ABSTRACT:
The entry-level skills for students enrolling in a college-level information systems course can vary widely. This paper analyzes the impact of a “student-centered” pedagogy model, in which students use a self-paced approach for learning the material in an introductory information systems course, with pre-assigned dates for lectures and for assignment/exam deadlines. This new paradigm was implemented in several sections of an introductory information systems course over a two-semester time span. Under the new model, tutorial-style textbooks were used to help students master the material, all other materials were available online, and all exams were given using a hands-on, task-oriented online testing package, which included a multiple-choice/true-false component to test student understanding of the conceptual portion of the course. An anonymous student survey was used to gain student perceptions of the level of learning that took place under the new paradigm, as well as to measure student satisfaction with the course design, and a pre-/post-test was used to provide a measure of student learning.

ABSTRACT:
In this paper the blogging method, which includes new forms of writing, is supported as an alternative approach to address the frequently asserted problems in higher education such as product-oriented assessment and lack of value given to students’ writing as contribution to the discourse of the academic disciplines. Both theoretical and research background information is provided to clarify the rationale of using this method in higher education. Furthermore, recommended way of using this method in courses is outlined specifically in relation to these problems.

ABSTRACT:
Both computer literacy and information retrieval techniques are required to undertake studies in higher education in the United Kingdom. This paper considers the research, development and the 3-year student evaluation of a piece of learning technology in computer and information literacy (CLaSS software). Students completed a questionnaire to examine their own assessment of knowledge and competence in computer and information literacy and based on this assessment CLaSS software was created to assist nursing students with computer and information literacy. This paper draws on existing literature and applies a specific learning model to the software while considering software engineering and user-centered design methodologies. The technical processes involved in designing and creating the software are briefly considered with software development data analysis discussed. A 3-year student evaluation of the software after it’s release was undertaken to consider the long-term validity and usefulness of this software with the results analysed and discussed.

ABSTRACT:
This research approaches the issue of G2G digitization using an integrated policy dynamics model. The essence of the contradictions in the G2G integration discourse is followed by a description of two policy paradigms that are then incorporated into an integrated or synthetic framework to evaluate the specifics of the G2G implementation in DHS and HUD. Speculations are made about the implications of this study for the democratic principles of government rule.

ABSTRACT:
This paper describes a web-based assessment design tool, the ADDS, that provides teachers both a structure and the resources required to develop and use quality assessments. The tool is applicable across subject domains. The heart of the ADDS is an assessment design workspace that allows teachers to decide the attributes of an assessment, as well as the context and type of responses the students will generate, as part of their assessment design process. While the tool is very flexible and allows the above steps to be done in any order (or skipped entirely), our goal was to streamline and scaffold the process for teachers by organizing all the materials for them in one place and to provide resources they could use or reuse to create assessments for their students. The tool allows teachers to deliver the assessments to their students either online or on paper. Initial results from our first teacher study suggest that teachers who used the tool developed assessments that were more cognitively demanding of students and addressed the “big ideas” rather than disassociated facts of a domain.

ABSTRACT:
Although ICT clearly has the potential to contribute meaningfully to sustainable development and poverty alleviation, appropriate application of this technology is still very limited in many developing countries. However, participatory approaches to ICT development are quite promising for generating more appropriate ICT applications. In this paper we focus on a specific participatory approach, the ICT Roundtable process (RT process). Through the RT process relevant prototypes of ICT applications are generated and embedding of the innovation in the system is enhanced. The aim of this paper is to systemise the experiences of the trial-and-error process of developing the method of the RT process. We identify the structure and crucial principles of the RT process by analysing case studies and intervision sessions. The identified principles include: system thinking; multi-stakeholder involvement; participation; ownership; dialogue; learning; facilitation and organisation; step-wise approach; and networking. The conceptualisation of the process will allow the development of an evaluative framework to test the results and to improve the RT process.

ABSTRACT:
This article describes the design of an interactive learning environment to increase student achievement in middle schools by addressing students’ preconceptions, and promoting purposeful social collaboration, distributed cognition, and contextual learning. The paper presents the framework that guided our design efforts to immerse all students in a progression of guided-inquiry hands-on activities. Students find compelling reasons to learn by responding to authentic science-based challenges, both in simulations and hands-on activities, based on specific instructional objectives from the national standards.

ABSTRACT:
The main objective of this article is to describe different solution approaches for e-Government processes across different institutions at different levels of public administrations: a phased approach for specific e-Government solutions and a platform approach for cross-organisational public services. We discuss selection criteria for the different approaches considering several examples and indicate a relationship between the expected return-on-investment and the complexity of the solution.

ABSTRACT:
This paper discusses the perceptions of Egyptian minority groups in relation to internet information technology with which they feel empowered to protect, affirm and communicate their oppressed existence, on local and global dimensions. The research employs qualitative methods and interpretive analysis, to focus on the use of Internet information technology tools by Egyptian minority groups, in particular, their online platforms and chat rooms, and the related issues associated with these practices and usages. The paper argues that cyberspace is used by specific minority groups in Egypt as a “gateway to freedom” in which it constitutes an ally to establish newly founded cyber identities that aide them to exercise their basic human rights of freedom of thought, speech and expression. The paper thus examines cyberspace a medium or tool for the carrying out of information exchange without the traditional fear of politics and power that is deeply engraved in the roots of the Egyptian culture. In this way, these minority groups are analysed as the newly conceived human information systems (HIS) residing on Internet information technology and infrastructure. The paper proposes an adaptive and culturally sensitive model of human information systems as well as human information systems development life cycle (HISDLC) to aid in establishing effective processes of information exchange and creation, hence assisting in the emancipation of conflicting parties residing in Egypt, elsewhere in the Middle East and globally.

ABSTRACT:
This research paper broaches the relations between the electoral campaigns of the main presidential candidates to the 2002 Brazilian elections and the Internet, by analyzing the coverage of political agenda originated by the campaign official websites on the digital and paper versions of the national daily newspapers Jornal do Brasil and O Globo. This particular campaign was the first Brazilian electoral occasion in which Internet played a significant role as an efficient media; our analysis reveals a good example of the strategic use of the web to provoke real-time news, which ended up amplified by printed media, strengthening attacks which would otherwise not gain such a space or repercussion.

ABSTRACT:
This paper examines the context of land use planning and monitoring in local government. It reviews emerging trends in land use management and information system, and identifies issues and challenges facing Naga City local government in the Philippines. The paper then proposes a design solution for an information system to support and manage land use processes. It defines the user requirements for the information system, and formulates the System Architecture, which identifies the essential components and processes, and their functional relationships. The paper concludes by defining the implications of a land use information system for land use management and local governance.

ABSTRACT:
This paper describes the development of the Online Assessment of Athletic Training Education system (OAATE), a tool for assessing student achievement in the knowledge domains necessary for certification as an athletic trainer. The system also assesses students’ satisfaction with important dimensions of their individual degree programs. By making use of current database and communication technologies, we have developed a system that addresses important, unmet needs in the field of Athletic Training education. The design of the system makes it a dynamic, easily extensible tool that could be applied in a wide variety of education domains beyond its current setting. In addition, because of its Internet-based delivery system, the tool may be widely-used throughout the world, with benefits accruing to students, program instructors and administrators, and researchers in the field of education. Keywords: Education Assessment, Database, Information/Communication Technologies, Online Assessment.

ABSTRACT:
The Information Revolution has had a profound impact on technical and non-technical professions. Therefore, an understanding of the basic scientific and engineering principles behind computers and electronic communication is important for students from all disciplines, especially those students majoring in Media and Information Technology (MIT). The Department of Physics and Electrical Engineering at The University of Scranton has met this need through a two semester series of courses for the non-science major entitled Introduction to Consumer Technology (PHYS 104) and Information Technology (PHYS 204). Although these courses assume no prior engineering background, they provide a meaningful technical experience that includes a quantitative approach to problem solving. This paper will outline the challenges faced teaching engineering to the non-engineering major and the topics covered in the first semester of these introductory engineering courses.

ABSTRACT:
We describe a model of instruction in mathematics which combines the traditional university lecture with computer aided delivery of homework and testing. While this model of emporium instruction was developed at Virginia Tech to deal with the burden of increased class sizes and increasing demands on faculty time, it has, in fact, proven to be an effective pedagogical method with advantages as compared to traditional lecture style instruction. We will argue that it also provides an economic alternative for less developed nations, with partiuclar benefits for the special problems faced by these universities.

ABSTRACT:
Although distance education is catching up in almost all countries in the world, it is still little known and less studied in many of the developing countries. Given such a lack of coverage even in the Western educational literature, the possibilities of finding in-depth exchanges concerning distance education in developing countries are very limited. This presentation presents the existing ‘digital gap’ in the world, and focuses on three important barriers to distance education or learning are: 1) the lack of resources 2) lack of infrastructures, and 3) lack of recurrent funding necessary to acquire or develop appropriate software and courseware on a continuous basis, and maintain, service and replace the equipment. Technologists and educators need to enter the developing world, study the market and then modify their wares according to local needs with the help of local industry and labor-force. This is one important way of building meaningful collaborations and partnerships between the developed and developing countries.

ABSTRACT:
This paper examines the economical impact of IPv6, Internet Protocol’s next generation. Technically, IPv6 represents an upgrade, an evolution that offers the resources necessary for deeper and wider market penetration of the IP technology, to support the needs of a global economy, to build new products and new services. Politically and economically it has the potential of being a quiet revolution. Countries that trailed US into the information revolution recognize this opportunity to take a leading role in its next expansion phase and have developed national strategies to help better position their respective economies. Despite understanding the constraints imposed by the current version of IP, the private sector is currently inclined to largely ignore IPv6 because of its initial deployment costs and long term returns. Forced by high investor expectations to focus exclusively on the immediate bottom line it trades long term growth opportunities for short term benefits revolving around productivity increases. The paper analyses the importance of a National Strategy in driving IPv6 adoption and in closing a widening knowledge and deployment gap between US and countries such as China, Japan, Korea and the EU.

ABSTRACT:
This usability study measured the ability of educators to master advanced computer programming concepts through the OWI Robotic Arm Trainer and PC Interface. Research findings revealed that the lack of prior computer programming experience did not impact the ability of each participant to successfully program his/her robotic arm. However, the absence of a detailed instructional manual detracted from the product

ABSTRACT:
The Census of Population is one of the key sources of data for social science research in the UK. Many census results appear in published reports, but most data are available directly from the Office of National Statistics or from web sites offering extraction services for registered users. Many Geography students use information from the census to undertake projects and to complete dissertations, frequently when studying small geographical areas. It is important that students learn the skills for downloading census data and understand what shortcomings are associated with the data as well as knowing how to incorporate the data into GIS and to analyse it effectively. This paper focuses on how students at the University of Leeds are taught to use one particular product of the census, the Origin-Destination Statistics, that are available from a web-based interface known as WICID. The paper briefly outlines the context and characteristics of the data before explaining the rudiments of building queries and extracting data. A typical class assignment is presented to demonstrate how a student learns how to build queries using WICID before analysing the results or mapping the data using an independent GIS. Experience indicates that students need to think hard about their requirements before using WICID for project work.

ABSTRACT:
There is a growing interest in using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to support poverty reduction efforts and strategies in the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These interest ended up revealing how much the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) of many african nations have underestimated the importance of ICTs as a development tool. The fact that so little was mentionned about the use of ICTs for poverty alleviation and creation of employment highlighted the confusion, and uncertainty of decision makers. At the country level, ICT is still to be effectively integrated into national poverty alleviation and development strategies. The question then is how ICTs can help achieve those objectives. How can ICTs be used as tools to fight against poverty? Poverty is widely recognized as multidimensional, encompassing food security, health, education, rights, security and dignity, amongst others as stressed by Bachelor & al in a model showing the intricate linkages between ICTs and most PRSP goals. The link between ICTs and poverty reduction strategy is therefore not that obvious. Although, researchers and development partners involved in poverty alleviation recognize more easily the linkage between ICT and poverty reduction strategies. In any case, it is a prerequisite to have a conducive environment and country readiness for ICTs implementation. Unfortunately, in many Sub-Saharan Africa countries, there is not yet a clear and effective policy and strategy for the use of ICT.

ABSTRACT:
For distributing electronic documents the document format is a key factor. The Portable Document Format (PDF) is very popular for text-based documents. Currently also 3D-documents are distributed using that format. PDF is also very often used as primary document format for lecture notes. Unfortunately there are some problems related to the format especially when interactivity is an issue in such teaching and learning environments. On the one hand it is necessary to personalize content for each user, therefore documents must be adapted to user

ABSTRACT:
Education and training became increasingly critical for citizens of every nation during the last century, and that paradigm will be no less true, throughout the 21st Century. As the world progresses fully into an information society, access to information and to a knowledge-based work force is a precondition for any country to remain competitive. Education, and increasingly distant education (DE), plays a vital role in turning human resources into knowledge workers. Information and communications technologies (ICT) have provided new ways to educate and to disseminate information that is crucial for creating these competitive, knowledge-based work forces. Modern DE, enabled by ICT-based networks and the Internet tools, offers great advantages that are leveling the global playing field, in terms of providing access and opportunities for specialized training and education. Using satellite technology in DE may be imperative to developing countries, where the majority of their populations are scattered in rural and remote areas. Where the traditional brick and mortar classrooms cannot easily reach, satellite-powered DE systems can. Through literature review and rational analysis, this paper examines how satellite-assisted DE systems expand education access.