Tese de mestrado. Multimédia. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 2010

Tesis

NSTP Online is a news database produced by The New Straits Times Press (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). This service is comprised of two major components - Newsbase and Special Databases, which provide archival Malaysian information. NSTP Online is the trade name of the online database available commercially and internally to the organisation.Quality issues are acknowledged by database producers but are often overlooked due to resource, technology and human constraints. The key quality issues include contents, data quality, customer support and database structure. The objective of investigating these issues from the users' perspective is because it is the major issue from the business point of view. The few database quality studies documented in the literature are limited to methodological development.Quality issues from the users' perspective are difficult to measure due to the intangible nature of information, the researcher's dependence on the subjective opinions of the users and the variables associated with experience and costs. The aim of the study is to investigate the problems affecting the use of information and identify areas requiring further examination by the database producer.The results of this investigation draw upon the writer's experience with NSTP Online and the feedback obtained from the questionnaire and interviews conducted in Malaysia. This paper examines the differences in usage, training, support and data retrieval among the external and internal users. Despite the fact that NSTP Online needs to be improved in terms of contents, currency, technology and telecommunication, the service is still regarded as an useful information tool by the users.The paper highlights the many problems that require further planning and improvement for internal and external users. These include developing an appropriate channel of communication, an improved understanding ++ / of the requirements and expectations of the users, and an increased depth to the contents available to the customers. It is recommended that future improvement be focused on the problems faced by the users and the way in which a number of these can be overcome with the use of more advanced technology.

This research project investigates to what extent a social constructivist approach to teaching and learning online can enhance the use of language acquisition for learners of foreign languages. I designed an online role-play simulation in which the students sailed on the expedition of Nicolas Baudin to Australia and took different authentic roles on a simulated voyage. All communication was conducted in the French language, thus enabling the students to interact in realistic conversations, relevant to this historic event. Being in a third year TAFE French class, the students had already been exposed to sound grounding in grammar, relevant vocabulary, and use of colloquial and idiomatic expressions, and thus they had acquired a reasonably high level of proficiency in the language. The study was conducted over a four-week period in which I examined the intense interaction between the participants, while fulfilling the role of facilitator/moderator. In this role, I gave clear guidelines as to what was expected from the participants; provided the students with their identity which was unknown to the other participants during the simulation; created incidents through a weekly “Course of Events” announcement; answered all questions within 12 – 24 hours; encouraged engagement within the learning community; made occasional suggestions if the characters seemed uncertain of what to do next; and, above all, endeavoured to create a non-threatening, friendly online environment for the students. After the four-week online role-play simulation, the participants met for a debriefing session in which they revealed their identities and discussed any issues, in particular technical issues, that had emerged. This provided an opportunity for the participants to disengage from the virtual world in which they have been immersed for four weeks as well as an opportunity to reflect upon their personal learning. A qualitative methodology, drawing on interpretive research, was employed to analyse the data. Student pre- and post-questionnaires, online contributions by the students and the debriefing discussion were used as the major sources of data collection. Most of the students took up the challenge of interacting online through asynchronous and synchronous communication. The study focused on how the use of a social constructivist epistemology could enhance language acquisition for learners of foreign languages and also analysed to what extent did the students’ participation in a webbased online role-play simulation affect their communication skills and fluency in the second language. The findings provided me with guidance for future implementation of online role-play simulations in which I would ensure that all students have the basic computer skills and necessary access to internet in order to participate fully in the simulation. Nevertheless, this study demonstrated many benefits to the language enhancement of the participants and will become a regular activity as it permits students to use their conversational skills in a “real-life” virtual learning community.

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<p><strong><p>Title:</p>Online consumer sales promotion in retail clothing companies – a study of four American companies’ websites. <strong><p>Authors:</p>Emma Berter and Christina Blomqvist <strong><p>Advisor:</p>Venilton Reinert <strong><p>Level:</p>Bachelor thesis in Marketing, (15 Swedish credits), Spring 2010 <strong><p>Keywords:</p>Online marketing, marketing mix, consumer sales promotion <strong><p>Question:</p>How can retail clothing companies use consumer sales promotion to try to increase sales on their websites? <strong><p>Purpose:</p>The purpose was to investigate how consumer sales promotion can be used on retail clothing companies’ websites to increase sales. <strong><p>Method:</p>This thesis is done as a qualitative research and with a deductive approach since we have studied theories and then done our own research. The data collected for this research was taken exclusively from the websites of the companies chosen to be a part of this research. <strong><p>Theoretical framework:</p>This chapter is introduced with theories regarding online marketing which is followed by a section on the marketing mix online. Further a closer look is done at one of the devices of the marketing mix; the promotion tools. There are five promotion tools existing and in this thesis a closer look is taken at the sales promotion tool. Consumer sales promotion which is one of the sales promotion tools are then at focus and the reader will through this chapter develop a deeper understanding for the different ways of using consumer sales promotion online. <strong><p>Empirical studies:</p>The empirical studies consist of data collected when the websites of the companies have been studied. <strong><p>Conclusions:</p>Through the research that has been made and through comparison with theories studied, conclusions hav </strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></p>