Alleviating higher education challenges through strategic integration of technology: a case of selected universities in Africa.

Doctor of Philosophy. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The higher education sector in Africa is evolving and information technology continues to play a key role in driving these changes. Information and communications technologies are improving the creation and transmission of knowledge. This is attributed to the way people learn and create ideas as well as disseminate information within the educational environment and in the public sphere. In this study, an exploratory research was conducted to identify and understand the challenges and opportunities associated with information technology integration in higher education. A survey of 592 staff at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and University of South Africa was undertaken to address the research problem. The study makes use of a blend of theoretical frameworks to provide the foundation for identifying, proposing, planning and suggesting information technology strategies that can be integrated into higher education to alleviate higher education challenges in order to enhance teaching and learning outcomes. The three models used are: The Change Management Model; Model of Technology Adoption in the Classroom; and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. The study evaluates the role of ICTs in higher education and also identified issues, challenges and instances of ICT strategic integration in higher education institutions at the selected universities in Africa. In the process of understanding the strategic integration of information technology in higher education institutions at the selected universities, the study identified what was considered successful technology integration strategies, what were not as successful, and why this was the case. The study further identified the factors that influence information technology integration in higher education. Having identified the limitations to technology integration and the significance of information technology in higher education at the selected universities, the study proffered recommendations and proposed a strategic framework. The framework offers strategies for the integration of information technology into higher education which can be used to alleviate higher education challenges, enhance teaching and learning outcomes, sustain the integrated information technologies and achieve ICTs promised benefits to higher education

From ad-hoc to engineered collaboration in virtual workspaces

Distributed collaboration over the Internet has become increasingly common in recent years, supported by various technologies such as virtual workspace systems. Often such collaboration is ad-hoc, and virtual workspaces are set up anew for each new instance of collaboration. We propose that much of the ad-hoc collaboration can be captured and transformed into patterns for reuse in future collaboration. This paper presents the results of the past five years of our work in this area. We introduce the notion of patterns of virtual collaboration; present a framework for extracting patterns of work in virtual workspace systems; and introduce an information model of virtual collaboration. We then present an overview of our data and process mining methods and reverse engineering techniques for discerning work processes carried out through virtual workspace systems. Finally we present our visual mining techniques that we use to discern aspects of work processes in virtual workspaces. Distributed collaboration over the Internet has become increasingly common in recent years, supported by various technologies such as virtual workspace systems. Often such collaboration is ad-hoc, and virtual workspaces are set up anew for each new instance of collaboration. We propose that much of the ad-hoc collaboration can be captured and transformed into patterns for reuse in future collaboration. This paper presents the results of the past five years of our work in this area. We introduce the notion of patterns of virtual collaboration; present a framework for extracting patterns of work in virtual workspace systems; and introduce an information model of virtual collaboration. We then present an overview of our data and process mining methods and reverse engineering techniques for discerning work processes carried out through virtual workspace systems. Finally we present our visual mining techniques that we use to discern aspects of work processes in virtual workspaces

From Ad-hoc to Engineered Collaboration in Virtual Workspaces

Distributed collaboration over the Internet has become increasingly common in recent years, supported by various technologies such as virtual workspace systems. Often such collaboration is ad-hoc, and virtual workspaces are set up anew for each new instance of collaboration. We propose that much of the ad-hoc collaboration can be captured and transformed into patterns for reuse in future collaboration. This paper presents the results of the past five years of our work in this area. We introduce the notion of patterns of virtual collaboration; present a framework for extracting patterns of work in virtual workspace systems; and introduce an information model of virtual collaboration. We then present an overview of our data and process mining methods and reverse engineering techniques for discerning work processes carried out through virtual workspace systems. Finally we present our visual mining techniques that we use to discern aspects of work processes in virtual workspaces

ABSTRACT

Distributed collaboration over the Internet has become increasingly common in recent years, supported by various technologies such as virtual workspace systems. Often such collaboration is ad-hoc, and virtual workspaces are set up anew for each new instance of collaboration. We propose that much of the ad-hoc collaboration can be captured and transformed into patterns for reuse in future collaboration. This paper presents the results of the past five years of our work in this area. We introduce the notion of patterns of virtual collaboration; present a framework for extracting patterns of work in virtual workspace systems; and introduce an information model of virtual collaboration. We then present an overview of our data and process mining methods and reverse engineering techniques for discerning work processes carried out through virtual workspace systems. Finally we present our visual mining techniques that we use to discern aspects of work processes in virtual workspaces