From stopout to scholar : pathways to graduation through adult degree completion programs.

Although colleges and universities are facing increased scrutiny to demonstrate a return on investment for their students, the demand for college-educated workers continues to grow. As of 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that more than one-fifth of Americans age 25 and older—around 43.5 million people—have some postsecondary education but no degree (Lumina, 2012). This article presents an integrative review of relevant, rigorous, and research based programs that create a fast path to degree completion for working adults. While national data still shows that postsecondary credentials remain a good investment for individuals and the overall economy (Carnavale & Rose, 2015), the public is asserting a greater demand for accountability as tuition continues to escalate well beyond the rate of inflation. This article provides a review and conceptual links to educational pathways for the large group of adult learners with some college and no degree

ICTs and Human Development in Nigeria: Forging a Nexus

ICTs have successfit!ly changed the social, economic and political spaces globally Through globalisation, ICTs have reduced the world to a global clan and assumed a cyclopean force driving human civilisation by the scruff The impact of ICTs has virtually diffused through all sectors, forcing technological changes and creating a culture of dependence on technology. In Nigeria, the presence of ICTs has become ubiquitous and its knowledge has deepened. Howeve1; the use of ICTs for human development purposes has remained grossly limited. ICTs have only been co-opted for the creation of web portals, email addresses, 828, 82C interactions and for inconsequential undertakings. The use of ICTs for educational and manpower development, knowledge transmission, health education, research and development, medical treatment and others for human development purposes is yet embryonic. This may not be unconnected with the by::antine socioeconomic crises like spotty power supply, moribund infrastructure, witless political leadership, lack of priority in investments by the state, endemic official corruption and a host of challenges facing the Nigerian state. To assume a pole position in the present knowledge economy, Nigeria needs to .find that nexus between ICTs and its human development needs. This study is cast against the backcloth of the Dif]itsion of Innovations and Human Development Theories which support the dijfi1sion of ICT-enabled human development programmes in Nigeria to realise true development. This paper argues that the political leadership in Nigeria will benefit more at a fragment of the cost when it adopts ICTs in catalysing its human development programmes. In addition, resolving some of the embedded social and ethical problems facing the count1y willji-ee resources for the government to invesl'massively in ICTs that could help it leap-ji-og its human development challenges and improve the lives of its citi::en

The impact of mobile phone uses in the developing world: giving voice to the rural poor in the Congo

In recent years, the rise of information and communication technologies (ICTs) contrasted with the dire living conditions of the world’s poorest has been the subject of debate among industry and academia. However, despite the amount of writings produced on mobile phones, Western bias is surprisingly unbridledly prevailing alongside the fêted dissemination of mobile phones. Expansive literature tends to present the rapid adoption of mobile phones among rural individuals, with little to no indication of how local values and voices are respected or promoted. We undertook semi-structured interviews with 16 rural chiefs to inquire into ways in which mobile phones enabled socio-economic development in the rural Congo. Rather than using quantitative, large-scale, or top-down data, we sought to give voice to chiefs themselves about the role of mobile phones. We found that Western bias dominates the literature and deployment of mobile phones more than usually acknowledged. We suggested some paths forward, while bringing the African communal Utu or Ubuntu culture to the center stage

Addressing data collection challenges in ICT for development projects

This paper equips researchers for addressing a wide range of data collection challenges experienced when interacting with marginalized communities as part of ICT4D projects in developing countries. This secondary research categorizes data collection challenges reported in multiple disciplines, and summarizes the guidance from the past literature to deal with the challenges. The open, axial, and selective coding of data collection challenges reported by the past literature suggests that it is necessary to manage scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, and risks for addressing the data collection challenges. This paper illustrates the ways to manage these seven dimensions using (a) the success stories of data collection in the past, (b) the lessons learned by researchers during data collection as documented by the past literature, and (c) the advice they offer for collection data from marginalized communities in developing countries

Multimedia-based Medicinal Plants Sustainability Management System

Medicinal plants are increasingly recognized worldwide as an alternative source of efficacious and inexpensive medications to synthetic chemo-therapeutic compound. Rapid declining wild stocks of medicinal plants accompanied by adulteration and species substitutions reduce their efficacy, quality and safety. Consequently, the low accessibility to and non-affordability of orthodox medicine costs by rural dwellers to be healthy and economically productive further threaten their life expectancy. Finding comprehensive information on medicinal plants of conservation concern at a global level has been difficult. This has created a gap between computing technologies’ promises and expectations in the healing process under complementary and alternative medicine. This paper presents the design and implementation of a Multimedia-based Medicinal Plants Sustainability Management System addressing these concerns. Medicinal plants’ details for designing the system were collected through semi-structured interviews and databases. Unified Modelling Language, Microsoft-Visual-Studio.Net, C#3.0, Microsoft-Jet-Engine4.0, MySQL, Loquendo Multilingual Text-to-Speech Software, YouTube, and VLC Media Player were used. Keywords: Complementary and Alternative Medicine, conservation, extinction, medicinal plant, multimedia, phytoconstituents, rural dweller

Hambatan Belajar Mahasiswa dalam Pembelajaran Jarak Jauh pada Mata Kuliah Geometri Analitik

Pembelajaran jarak jauh bukanlah hal yang baru untuk saat ini. Kondisi ini terjadi sudah lama, dan banyak digunakan karena dampak pandemi Covid 19. Hambatan belajar akibat pembelajaran jarak jauh dimungkinkan terjadi pada mahasiswa dalam perkuliahan Geometri Analitik. Hal ini terlihat dari rata-rata hasil belajar mahasiswa yang cukup rendah. Penelitian ini bermanfaat untuk memaparkan hambatan belajar yang terjadi selama pembelajaran jarak jauh. Subyek yang digunakan adalah mahasiswa prodi pendidikan matematika FIP UPH dengan 41 mahasiswa pada semester genap tahun ajaran 2021/2022. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian adalah deskriptif kualitatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa hambatan belajar yang muncul adalah karena kurangnya manajemen waktu, kurang fokus, rasa bosan, kondisi lingkungan, jaringan internet, keterbatasan wifi/kuota internet dan lainnya. Implikasi dari penelitian ini adalah agar dosen dapat menentukan model pembelajaran yang terbaik untuk pembelajaran selanjutnya

The role of trust in e-government adoption: A systematic literature review

Electronic government (e-government) is a concept that has been adopted in most countries for the purposes of providing government services digitally, improving transparency between government and citizens and enabling additional communication channels with the government. Although e-government readiness in most countries is at a high level, adoption of e-government services is still considered tentative. A critical review of the literature suggests that this may be linked to citizens’ trust in government and e-government. As such, there is a need to investigate the role of trust in e-government adoption. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was conducted in order to observe research design, methodologies and approaches adopted in these studies as well as limitations identified and recommendation for future studies. The findings highlight that quantitative techniques and survey research methods appear to have been much preferred over other available alternatives such as qualitative techniques and interview methods or mixed methods in studies relating to trust in e-government adoption

Higher Education Challenges in the Era of Covid-19, from the Perspective of Educators and Students (Ghana, Georgia and Pakistan Cases) – A literature Review

For the last three years, the entire world has faced a colossal phenomenon - the covid-19 pandemic. All sectors and areas of life have been affected, forcing rapid and radical changes towards adaptation in its wake. Inevitably, the unexpected pandemic’s mark and impact on education is more severe and longer lasting than imagined. It disrupted education provision at an unprecedented scale. This article is intended as a review of literature on the experience of different countries and education systems during the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on the analysis of the existing literature and research on this issue, from the perspective of educators and students, including the experience of different countries around the world, the pandemic has had a great impact on higher education and pushed it to digital transformation, implicitly overcoming important challenges. The review uses particular examples of higher education in the era of Covid-19 in Georgia, Ghana and Pakistan, exposing measures taken to continue educating in spite of the pandemic. However challenging this phenomenon proved to be, it equally gave way to enormous opportunities for creativity within progress. Discussed are barriers that students and academics faced during online teaching-learning, the pros and cons of online teaching-learning, as well as the quality of teaching-learning and the state of preparedness for future education

Higher Education Challenges in the Era of COVID-19 from the Perspective of Educators and Students (Ghana, Georgia and Pakistan Cases): A Literature Review

For the last three years, the entire world has faced a colossal phenomenon due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All sectors and areas of life have been affected, which has forced rapid and radical changes towards adaptation in its wake. The unexpected pandemic’s mark and impact on education is more severe and longer lasting than imagined. It has evidently disrupted education provision at an unprecedented scale. This paper is a literature review that focuses on the experience of different countries and education systems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the analysis of the existing literature and research on this issue, from the perspective of educators and students, including the experience of different countries around the world, the pandemic has had a great impact on higher education. This has resulted to digital transformation, which implies overcoming many challenges. The review uses particular examples of higher education in the era of COVID-19 in Georgia, Ghana, and Pakistan. The measures taken to continue education in spite of the pandemic are also highlighted. Although this phenomenon proved to be challenging, it has initiated enormous opportunities for creativity within progress. This paper further discussed barriers that students and academics faced during online teaching-learning, the pros and cons of online teaching-learning, the quality of teaching-learning, and the state of preparedness for future education