Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This thesis investigates ICT diffusion in the context of developing countries, morespecifically in the case of Mobile Money in the Asian country Nepal. Mobile Moneyhas recently emerged in Nepal and has the potential to improve the lives of millions.The aim of the thesis was to examine the dominant business models in Nepal and thebarriers and drivers for the future diffusion of Mobile Money in Nepal. This was donethrough a case study consisting of a field study in Nepal and an extensive literaturereview in the field of ICT diffusion and Mobile Money. Interviews with stakeholdersin the Mobile Money business ecosystem, observations and databases fromorganizations such as the World Bank were used as data sources. The results showthat there are both barriers and drivers for Mobile Money and that the attitudes ofinstitutions, in this case the central bank, have a high impact on diffusion. The introduction of a technology into a new context was affirmed to be a complex,multi-dimensional process. However, in the case of Nepal, one of the solutions couldbe to improve institutional attitudes and make the regulations more accommodating. / Detta examensarbete undersöker spridningen av informations- och kommunikationsteknik(ICT) i utvecklingsländer. Fallet som undersöks är ‘Mobile Money’ i Nepal.‘Mobile Money’ har nyligen introducerats i Nepal och har potentialen att förbättralivet för miljontals människor. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka dedominerande affärsmodellerna i Nepal samt vilka drivkrafter och hinder det finns föratt ‘Mobile Money’ ska spridas inom landet. För att möta syftet genomfördes enfältstudie i Nepal tillsammans med en omfattande litteraturstudie inom ICT spridningoch ‘Mobile Money’. Intervjuer med intressenter inom ‘Mobile Money’,observationer samt information från databaser från t.ex. Världsbanken har använtssom datakällor. Resultaten av studien visar att det finns både hinder och drivkrafterför ‘Mobile Money’ i Nepal och att inställningen hos landets institutioner, i detta fallCentralbanken, har en stor påverkan på spridningen. Införandet av teknik i en ny kontext, eller land i detta fall, visade sig vara en komplex,multidimensionell process. En lösning i Nepal skulle dock kunna vara att förbättraden institutionella attityden och göra regleringarna mer tillmötesgående.

This thesis deals with the possibilities of using ICT in English language teaching at primary school. The theoretical part deals with the definition of the concept of ICT, ways of implementing ICT in teaching, further describes the possible advantages and disadvantages of using ICT in teaching at primary school and mentions the didactic functions of ICT and general education and language objectives supported by technologies. The practical part of this thesis presents ten specific activities using ICT in English language lessons at primary school. These activities are always properly described in terms of educational objectives, ways of their realization and in the end are reflected. Each activity was tested in practice in advance. The research carried out in this thesis deals with the use of ICT among teachers at an elementary school in Pilsen and reflects their opinion on technologies and their future in English language teaching at primary school.

This diploma thesis is focused on pupils' motivation to learning in ICT at vocational secondary schools and colleges. The main educational goal of ICT as a subject is to develop pupils' ICT literacy. The theoretical part of this thesis deals with motivation as a pedagogical concept and appropriate teaching approaches to it. An analysis of ICT subjects in the curriculum of the Framework Education Programmes for vocational secondary schools and colleges contributes to form an integral part of the theoretical base. The empirical part is divided into three mini-surveys carried out at a vocational secondary school and training institution in Liberec. The first was a questionnaire for pupils to discover what motivates them to study ICT. The second was a questionnaire for teachers which aimed to find out if and how teachers apply and exploit pupils' ICT literacy in their teaching of vocational ICT as a specialist subject. The third element was interviews with ICT teachers with the aim of investigating how ICT teachers understand the role of ICT as a subject and how they develop their pupils' ICT literacy. The results of all three were then analysed in relation to the question, "What supports and helps motivate pupils to learn ICT?" The findings obtained were consequently applied in the design of...

In the theoretical part, this master thesis deals with ICT, Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovations with a focus on the programme of support ICT in Enterprises. Furthermore, with the definition of SMEs and specific features of medium sized enterprise. In the practical part, an ICT project in a chosen company is described and analyzed. The project is evaluated and further opportunities of development of ICT in the company are suggested. The last chapter provides implications from the ICT area for similar businesses.

The thesis "Methods to Assess IS/ICT Outsourcing Models" focuses mainly on an assessment and selection process of suitable IS/ICT outsourcing models. First, IS/ICT outsourcing concept is explained and its advantages as well as disadvantages are described. Second, IS/ICT outsourcing models (primarily classified by outsourcing subject) and their characteristics are described. Third, existing methods to assess and subsequently select suitable IS/ICT outsourcing models are analysed. Main goal of the thesis is to confront the existing methods with a process used in real-life IS/ICT outsourcing project and then to give recommendations for methods improvement. To achieve that goal the existing methods are compared with a process used in the real-life outsourcing project. Based on positively perceived parts of the existing methods as well as on flaws identified, an own method to assess and select IS/ICT outsourcing models is designed. The following methods are used when writing the thesis: logical/historical method, description, analysis and synthesis. Main contribution of the thesis to the topic is a design of the own method aiming at improvements to the existing methods so that it is as usable as possible in practice. This is achieved through a design of tools supporting crucial steps of the designed method. The fact that the author is member of a project team working on the real-life IS/ICT outsourcing project facilitates a contribution achievement too.

This thesis deals with the issue of market IS / ICT, particularly focusing on the analysis of the current situation. The first part is devoted to a slight look into the past and then the market IS / ICT has been analyzed in terms of factors and market actors. The following part of the paper focuses on the analysis of the structure of firms implementing its activities in the market IS / ICT. The last part of the paper explores the potential market developments and tries to predict the development and the key trends for the future are seen dynamic network services, teamwork, mobile enterprise, security, and last but not least, green computing for sustainable development.

In this thesis, the e-awareness of exporter enterprises is investigated in the Aegean Region. This thesis aims to propose policy recommendations for the Aegean Region decision makers to increase ICT utilization of the exporter enterprises to attain competitiveness in global markets. The research is conducted with a web-based survey that was open for two months. Survey aims to find out the enterprises&rsquo / ICT profile, for what reasons and with what amount of importance they use ICT, their reluctance to new ICT tools implementation and their needs for successful implementation of ICT tools. 3140 enterprises, which are the members of Aegean Exporters&rsquo / Associations, are informed about the survey by an e-mail notification, 267 exporter enterprises are participated to the survey. As it was expected, the survey showed that although the enterprises are using low-level ICT tools, they have desire to implement ICT tools because they believe that implementing ICT will increase their sales and profits. However, due to the problems in human resources, financial resources, information and know-how and the problems in network of relationships, implementing more ICT tools will not be easy in the short &ndash / run.

Several years of my experiences in the use of real-time experiments are now upgraded in order to enhance also the teaching of mathematics. The motion sensor device enables us to get real time x(t) and v(t) graphs of a moving object or person. We can productively use these graphs to introduce differentiation on visual level as well as to show the integration procedure. The students are fully involved in the teaching as they are invited to walk in front of the sensor. This approach motivates them by the realistic aspects of mathematical structures. The method could help to fulfill the credo of teaching: comprehension before computation. The steps of such an approach are explained and discussed in further detail below.