The Contribution of Digital Technologies to Service Delivery: An Evidence Review

The explosion in digital connectivity, globalisation and the rapid growth in digital technologies over the last two decades has revolutionised the way that businesses perform and compete globally. Governments around the world have been put under strong pressure to transform themselves into electronic governments, in recognition of the efficiencies brought about by the appropriate use of information communication technologies (ICTs) in businesses and the need for development. The aim has been to maximise the state’s capacity to serve its stakeholders: namely citizens, business, employees and other government and non-government agencies. E-government or digital government has been a significant feature of public sector reform in recent years in both developed and developing countries with a substantial amount of resources dedicated to the development of necessary systems and infrastructure. Yet the transformational potential of digital for development risks not being replicated in the real world. Large-scale and sustainable use of ICTs for education is not yet being realised in developing countries, despite the fact that digital technologies have the potential to reduce costs and strengthen education systems. In the field of health care, mHealth systems are reaching significant scale in many developing countries but there is still a lack of concrete evidence with which to fully assess the economic impact of these technologies. This report explores and assesses the evidence for the impact and use of digital technologies in development, identifying cross-cutting themes that are important for use, implementation and scale-up. These include funding and infrastructure, policy commitments by government, skills and leadership.UK Department for International Developmen

ImpacT2 project: preliminary study 1: establishing the relationship between networked technology and attainment

This report explored teaching practices, beliefs and teaching styles and their influences on ICT use and implementation by pupils. Additional factors explored included the value of school and LEA policies and teacher competence in the use of ICT in classroom settings. ImpaCT2 was a major longitudinal study (1999-2002) involving 60 schools in England, its aims were to: identify the impact of networked technologies on the school and out-of-school environment; determine whether or not this impact affected the educational attainment of pupils aged 816 years (at Key Stages 2, 3, and 4); and provide information that would assist in the formation of national, local and school policies on the deployment of IC

The Effect of Technology-Rich School Environments on Academic Achievement and Attitudes of Urban School Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of technology-rich educational environments on student academic achievement and attitude. The primary independent variable was the type of school (technology-rich school (TRS) and traditional school (TS)). Additional independent variables included gender, ethnicity, and computer ownership. The dependent variables were: (1) student academic achievement (Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (4th-grade), Virginia\u27s Literacy Passport Test (6th-grade), and Tests of Achievement and Proficiency (11th-grade)) and (2) and student attitudes (questionnaire). The design examined the differences between TRS and TS (N = 1088). Compared were 4th-grade elementary school students attending a TRS (n = 47) and a TS (n = 42); 6th-grade middle school students attending a TRS (n = 337) and a TS (n = 244); and 11th-grade high school students attending a TRS (n = 248) and a TS (n = 170). An examination of pre-treatment academic achievement data indicated no significant differences between the treatment and comparison groups. Academic achievement findings indicated that: 4th-grade TRS students\u27 ITBS scores were higher than 4th-grade TS students (p = 0.0441) based on type of school and computer ownership; 6th-grade TRS students\u27 LPT scores were higher than 6th-grade TS students (p = 0.0071); 11th-grade TRS students\u27 TAP scores were higher than 11th-grade TS students (p = 0.0009), based on the interaction of type of school, gender, and ownership. Attitude findings indicated that: 6th-grade TRS students had higher attitude-toward-school scores (p = 0.0001) and composite-attitude scores (p = 0.0044); 6th-grade TRS students had higher attitude-toward-school scores (p = 0.0121), attitude-toward-technology (p = 0.0176), and composite-attitude scores (p = 0.0042) based on the interaction of type of school, gender, and computer ownership; 11th-grade TRS students had higher attitude-toward-school scores (p = 0.0116), attitude-toward-technology (p = 0.0095), and composite-attitude scores (p = 0.0047); and, 11th-grade students had higher attitude-toward-school scores (p = 0.0334) based on the interaction of type of school and gender. The overall findings indicated that TRS environments contribute to increased academic achievement of 4th-grade, 6th-grade, and 11th-grade students and contribute to positive student attitudes toward school, technology, and overall attitude for 6th-grade and 11th-grade students

Patient Satisfaction Management in Office Visits and Telehealth in Health Care Technology

Telehealth and remote medical treatments have begun to be more commonly used in healthcare systems. Researchers have theorized that providers\u27 abilities to treat patients are not directly tied to the proximity of the patient to the doctor, but by the identification and treatment of the patient\u27s symptoms. Although the treatment and cure rates are being established within individual health systems and professional medical associations, empirical research is lacking regarding patient satisfaction with this remote treatment situation. The purpose of this quantitative study was to address this gap by examining satisfaction ratings of patients between virtual provider visits and face-to-face provider visits. The Clinician & Group Survey developed by the Consumer Assessment of Health Care Providers and Systems (CAHPS), through the United States government department, Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, measured patient satisfaction. Data from health care patients in the United States (N=8854) were randomly selected from the CAHPS data set containing 457,418 encounters. Of this number, 4,427 unique patient encounters were with face-to-face health care visits and 4,427 unique patient encounters were with telehealth providers. The ANOVA results showed no significant differences in patient satisfaction management between the availability of providers to meet face-to-face with patients who met with providers in a telehealth setting. Possible social change implications are a shift from face-to-face visits to virtual visits structured in the need to shift all patients from the standard office visit system to the on-demand network opportunity that virtual telehealth and mobile commerce health care offers to allow the benefit of technology to assist these patients

A Multimedia Resource Manual to Facilitate English Language Instruction for Elementary Youth in Taiwan

The purpose of this project was to develop a multimedia resource manual to facilitate English language instmction for elementary youth in Taiwan. To accomplish this purpose, a review of current literature regarding multimedia technology in English language instmction for EFL/ESL learners was conducted. In addition, unit overviews, objectives oflesson plans, learning activities, teaching strategies, and instmctional materials were adapted and developed

The Effectiveness of Devising an ICT Program in Developing Efficiency Classroom Management of EFL Teachers' in Rural Basic Schools at Al-Karak Directorate-Jordan

The present study aims at determining the effectiveness of English language teachers in Rural Basic Schools at Al-Karak Directorate-Jordan, and suggesting a proposed program to develop the competence classroom management of teachers through a program of information and communication technology (ICT). The researcher used the analytical method for literature and previous studies related to the study and quasi-experimental method to measure the effectiveness of the proposed program in developing EFL Teachers' competence classroom management in Rural Basic Schools. The current study relied on the research tools: note card to measure the performance skills of English teachers pre and post measured, and communications technology. The results of the study demonstrate that there is a significant difference between the main scores of class management skill in the pre and post administrations of the treatment group favoring the post administrations, that there are significant differences between the mean scores of Checklist in the pre and post administrations of the treatment group on the Checklist favoring the post administrations. This led to the assertion that the program proposed by the researcher has a significant impact on the development of competence classroom management of the study group. Keywords: ICT(Information and Communication Technology), MOD (Ministry of     education, EFL( English as a Foreign Language), RBS (Rural Basic Schools

Interpreting and technology

Unlike other professions, the impact of information and communication technology on interpreting has been moderate so far. However, recent advances in the areas of remote, computer-assisted, and, most recently, machine interpreting, are gaining the interest of both researchers and practitioners. This volume aims at exploring key issues, approaches and challenges to the interplay of interpreting and technology, an area that is still underrepresented in the field of Interpreting Studies. The contributions to this volume cover topics in the area of computer-assisted and remote interpreting, both in the conference as well as in the court setting, and report on experimental studies