This developmental research used primary components of Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations theory to develop a technology mentoring program for K-12 instructional environments. This investigation utilized K-12 teachers, administrators, technology coordinators, and higher education faculty to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed technology mentoring program. Findings showed that this program would be very effective in K-12 instructional environments. The final product resulted in a step-by-step procedural guide consisting of suggestions and activities that can be used to implement a technology mentoring program. / Ph. D.

This study determined whether the measures implemented to address barriers to technology infusion changed the technology use patterns of teachers at a middle school. The research question was: Will middle school teachers infuse technology in teaching when the barriers of a lack of time, tools, training, and support are addressed? Document analysis of lesson plans and educational technologist (ET) logs was conducted to analyze the change in the teachers? teaching practices. Interviews were conducted to gather information about the participant?s perceptions of the project and their involvement in using technology in teaching. Observations were conducted to determine whether changes occurred in teaching practices and to confirm information provided by the teachers. Data analysis revealed that the provision of resources did make a difference in teaching practices. Three of the five core teachers changed their teaching practices; two teachers? teaching practices did not change because they faced second order as well as first order barriers to technology integration. Recommendations for practice included (a) leaving the ET at Covington in his ET position and investing in the funding the ET position at the other schools in the district, (b) utilizing the expertise of the core teachers to provide technology training and support for teachers in the district, (c) selecting persons with a strong technology vision who are willing to practice their vision as well as translate their vision into teacher use of technology in instruction. Recommendations for further research were that follow up studies be conducted that (a) determine whether there was a continuation in the integration of technology in teaching after the project no longer operates in the school setting, (b) determine whether the school continued with the model of providing time, tools, training, and support for teachers to integrate technology into their teaching, (c) determine whether the school district implements these measures in other schools, (d) seek to gain a more in-depth understanding of the reasons that teachers fail to integrate technology into teaching when the first order barriers to technology integration have been removed, and (e) address the issue of technology use for instructional purposes and its effects on students? willingness to participate in the learning process.

This study examined how employees at a Florida medical facility felt regarding the upcoming change to a paperless system and whether a training program administered by the organization was effective in reducing anxiety, increasing understanding of the need for the change, increasing employee confidence using the new computer system, changing employee perceptions of the new system, and helping employees view the change as an organizational improvement. The results indicated that the training program marginally reduced anxiety, but did not significantly increase user confidence or understanding of the need for the change. While participants viewed the change as an organizational improvement, this view was only superficial. When means were examined by occupation, age group and gender, pre-training results indicated that the medical staff and older participants exhibited the most anxiety, understood the reason for the change the least and had the lowest confidence in their ability to use the practice management system. These same participants appeared to benefit the most from the training program. They reported reduced anxiety and increased confidence using the innovation. Post-training, younger participants and those who identified their occupation as "other" indicated increased anxiety levels and slight reductions in their confidence using the practice management system. The medical staff and older participants appeared to benefit the most from the training program.

The purpose of this project was to develop and document curricular content for Computer Numerical Control education program for Mt. San Jacinto Community College. The design of the curriculum focuses on showing students how skills learned in academic classes can be applied to the workplace.

Within the context of technological development, the needs and preferences of the 21st century student (Generation Y), the changing higher education environment, the increasing use of technology in teaching and learning, and the significant role of online learning facilitators in e-learning, the e-readiness of academic employees became imperative. Thus, considering the importance of academic employees' e-readiness, the primary objective of the study aims to determine the role of key human factors in their e-readiness, with specific focus on personal work profile patterns, preferred learning style and pace and style of technology adoption. The research problem therefore is how to determine the role of these key human factors in the e-readiness of academic employees. In this respect the study argues that the e-readiness assessment of academic employees must be included in the human resource performance appraisal process. The purpose of this research is to develop a framework for assessing the ereadiness of academic employees during their performance appraisals, as well as determining and assessing the role of key human factors in their e-readiness in order to draft an e-profile which will provide guidance in terms of structuring unique training and development approaches for each e-profile. Once accademic employees' e-readiness has been assessed during their performance appraisals, they can be plotted on the framework. The outcome of their e-readiness assessments will reveal their e-profiles, which will portray insight into the presence or absence of particular ereadiness indicators, outlined in an e-readiness construct. Subsequently, a personal development plan can be drafted, making provision for uniquely structured training and development interventions, best suited for each accademic employees' e-profile. The most suitable motivating factors for each employee will also be considered during the drafting of the personal development plan. The empirical research by means of a self-administered questionnaire and a focus group discussion revealed two prominent e-profiles indicating various levels of ereadiness, namely an early adopter-pragmatist-compliance e-profile and an early majority-theorist-steadiness e-profile. The findings made it evident that the traits portrayed by a person belonging to a certain technology adoption category show similarities to traits portrayed by particular learning styles and personal work profile patterns. Certain profiles could be identified, based on trends and similarities pertaining to interpersonal traits. The findings further revealed that with an increase in age and teaching experience of respondents (which also imply an increase in age), the willingness to be assessed on e-readiness declined. It was also determined that the human resource performance management policies and practices at the North-West University (NWU) (which is used as case study), do not make provision for the inclusion of e-readiness in performance appraisals of academic employees. Further it became evident that training and development interventions should not only focus on the technical skill of e-learning, but follow a broader teaching and learning approach, also including the philosophy of e-learning and the use and adaptation of teaching and learning strategies to obtain optimal learner learning. The findings of the study thus supported the need for a framework, providing guidance in this regard. Presently, neither the literature of human resource performance appraisal nor the literature of e-readiness or e-learning makes provision for assessing the e-readiness of academic employees. The study thus contributes to the scholarly discourse and knowledge in the field of public human resource management, as sub-field of Public Administration, by developing a theoretical framework (that currently does not exist), consisting of three matrixes for this purpose to determine the role of the key human factors in the e-readiness of academic employees. / Public Administration / D. Litt. et Phil. (Public Administration)

Within the context of technological development, the needs and preferences of the 21st century student (Generation Y), the changing higher education environment, the increasing use of technology in teaching and learning, and the significant role of online learning facilitators in e-learning, the e-readiness of academic employees became imperative. Thus, considering the importance of academic employees' e-readiness, the primary objective of the study aims to determine the role of key human factors in their e-readiness, with specific focus on personal work profile patterns, preferred learning style and pace and style of technology adoption. The research problem therefore is how to determine the role of these key human factors in the e-readiness of academic employees. In this respect the study argues that the e-readiness assessment of academic employees must be included in the human resource performance appraisal process. The purpose of this research is to develop a framework for assessing the ereadiness of academic employees during their performance appraisals, as well as determining and assessing the role of key human factors in their e-readiness in order to draft an e-profile which will provide guidance in terms of structuring unique training and development approaches for each e-profile. Once accademic employees' e-readiness has been assessed during their performance appraisals, they can be plotted on the framework. The outcome of their e-readiness assessments will reveal their e-profiles, which will portray insight into the presence or absence of particular ereadiness indicators, outlined in an e-readiness construct. Subsequently, a personal development plan can be drafted, making provision for uniquely structured training and development interventions, best suited for each accademic employees' e-profile. The most suitable motivating factors for each employee will also be considered during the drafting of the personal development plan. The empirical research by means of a self-administered questionnaire and a focus group discussion revealed two prominent e-profiles indicating various levels of ereadiness, namely an early adopter-pragmatist-compliance e-profile and an early majority-theorist-steadiness e-profile. The findings made it evident that the traits portrayed by a person belonging to a certain technology adoption category show similarities to traits portrayed by particular learning styles and personal work profile patterns. Certain profiles could be identified, based on trends and similarities pertaining to interpersonal traits. The findings further revealed that with an increase in age and teaching experience of respondents (which also imply an increase in age), the willingness to be assessed on e-readiness declined. It was also determined that the human resource performance management policies and practices at the North-West University (NWU) (which is used as case study), do not make provision for the inclusion of e-readiness in performance appraisals of academic employees. Further it became evident that training and development interventions should not only focus on the technical skill of e-learning, but follow a broader teaching and learning approach, also including the philosophy of e-learning and the use and adaptation of teaching and learning strategies to obtain optimal learner learning. The findings of the study thus supported the need for a framework, providing guidance in this regard. Presently, neither the literature of human resource performance appraisal nor the literature of e-readiness or e-learning makes provision for assessing the e-readiness of academic employees. The study thus contributes to the scholarly discourse and knowledge in the field of public human resource management, as sub-field of Public Administration, by developing a theoretical framework (that currently does not exist), consisting of three matrixes for this purpose to determine the role of the key human factors in the e-readiness of academic employees. / Public Administration and Management / D. Litt. et Phil. (Public Administration)

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