This study set out to establish an informed framework for the use of social network services in South African museums. Social network services are utilised by a wide demographic spectrum so they offer a cost-effective way to engage with communities and with existing and new stakeholders. The Standard of Generally Recognised Accounting Practice on Heritage Assets, or GRAP 103, and the draft National Policy on Digitisation of Heritage Resources imply that museum collections get documented and managed in digital form. It will coincidentally also enable museums to embrace the use of social network services and share the collections in their custody with many South Africans who are yet to experience the value of museums in the country. Museums are institutions in the service of society which acquires, conserves and communicates the tangible and intangible heritage of people and their environment. During the twentieth century museums have had to reinvent themselves from being unapproachable custodians of heritage to being part of society, willing to engage in discourses and be transformed to remain relevant to the communities they serve. The 2011 Census has found that about 18.2 million of 51.7 million South Africans have had access to the Internet before. Active Internet users however, are about half that figure because it is expensive, the broadband and telecommunications network is not efficient or because people have not yet experienced the value it offers. Government regulations compel Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enterprises to spend 1.5% net profit after tax on socio economic development initiatives. This presents an opportunity for museums as educational institutions to engage with such enterprises to expand Internet access and engage with local communities. The social network service field offers various ways to communicate collections and engage with communities through text, photographs, video and location-based technologies. Various notable local and international initiatives were discussed in this study. For example the Kulturpool which allows visitors to create cyber collections from digitised museum objects and contribute to the knowledge of such objects by allowing them to submit and share information for others to read. SAHRIS, the digital database offered by the South African Heritage Resources Agency, holds the key to similar ventures that museums could pursue. The regulative framework involves privacy, copyright and ethical issues which museums should abide by. Because of the pervasiveness of ICTs museums should take note of these regulations even if they decide not to pursue social network initiatives. ICT skills in museums are insufficient and should be improved upon. Social network services offer training and guidelines on how to use them, which could be a great help provided the reader has a good command of the English language. Cognisance must be taken of an overview social network services and their uses, and of the ethical and regulative framework for museums to benefit from using social network services to engage with communities. This way, communities may benefit from having access to the museum online. / Dissertation (MHCS)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Historical and Heritage Studies / unrestricted

Blockchain technology has gained ground as a method of independently and securely verifying transaction receipts of educational credentials so they can connect directly to individual digital wallets. Challenges in this transformation include the risk of dilution of value in existing credentials and the risk of duplicating structures. Internationally, several studies and pilots are ongoing. The EU is currently actively working to promote the development of digital micro-credentials with both initiatives and standards recommendations. Nationally in Sweden, government initiatives aim to bring the entire national digital infrastructure together to improve support for lifelong professional learning. Industrial stakeholders, academic education and vocational educational organizations are documented having partly overlapping, partly different needs and requirements. The purpose of this master’s thesis research is to describe the potential use of a blockchain-based ICT system for digital micro-credentials in vocational education, and what would be the desired characteristics of providing such a system from the perspective of stakeholder decision-makers on the governmental, commercial, and educational level. For this, interpretive qualitative research has been conducted. The data was collected through documents review of governmental and policy documents from the EU and Sweden, and individual interviews with seven participants among key stakeholder organizations (vocational institutions, commercial organizations, and government agencies representatives). The collected data was analyzed thematically. The analysis of the collected data was thematically structured into five themes and discussed in the context of the research aim and research question, using the proposed theoretical framework, including structuration theory.  Findings showed that challenges on the macro-level perspective dominated the potential uses and desired characteristics, explicitly the need for a solution that can bridge the gap between industry needs and formal education. The need for a technical solution that can create interoperability between different forms of micro-credentials and credentials was highlighted. A solution with the individual in focus would be a major shift that could improve individuals’ potential to plan careers, enable employers to improve recruitment processes, and strengthen the Swedish government actors in skills and educational planning on the national and regional level. The key to these uses would be the ability to build trust between parties and connect such a technological solution to existing structures such as the European Qualification Framework’s Swedish implementation (SeQF). The research contributes theoretically by adding to the rather limited research on blockchain use for micro-credentials in education, and practically by presenting the context and landscape of the Swedish system of vocational education and training in relation to the potential use of digital micro-credentials.

Syftet är att undersöka hur ett antal gymnasielärare som undervisar i svenska ser på datortillgång och datoranvändning, samt vilka krav de ställer på elevernas datoranvändning i kursen Svenska A. Undersökningen genomfördes via en webbenkät, vilken distribuerades under mars 2009. Resultatet av webbenkäten ställs mot beskrivningar av förutsättningar för skrivande och aktuella styrdokument. Tillgången på lärardatorer är otillräcklig och tillgången på elevdatorer är ännu mera otillräcklig. Datormedierad kommunikation används för att effektivisera undervisningen och för att nå eleverna med information. En majoritet av lärarna i undersökningen har inte erbjudits kompetensfortbildning inom området datormedierad kommunikation av sin arbetsgivare. I kursen Svenska A erbjuds eleverna varierande datortillgång, allt från varje lektion till en gång per kurs. Lärarnas krav på elevernas datorkompetens i kursen varierar mellan ”inga krav” och omfattande krav. I diskussionen belyser jag hur ny teknik assimileras av skola och undervisning och sätter in mina resultat i en tidskontext. / The purpose of my investigation is to study the view of supply of computers and the use of computers among a num¬ber of senior high school teachers, teaching Swedish. I also investigate their demands on pupils and their use of computers in the course “Svenska A”. My web inquiry was distributed during March 2009. The results of the inquiry have been compared with descriptions of requirements for writing and with former and present curricula. The supply of computers for teachers is insufficient and the supply of computers for pupils is even more so. Communication mediated by computer is being used to give information to pupils and to make teaching more efficient. A majority of the teachers have not been offered further training by their employers within the field of communication mediated by computer. In the course “Svenska A” pupils are being offered to use computers in varying degrees, from once per course till every lesson. The teachers’ claims on the pupils’ competence in their use of computers vary from “no demands” to wide demands. In the discussion I shed light on how new technology is being assimilated by schools and education. I also insert my results in a context of time.

No description available.

[pt] Momentos de formação continuada para o uso pedagógico das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TIC) têm por objetivo promover a integração do uso das TIC nas práticas pedagógicas. Com o intuito de contribuir para a análise dos resultados alcançados por esses momentos de formação, este trabalho estudou a relação entre a participação do professor nesses momentos e as suas práticas com TIC. Investigamos a presença das tecnologias nos momentos de formação e analisamos as políticas públicas de disseminação das TIC nas escolas. Paralelamente, realizamos uma pesquisa quantitativa com o objetivo de estudar a correlação entre as variáveis latentes formação específica em TIC e uso pedagógico de TIC pelos professores com os dados da TIC Educação 2014. Para atribuirmos uma medida a essas variáveis latentes, construímos quatro escalas utilizando a Teoria de Resposta ao Item (TRI). Duas escalas de formação, uma que considera os momentos institucionalizados e outra os informais dos quais os professores participaram; e duas escalas de uso, uma considerando as atividades com os alunos e outra as ações de preparação de aula. Para explicar a variável dependente uso pedagógico de TIC, construímos um modelo de regressão linear considerando como variáveis explicativas: as variáveis de formação específica em TIC e as variáveis de controle. Os resultados principais indicam que o uso pedagógico de TIC (Atividade e Preparação) é influenciado positivamente pela formação específica em TIC Institucionalizada e Informal, disciplina específica em TIC na graduação, renda mensal familiar e titulação, negativamente pela idade, e não é influenciado por curso específico em TIC, sexo e cor/raça. / [en] Moments of professional training for the pedagogical use of information and communication technologies (ICT) aim to promote the integration of the use of ICT in pedagogical practices. In order to contribute to the analysis of results achieved by these training moments, this dissertation presents a study on the relationship between teacher s participation in these moments and his practices with ICT. We investigate the presence of technology in formation and we analyzed public policies of dissemination of ICT in schools. Meanwhile, we conducted a quantitative research to study the correlation between those latent variables: specific training in ICT and used ICT pedagogy on the TIC Educação 2014 data basis. To assign a measure to latent variables, we constructed four scales using the Item Response Theory (IRT). Two of them are training scales: the first one considers the institutionalized moments, while the second one takes the informative information of the assistant teachers into account. The other two are scales of use, one considering the activities with students and the other the actions of preparing classes. In order to explain the dependent variable use of ICT for pedagogy, we composed a linear regression model including as explanatory variables: the specific training variables in ICT and the control variables. The main results indicate that the pedagogical use of ICT is positively influenced by institutionalized and informal training, specific subjects in undergraduate school, family income and academic degree. However, they also show that the pedagogical use is negatively influenced by age, and is not influenced by any specific course, gender and skin colour/race.

The purpose of the study was to describe the effects of an EMR on patient management in selected HIV clinics in Johannesburg. A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was undertaken in four HIV clinics in Johannesburg. The subjects (N=44) were the healthcare workers selected by stratified random sampling. Consent was requested from each subject and from the clinics in Johannesburg. Data was collected using structured questionnaires. Median age of subjects was 36, 82% were female. 86% had tertiary qualifications. 55% were clinicians. 52% had 2-3 years work experience. 80% had computer experience, 86% had over one year EMR experience. 90% used the EMR daily, 93% preferred EMR to paper. 93% had EMR training, 17% used EMR to capture clinical data. 87% perceived EMR to have more benefits; most felt doctor-patient relationship was not interfered with. 89% were satisfied with the EMR’s overall performance. The effects of EMR benefit HIV patient management. / Health Studies / MA (Public Health)

Poor health care delivery in rural communities is a major problem facing the health sector in Namibia. Patients who visit rural communities often wait on queues for several hours every day before they can be examined by a medical practitioner. This is detrimental to the health care process and impacts negatively on the efficiency and effectiveness of the sector. Mobile phones can however be employed as tools to improve work processes in such hospitals and as a result improve health care delivery in rural communities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the health care services provided to patients at Outpatient Departments (OPDs) in rural hospitals through the use of data collection instruments such as interviews, questionnaires, document analysis, expert validation and photographs in order to compile a Mobile Health Service Framework (MHSF) to improve healthcare delivery processes in OPDs. From an interpretive paradigm perspective, the qualitative design was used together with a case study approach. Three hospitals in rural communities were used as case studies. These were Okuryangava Hospital, Katutura Hospital and Khomasdal Hospital. Interviews were conducted and questionnaires distributed to the participants. The findings revealed that there is a high concentration of mobile phone usage in rural communities and there is a high usage of the SMS feature on such mobile phones. / Computing / M. Sc. (Computing)

Text in English / The thesis is a grounded analysis that seeks to understand small, micro, and medium enterprises (SMME) in the ICT sector that are particularly driven by women entrepreneurs in the Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela metropolitan municipalities of the Eastern Cape Province. Small businesses in the ICT sector owned and driven by women are still an understudied topic in South Africa, since there is not much literature that covers the topic from either a quantitative, or a qualitative perspective. The Eastern Cape Province is not an exception to the dearth of literature that focuses on SMME women-driven entrepreneurship in the ICT sector. The research interest of this research project emphasises the gap pertaining to the unavailability of gender-disaggregated data that indicates, for example: i) The number of women-owned ICT enterprises; ii) The nature of women-driven entrepreneurial activity in the ICT sector; iii) Evidence of how competitive women-owned ICT enterprises are; iv) Sustainable job creation by these ICT enterprises; iv) Availability of women with ICT skills; and v) Women who are occupying ICT core positions. These factors strengthen the case for employing a grounded approach to explore this substantive area of investigation. The researcher has no doubt that this study is one of the first studies to examine women-driven entrepreneurship of SMMEs in the ICT sector of the Eastern Cape Province, hence the adoption of a Multi-Grounded Theory (MGT) approach. This methodology is anchored in a qualitative approach that explores this phenomenon about which little is known. A moderate constructivist and interpretive approach guided by the voices of women entrepreneurs was employed to provide a meaningful account that added depth and breadth to the description and explanation of the status quo in relation to women-driven entrepreneurship in SMMEs. Emerging data from in-depth interviews conducted with 12 SMME women entrepreneurs and two experts from the ICT industry was matched with the two theories of entrepreneurship and cyberfeminism. These theories provided a theoretical lens through which data could be analysed and interpreted. This empirical and theory driven approach assisted in grounding the substantive theory. The research objectives provided answers to the empirical research questions that sought to gain an in-depth understanding of women entrepreneurs‘ perspective about: i) Conceptualisation of entrepreneurship and ICT technology as a concept; ii) Conceptualisation of the ICT sector; iii) The perceived importance of the ICT sector as an enabler in promoting SMME women-driven entrepreneurship; iv) How SMME women entrepreneurs use ICT as a core product and service; and v) The role played by government and the private sector in promoting SMME women-driven entrepreneurship in the ICT sector of the Eastern Cape Province. The findings uncovered concerns that women entrepreneurs perceived as having an influence on women-driven entrepreneurship. The findings included the manner in which women entrepreneurs responded to these issues. The findings for example, highlighted gender sensitivity issues which were of great concern to women entrepreneurs. Gender discrimination was amongst the key issues identified that lead to women‘s marginalisation inside the ICT sector, this entailing: i) ICT underrepresentation in core ICT environments; ii) Inaccessible tender opportunities; iii) Inaccessible funding; iv) Limited ICT knowledge and skills; and v) Lack of technical support. Considering the fact that SMME women-driven entrepreneurship within the ICT sector is on the radar screen of both government and the private sector‘s developmental agenda, the gap in research and literature presented a case that the study intended to address by developing a substantive theory which could contribute toward the transformative change in SMME women-driven entrepreneurship in the ICT sector of the province. / Communication Science / D.Litt. et Phil. (Communication Science)

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a new technology which allows people to identify objects automatically but there is a suspicion that, if people are tracked, their privacy may be infringed. This raises questions about how far this technology is acceptable and how privacy should be protected. It is also initiated a discussion involving a wide range of technical, philosophical, political, social, cultural, and economical aspects. There is also a need to consider the ethical and theological perspectives. This dissertation takes all its relevant directions from a Judeo-Christian theological perspective. On one side the use of technology is considered, and on the other side the value of privacy, its infringements and protection are investigated. According to Jewish and Christian understanding human dignity has to be respected including the right to privacy. As a consequence of this RFID may only used for applications that do not infringe this right. This conclusion, however, is not limited to RFID; it will be relevant for other, future surveillance technologies as well. / Philosophy & Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Theological ethics)

The goal of this research was to explore how students with blindness (SwBs) use information and communication technology (ICT) for learning at the University of South Africa (UNISA). To do this the critical paradigm was used as a way of viewing the educational world. Underpinned by Transactional Distance Theory, Cultural Historical Activity Theory, Universal Design for Learning and Critical Theory, the study was qualitative and used narrative inquiry. The selection of the participants was made through purposive and snowball sampling and data collected through life stories, in-depth and telephonic interviews. The findings culminated in two major findings: 1) the use of ICT for learning; and 2) inclusive digital approaches. The first has emerging themes, for instance, (a) challenges with mathematical, scientific and accounting signs; (b) inability to access graphic learning material; (c) incompatibility of software; (d) lack of timely access to electronic learning materials; (e) high cost of ICT tools; (f) personal computers and laptops; (g) myUnisa and myLife; (h) voice recorders, Brailler, screen readers and videoconferencing; (i) electronic mail (e-mail); and (j) mobile telephones. The themes for the second major finding include: (a) authentic use of student-centred approaches; (b) inconsistency between policy and practice; (c) testing and re-testing of assessment tools; and (d) regular seeking of students‘ views and experiences. The proposed ‗Inclusive Critical use of Technology‘ (ICuT) framework was developed to and can be used as an effective guide if it is foregrounded by applicable distance learning theories and appropriate technologies. The study recommends the use of inclusive and critical approaches when integrating ICT into teaching and learning. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)