizes of school. KEY WORDS: Teacher, self teaching, knowledge, abilities, ICT