The main objective of this study was to determine the effect of technology on attention and concentration within the South African classroom. The theoretical investigation showed the link between focus, attention and concentration. It also revealed the importance of motivation in order to capture the attention of the learner in the classroom. The life-world of the learner is often far removed from the classroom learning context. During the empirical investigation, lessons were conducted with and without the presence of technology in order to ascertain whether a difference in attention and concentration would elicit different results. An ANOVA procedure indicated that there is a significant difference between the average achievements of a group of learners exposed to technology during a lesson, compared to a group not exposed to technology; there is a significant difference between the average attentions of a group of learners exposed to technology during a lesson compared to a group not exposed to technology; there is a significant relationship that exists between motivation and concentration; and that a significant relationship exists between motivation and attention in Mathematics. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Psychology of Education)

The main objective of this study was to determine the effect of technology on attention and concentration within the South African classroom. The theoretical investigation showed the link between focus, attention and concentration. It also revealed the importance of motivation in order to capture the attention of the learner in the classroom. The life-world of the learner is often far removed from the classroom learning context. During the empirical investigation, lessons were conducted with and without the presence of technology in order to ascertain whether a difference in attention and concentration would elicit different results. An ANOVA procedure indicated that there is a significant difference between the average achievements of a group of learners exposed to technology during a lesson, compared to a group not exposed to technology; there is a significant difference between the average attentions of a group of learners exposed to technology during a lesson compared to a group not exposed to technology; there is a significant relationship that exists between motivation and concentration; and that a significant relationship exists between motivation and attention in Mathematics. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Psychology of Education)

In a contemporary world saturated with technology, where data has become a means tounderstand and optimize almost everything, the educational sector seems reluctant towards it.In order to change that, it is argued that formative assessment is a sustainable way to monitorfeedback data for the purpose to improve school environment. Used in the classroom, it shiftsthe focus from the outcome of pupils’ learning to their real needs.This study elaborates on the lack of feedback for teachers and the referring potential oftechnology usage in schools. Due to, inter alia, a co-creation workshop, novice teachers anddesigners collaborated to create several prototypes, which were used in a real classroomsituation afterwards. Those prototypes enabled a deep understanding of the current perceptionof feedback as well as the technology awareness of students and teachers.The research results were discussed from various angles, including young teenagers’and experienced teachers’ views. The outcome analysis led to the need of a student-centredcurriculum which offers explorative access to technology and feedback for everybodyinvolved in a school environment.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology: Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / Education is constantly challenged by rapid technological changes both in terms of curriculum renewal and in terms of students’ awareness of these new technologies. This is the reason why the aim of this study is to analyse factors affecting computing students’ awareness of the latest ICTs. This aim is further divided into four research sub-aims: the selection of the relevant theories for this research; the design of an appropriate conceptual model to support it; the empirical testing of the above mentioned model; and finally, recommendations arising from the research results. The first research sub-aim is accomplished through selection of the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) as the theoretical framework of this study after a review of different theories of technology adoption. The second research sub-aim is accomplished through the design of a conceptual model which is an adaptation of the relationship between the prior conditions construct and the knowledge/awareness construct of IDT. The prior conditions that were studied are students’ perceived exposure to career guidance and students’ perceived curriculum currency. These prior conditions were analysed as possible predictors of computing students’ technology awareness. The third sub-aim is accomplished by means of a survey of 116 computing students from the four universities of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, the results of which validated most of the relationships hypothesized by the above mentioned model. Having knowledge/awareness as the main variable of the current study can be seen as its main contribution in view of the fact that only two studies from the reviewed literature on IDT are examining the awareness/knowledge construct. The fourth sub-aim is accomplished by means of some recommendations, one of which is that gender and ethnicity be considered when curriculating computing courses both at the high school level and at the university level.