Let my laptop lead the way : A middle eastern study

This paper describes the experiences of both students and faculty in two tertiary institutions in the Middle East: a university for women and a vocational college for men. Both of these institutions have recently made it mandatory for students to purchase a laptop computer. Four factors are identified as crucial when introducing new technological innovations into curricula: culture, gender, infrastructure and support, and faculty. Moreover, specific cultural factors affect Gulf and Islamic students. Gender differences in learning styles are of particular importance given the single-sex school background of all students in this Islamic state. The impact of unexpected technical problems and the need for institutions to develop and implement integrated plans for change are considered particularly important to faculty, who have to cope with a new workload created by the introduction of laptops and an unexpected new learning paradigm

Factors That Motivate 10th Grade Jordanian Students to Learn the English Language in the Arab Model School

This study aims to investigate the factors that motivate 10th grade Jordanian students in learning the English language in the Arab Model School and the difficulties that they encounter in learning the English language. A combination of the quantitative and qualitative research designs were adopted in this study. For data collection, a questionnaire on factors of motivation adapted from Gardner's (1985) Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) was administered to a sample of 80 of 10th grade students who had been selected randomly at the Arab Model School. A semi-structured interview was also conducted with 10 students selected randomly from the sample. The interview was aimed at eliciting in-depth information from students on factors that motivated them to learn the English language and the difficulties they encountered. The findings show that social, parents’ encouragement, teacher’s style and desire to learn English motivated them to learn the English language. When compared, it was found that more students were instrumentally rather than integratively motivated to learn the English language. The findings support the model by Tremblay and Gardner (1995) that both instrumental and integrative motivations play an important role in influencing second language learning. The limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are also provided. Some implications which are of significance to educators, researchers and the Ministry of Education of Jordan are suggested to help motivate students to learn the English language. It is hoped that the findings of this study would help enhance the teaching and learning of the English language in the Arab Model School

Gender and Innovation: State of the Art and a Research Agenda

Purpose - The purpose of the article is to present a framework for research on gender and innovation. The framework is developed based on a review of current literature in the area; it is applied to provide a context for the articles in this special issue and to offer suggestions for future research.&nbsp; Design/methodology/approach - The article relies on a literature review of gender and innovation. Additional literature searches on Scopus were conducted to provide an overview of the area. In addition, comparative analogies are sought from research fields of gender and entrepreneurship as well as gender and technology. Findings - The article presents the scope and issues in current research on gender and innovation. Based on our overview, research in this area is conducted in various disciplines applying a variety of methodological approaches. In order to make sense of the current research we developed a framework consisting of various approaches to, gender and innovation; these include gender as a variable, construction and process and innovation as a result, process and discourse. Research implications - Based on the review, several recommendations for future research are made. First, future research should question the connection between technology and innovation, and purposefully seek innovation activity also in low-tech and service sectors and firms. Innovation scholars and policy makers should not primarily target radical and product innovations but should be equally interested in incremental and process innovations. Second, understanding women&rsquo;s innovation activity needs to be embedded in understanding the normative frames and structural factors at play. A particular theoretical call is linked to the study of power and innovation. Third, it is imperative to develop and apply new methodological approaches and new operationalizations of innovation and innovators. Practical implications - By focusing on gender and innovation, it is possible to discover innovation as a gender biased phenomenon. Policy makers should bear this in mind when developing innovation policies. Originality/value - This introductory article puts forward a framework on gender and innovation that helps to make sense of the current state-of-the-art and to develop new research questions that need to be addressed for further theorising within the field.</p

The relationship between leadership styles, communication competence and employees' job satisfaction in private Universities of the UAE

Previous studies have documented the importance of the leadership style and communication competence of the leaders and their relationship with employees` job satisfaction. However, there was a lack of leader insight regarding this relationship in the context of higher education in the United Arab Emirates and very few literature had discussed the issues. Transformational style has greater relationship with job satisfaction than transactional style but the results of previous studies were still contradictory. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between leadership styles, communication competence and the job satisfaction of the employees in the UAE private universities. Besides, the study had also identified the influence of communication competence and leadership styles toward job satisfaction. The quantitative method was used in data collection. A random sampling technique was conducted which comprised of 247 faculty members and staff from seven private universities in UAE. A total of three different sets of instruments were used, namely Multifactor leadership (MLQ), Communicative Competence Scale (CCS) and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). Descriptive statistics was used to describe the sample characteristics and Pearson correlation was used to examine relationship between the independent variables and dependent variable. Multiple Regression test was used to testify the influence of predictor factors on job satisfaction. The results of the study indicated that there was a positive and significant relationship between transformational style and communication competence. However, the relationship between transactional leadership style and job satisfaction was observed to be negative but significant. Findings had revealed that transformational and transactional leadership styles and communication competence were predictors of job satisfaction specifically on the intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The current study had provided support for the previous theories about leadership, communication and job satisfaction. Practically based on the current study findings, transformational leadership style is more appropriate in higher education context rather than transactional style as it led to higher job satisfaction. An effective leader‘s communication competence had increased the employee‘s job satisfaction

Transformational leadership practices of deans and the perceived organizational culture of United Arab Emirates public universities : a regression analysis study

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The education and training of accounting technicians in the Sultanate of Oman : The accounting diploma program at Sultan Qaboos University

The discovery and subsequent commercial exploitation of oil in the Arabian Gulf region has brought profound and far-reaching change to the peoples of the area. What has happened has been nothing short of a transformation from desert sheikdoms into modem nation states;The Sultanate of Oman is one of those states. Although Oman is not a major oil producer in world terms, it has been able to use its oil revenues over the past three decades to finance the establishment of a modem infrastructure and to develop its social and economic systems. Notwithstanding the success of Oman\u27s national development efforts thus far, significant challenges lie ahead

Conceptualising personal and mobile learning environments in higher education : focus on students' perspective

Tämän väitöskirjan tavoitteena oli tutkia yliopisto-opiskelijoiden näkökulmasta, miten henkilökohtaisen ja mobiilin oppimisympäristön käsite voidaan määritellä. Väitöskirja koostuu kuudesta osatutkimuksesta, jotka toteutettiin Lapin yliopistossa, missä vuosien 2004 ja 2009 välisenä aikana kaikille opintonsa aloittaville opiskelijoille tarjottiin mahdollisuus hankkia käyttöönsä kannettava tietokone yliopiston osaksi kustantamana. Tutkimuksen keskiössä ovat yliopisto-opiskelijat, heidän kokemuksensa ja näkemyksensä sekä kehitysideansa. Ensimmäisessä osatutkimuksessa kartoitettiin opiskelijoiden tietoturvaan, opiskelun mobiiliuteen sekä tietokoneilla tuettuun yhteisölliseen opiskeluun liittyviä odotuksia. Toisessa osatutkimuksessa selvitettiin, millaisen kotouttamisprosessin opiskelijat käyvät läpi ottaessaan kannettavaa tietokonetta käyttöönsä. Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin myös sitä, miten opiskelijat integroivat kannettavan tietokoneen oppimisprosessiinsa, millaisten kokemusten kautta kannettavasta tuli merkityksellinen sekä sitä, miten sukupuoli tai tietotekniset taidot vaikuttivat tähän prosessiin. Kolmas osatutkimus rakentui design-perustaisen tutkimuksen periaatteille ja sen aikana suunniteltiin ja toteutettiin langattomien kampusten tietoturvaa käsittelevä opintojakso. Neljännessä osatutkimuksessa selvitettiin, mitä pedagogista lisäarvoa kannettavat tietokoneet opiskelijoiden mielestä tuovat tietokoneella tuettuihin yhteisöllisen oppimisen prosesseihin. Viidennessä ja kuudennessa osatutkimuksessa keskityttiin erityisesti lapsiperheellisten ja lukukausien aikana työskentelevien opiskelijoiden kokemuksiin. Tulosten perusteella voidaan sanoa, että erityisesti lapsiperheelliset opiskelijat hyötyivät kannettavien tietokoneiden ja langattomien tietoverkkojen mahdollistamasta mobiiliudesta ja joustavuudesta. Osatutkimusten tutkimustehtäviä ja -kysymyksiä lähestyttiin useista metodologisista lähtökohdista käsin. Tutkimuksissa hyödynnettiin tilastollista lähestymistapaa, grounded-teoriaa, design-tutkimusta sekä erilaisten tutkimusmenetelmien yhdistelmiä (mixed methods). Tutkimuksissa kerättiin sekä laadullista että määrällistä aineistoa. Osatutkimuksissa saatuja tuloksia tarkastellaan toiminnan teorian (activity theory) kautta. Toiminnan teoria on sosio-kulttuurisesti orientoitunut viitekehys, joka käsittelee ihmisen toimintaa eri muodoissaan kehitysprosesseina. Tutkimus vahvistaa käsitystä oppimisympäristöistä käsitteellisinä, ei niinkään laitteisto- tai järjestelmävetoisina työvälineinä. Tässä tutkimuksessa esiteltävä käsitteellinen tarkastelu tarjoaa yliopistoille strategisen työvälineen, jota voidaan hyödyntää mobiilin tieto- ja viestintätekniikan (TVT) pedagogisen hyödyntämisen sekä tulevien TVT-hankkeiden suunnittelussa. Opettajille tutkimus valottaa opiskelijoiden näkemyksiä mobiilin TVT:n hyödyntämisestä opiskeluprosesseissa sekä lähtökohdan omien pedagogisten ja ammatillisten tietojen ja taitojen kehittämiseen. Tutkimusten valossa opiskelijat voivat pohtia, miten he voivat parhaalla tavalla hyödyntää mobiilia TVT:aa osana omaa arkeaan, johon yliopisto-opinnot kuuluvat. Tutkijoille tämä väitöskirja tarjoaa useita jatkotutkimustehtäviä, joiden kautta tässä kehitettyä käsitettä voidaan edelleen kehittää ja tarkentaa.This study investigated how the concept of personal and mobile learning environments (PMLEs) can be conceptualised, and how their creation could best be supported in higher education, according to university students. The six empirical studies comprising this thesis were conducted at the University of Lapland, where a large-scale mobile technology initiative was carried out between 2004 and 2009. The particular focus was on university students, their experiences, perceptions and development ideas. The first study sought to discern students’ expectations concerning data security, mobility and collaborative learning processes on a wireless campus, while the second aimed to reveal the domestication process that students go through when putting their laptops to use at the beginning of their studies. In addition, the means by which students integrated the laptop into their personal learning processes, the kinds of procedures that rendered the laptop useful and meaningful, and how gender and IT proficiency influenced these processes, were also examined. The third study was a design-based research (DBR) process, in which a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) course on the data security of wireless learning environments was designed and implemented. The fourth study deliberated on the students’ perceptions of the added pedagogical value that laptops and wireless networks bring to CSCL processes. The fifth and sixth studies concentrated particularly on the views of non-traditional students who have extra life commitments along with their studies, such as taking care of children or term-time employment. The results of these two studies revealed that students with children especially benefited from the support the laptops and networks provided, and the mobility and flexibility that they afforded. Multiple methodologies were employed in order to answer varying and multidimensional research questions within the six empirical studies. The studies used approaches including statistical methodologies, grounded theory (GT), DBR, and mixed methods. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The results of the individual empirical studies are considered through activity theory, which is a socio-culturally driven, general framework for describing human activity as development processes in different forms. This study strengthens the view of PMLEs as conceptual tools, moving away from a device- or system-oriented understanding of learning environments. For universities as administrative organisations, the concept of a PMLE can serve as a strategic tool that can be used when developing strategies for ICTs’ pedagogical use and when designing possible future ICT initiatives. For university instructors, this research offers insights into students’ perceptions of using mobile ICTs in learning, and a starting point when developing their own professional skills and knowledge. It encourages students to consider the best ways to use mobile ICTs in their personal lives, of which higher education studies form a part. For researchers, the conceptual understanding of a PMLE offers a multitude of research tasks for future completion

A Change Laboratory:A collective approach to addressing issues in laptop-mediated English language classrooms

This thesis describes a Change Laboratory (Engeström et al., 1996; Virkkunen & Newnham, 2013) intervention carried out by a group of English Language Teaching (ELT) professionals with the aim of improving teaching and learning in laptop-mediated English language classrooms. The research was carried out in the English preparatory course at a federal institution in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Following the methodology of the Change Laboratory, the project first identifies a number of historical and current contradictions, manifesting as dilemmas, conflicts, critical conflicts and double binds, which may be causing unintended outcomes of attrition and failure among students on the preparatory English course. Using the principles of expansive learning, the participants, a group of eight English language teachers, propose, model and examine a number of solutions to the contradictions identified. These solutions are presented as a proposed future model of the activity system. The results are specific for the English preparatory course, but the solutions proposed provide a model for effective device usage, increased student collaboration and sound pedagogical practice that could be applicable in other university teaching environments where one-to-one devices are deployed. Rather than proposing a state-of-the-art solution focusing on hypothetical possibilities, the Change Laboratory has focused on the state-of-the-actual, and proposed a new model of teaching that is effective in this context and could provide a starting point at least in other contexts where technology is being used to enhance learning. This project contributes to knowledge using Change Laboratory methodology and in particular the insider Change Laboratory, activity theory, ELT and technology enhanced learning (TEL) in face-to-face teaching environments. Opportunities for future research are also identified