Achieving inclusive and transformative ICT education practices in rural schools in marginalized communities

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can do more than benefit teaching and learning in rural schools; it can also be a catalytic and transformative tool that induces knowledge reformation and production amongst learners in an informed society. In this paper our focus is on how ICT education practices in rural schools in marginalized communities can be transformed to develop knowledge that is transformative, empowering, and emancipatory in order for learners to pursue a vision of a good life in a desirable society. The study employs critical research to acquire deeper meanings and insights from in-class teaching events and observations at Alabama High School (a pseudo name) in Eastern Cape of South Africa. Through our critical reflective, the research confirms that current ICT education and curricula practices in rural marginalized schools have failed to develop transformative knowledge that makes rural schools sites of possibility for learners to become active in society from a position of empowerment. Developing transformative ICT educational experiences in rural schools could face challenges in the context of dominant educational practices and structures that in essence also need transformation. Transformative ICT education practices in this study suggest transforming learners’ learning experiences such that the learners question or reframe their assumptions, knowledge, and education experiences in relation to their community life. In this paper we argue that more effective transformative ICT education in rural schools requires a sufficiently longitudinal perspective and action that takes into account the general impact of ideas on education practices in relation to school and community needs

Focus groups and critical social IS research: How the choice of method can promote emancipation of respondents and researchers

Critical social research in information systems has been gaining prominence for some time and is increasingly viewed as a valid research approach. One problem of the critical tradition is that there is a lack of empirical research. A contributing factor to this gap in the literature is the lack of agreement on what constitutes appropriate methodologies for critical research. The present paper contributes to this debate by outlining the role that focus group research can play in the critical approach. The paper outlines the main characteristics of critical research with an emphasis on its emancipatory faculties. It then goes on to review the focus group method in general and gives an account of two research projects that used focus groups as a method of data collection. It is argued that focus groups can contribute to emancipation of researchers as well as respondents. This argument is built upon the critical theories of the two most prominent theorists currently relied upon in critical social IS research, namely Jürgen Habermas and Michel Foucault. Focus groups can improve communication and move real discourses closer to the Habermas\u27s ideas speech situation. At the same time, they can contribute to the challenging of prevailing orthodoxy and thereby overcome established regimes of truth in the Foucauldian tradition. The paper ends with a critical reflection of the shortcomings of focus groups as a critical method and of the specific approach chosen in this paper

POWER DYNAMICS AS EMBEDDED IN THE ENACTMENT OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE PRACTICES

Intelligent technologies require special attention due to their increasing presence and performative influence both in everyday and organisational life. We aim at developing greater insights into how power relations shape the development and use of intelligent technologies. Combined with a ‘performative’ process view, our research follows a material-discursive view of power by drawing on Michel Foucault’s work to emphasise the positive effects of power. We show how technological change initiatives are shaped through complex mechanisms by which discourses constrain as much as enable what actors can say and do. We highlight the push-pull dynamic which lies in iterative and recursive acts of power and resistance involving a range of actors who collectively, albeit inadvertently, change the meanings technological change outcomes perform. Finally, we show that technological initiatives that might initially seem to fail can ‘take off’ through persistent and positive power effects

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul: Surrendering Privacy for Security’s Sake in an Identity Ecosystem

Despite individuals’ and organizations’ best efforts, many significant information security threats exist. To alleviate these threats, researchers and policy makers have proposed new digital environments called identity ecosystems. These ecosystems would provide protection against attackers in that a third party intermediary would need to authenticate users of the ecosystem. While the additional security may help alleviate security threats, significant concern exists regarding ecosystem users’ privacy. For example, the possibility of targeted attacks against the centralized identity repository, potential mismanagement of the verified credentials of millions of users, and the threat of activity monitoring and surveillance become serious privacy considerations. Thus, individuals must be willing to surrender personal privacy to a known intermediary to obtain the additional levels of protection that the proposed ecosystems suggest. We investigate the reasons why individuals would use a future identity ecosystem that exhibits such a privacy-security tradeoff. Specifically, we adopted a mixed-methods approach to elicit and assess the major factors associated with such decisions. We show that 1) intrapersonal characteristics, 2) perceptions of the controlling agent, and 3) perceptions of the system are key categories for driving intentions to use ecosystems. We found that trustworthiness of the controlling agent, perceived inconvenience, system efficacy, behavioral-based inertia, censorship attitude, and previous similar experience significantly explained variance in intentions. Interestingly, general privacy concerns failed to exhibit significant relationships with intentions in any of our use contexts. We discuss what these findings mean for research and practice and provide guidance for future research that investigates identity ecosystems and the AIS Bright ICT Initiative

Envisioning technology through discourse: a case study of biometrics in the National Identity Scheme in the United Kingdom

Around the globe, governments are pursuing policies that depend on information technology (IT). The United Kingdom’s National Identity Scheme was a government proposal for a national identity system, based on biometrics. These proposals for biometrics provide us with an opportunity to explore the diverse and shifting discourses that accompany the attempted diffusion of a controversial IT innovation. This thesis offers a longitudinal case study of these visionary discourses. I begin with a critical review of the literature on biometrics, drawing attention to the lack of in-depth studies that explore the discursive and organizational dynamics accompanying their implementation on a national scale. I then devise a theoretical framework to study these speculative and future-directed discourses based on concepts and ideas from organizing visions theory, the sociology of expectations, and critical approaches to studying the public’s understanding of technology. A methodological discussion ensues in which I explain my research approach and methods for data collection and analysis, including techniques for critical discourse analysis. After briefly introducing the case study, I proceed to the two-part analysis. First is an analysis of government actors’ discourses on biometrics, revolving around formal policy communications; second is an analysis of media discourses and parliamentary debates around certain critical moments for biometrics in the Scheme. The analysis reveals how the uncertain concept of biometrics provided a strategic rhetorical device whereby government spokespeople were able to offer a flexible yet incomplete vision for the technology. I contend that, despite being distinctive and offering some practical value to the proposals for national identity cards, the government’s discourses on biometrics remained insufficiently intelligible, uninformative, and implausible. The concluding discussion explains the unraveling visions for biometrics in the case, offers a theoretical contribution based on the case analysis, and provides insights about discourses on the ‘publics’ of new technology such as biometrics

Identificación de factores de éxito en centros de acceso público a TIC en Bogotá

El presente documento presenta la síntesis de la identificación de factores de éxito en Centros de Acceso Público (CAP) a TIC (Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones) en la ciudad de Bogotá. Se parte de la importancia que representa el acceso y uso de las TIC en las personas para diversas dimensiones de su vida, soportado en documentos académicos de investigación e informes de organizaciones gubernamentales y no gubernamentales. Se hizo uso de la multimetodología para llevar a cabo la investigación, usando como soporte conceptual el Marco ACE (Acceso, Capacidades y Entorno). Se realizó una encuesta a más de 1.700 estudiantes de un programa de fortalecimiento académico para graduados de educación media de colegios públicos distritales para caracterizar las condiciones de acceso y uso de las TIC en los individuos y sus percepciones sobre los Centros de Acceso Público. Se realizó una entrevista a una persona experta en telecentros a nivel nacional. Adicionalmente se realizaron visitas a bibliotecas y cibercafés con el fin de observar las condiciones de uso de las TIC y poder obtener información de operarios y usuarios. Como resultados, se ha hecho una caracterización de las condiciones de acceso y uso de TIC en estudiantes, agrupando así diversas categorías. Se han encontrado elementos que diferencian el desarrollo de los CAP dependiendo de sus categorías, resaltando la ventaja coyuntural que presentan las bibliotecas públicas, pese a la presencia mayoritaria y constante de los cibercafés. Finalmente, se han identificado cuatro factores de éxito; sostenibilidad, inclusión a usuarios y a la comunidad, oferta amplia de servicios y trabajo en red.Abstract. This document presents the synthesis of the identification of success factors of ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) Public Access Venues (CAP) in Bogotá. It is part of the importance that access and use of ICT represent to people for various aspects of life, supported in academic research papers and reports from government and NGOs. We used multimethodology to conduct research, using ACE Framework (Access, Capacity and Environment) as conceptual support. We surveyed more than 1,700 students from an academic strengthening program for high school graduates of district public schools to characterize the conditions of access and use of ICT in individuals and their perceptions of Public Access Centers. We interviewed an expert in telecentres nationwide. Additionally we made visits to libraries and cybercafes to verify the use conditions of ICT and some operators and users information. As a result, we made a characterization of the conditions of access and use of ICT by students, grouping various categories. We found elements that differentiate the CAPMaestrí

An Investigation of Factors Affecting the Adoption of E-payment System in Libya

Electronic payment systems (EPS) have received considerable attention from researchers and business owners worldwide, because of their potential to support economic development and growth. Despite the significant contribution of the growth in EPS to the ability to complete transactions via the Internet, Libya lags significantly behind developed countries in its adoption of EPS. This research focuses on factors affecting EPS adoption and use in Libya, explaining how they positively or negatively affect Libyan customers and organisations‟ willingness to adopt EPS. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders, including consumers, organisational staff (e.g. Telecommunications Companies, Banks, the Ministry of Telecommunication and Informatics, etc.), and strategic decision-makers (e.g. the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Communications, Director of Islamic Banking at Bank of Republic). The research implements Grounded Theory methods (GT), in particular the Straussian approach, to analyse, explore, and investigate the socio-organisational, technical, political, and economic factors affecting the adoption of EPS in Libya, and importantly the relationship between these factors. It discusses the impact of the factors identified, from both organisational and consumer perspectives, highlighting the factors and issues that need to be overcome to support successful adoption of EPS. The findings confirm that, for consumers and organisations alike, economic factors (e.g. perceived benefits, cooperation with existing entities, mutuality of stakeholders, Internet costs, standard of living, marketing businesses, awareness, withdrawal control, XX feasibility studies on EPS implementation, Islamic banking services and competition) are the core factors influencing the system‟s adoption. Furthermore, the findings revealed three new and significant factors of relevance to Libya, including standard of living, post coding and the unstable political situation in the country. These represent a unique contribution to the body of knowledge, illustrating the attitude of the Libyan people toward Internet usage, and current obstacles to EPS adoption. The use of substantive GT, in particular the Straussian approach, for data collection and data analysis in the field of EPS adoption, and the assessment of organisational and consumer attitudes, is unique to this research to the best of the researcher‟s knowledge. Thus, the research embodies a substantial contribution to the body of knowledge. The interpretive analysis of data using a Straussian approach has permitted the researcher to attain a deep understanding of the socio-organisational, economic, political, and technical factors affecting adoption of an E-payment system in Libya, as implemented by different stakeholders: Consumers, and Organisational. The benefits that the adoption of EPS in Libya will bring, include facilitation of online transactions, the availability of more secure websites, easier payment and access to the global markets. Furthermore, detailed recommendations are also being offered to assist decision-makers in the development and introduction of EPS in Libya, i.e. including the Communications and Informatics Ministry, which is hoped will advise internet service providers and companies to discount the cost of using the internet for limited bandwidths, in order to insure everyone access to the internet, and EPS

Technological-Integration Challenges – The Case of Digital-Technology Companies

This research examines the technology-related integration challenges to acquisitions in digital industries and how these challenges can be managed. Historically, companies seeking to increase markets, products or customers have utilized the strategic growth process of mergers and acquisitions. Their motivation was primarily to utilize economies of scale and operational synergies to integrate acquisition targets that were similar in product, market, and customer demographics. The aim of these acquisitions was to scale the acquisition products to its own markets and customers while potentially gaining new markets and customers in the process. For companies in the digital-technology industry, the path to growth in these fast-paced markets is through the acquisition of innovation-based technologies from new and emerging companies to complement their current R&D strategies. The incumbent enterprises look for emerging technology companies as acquisition targets in order to stay ahead of the increasingly fast technology-development lifecycle. The acquisition and integration process for these types of companies present challenges to practitioners that are very different from what has been experienced in the past and will present new research opportunities for scholars researching the related domains

The design of 'possible worlds' as a contribution to the unfinished project of modernity: development of a reference architecture to support the decision-making processes of community-driven sustainable human development initiatives

This dissertation’s central ambitions are to point out and illustrate how design-oriented information systems research (ISR) can be utilized for critical and emancipatory (C&E) purposes as well as—although to a lesser extent—to offer a considerably different perspective on how ISR can contribute to the sustainable development (SD) research agenda. Research programs intending to remove entrenched inequalities by changing the status quo exhibit a C&E orientation. A design-oriented methodology tends to be predestinated as underpinning for such endeavors because of its explicitly stated aim of change. The omnipresent SD discussion, at least in its original conceptualization, is one of the most prominent areas where design-oriented research programs with C&E features are urgently needed. In particular, design science research in information systems (DSRIS), the design-oriented research program in ISR, is considered to be a vital ingredient: the design of appropriate technical systems is gaining in importance, because the complexity and dynamics of SD issues exceed human problem-solving capabilities. However, SD concerns cannot be addressed by isolated technical artifacts; technical systems have to be aligned with the social systems in which they are embedded. This broader endeavor is called the design of socio-technical systems. In comparison to research under this heading, DSRIS rarely strives for C&E goals. This curious situation can be traced back to the methodological suggestions given in the hope that they bridge the ‘relevance-rigor gap’: relevant research has to be carried out in response to problems articulated in practice and results have to be rigorously evaluated in practical settings to demonstrate their efficacy to solve the explicated issues. Besides the inherent challenges of both these prescriptions, from the stance of C&E research, it seems implausible that powerful actors would grant access to a setting and support projects that challenge their positions. Hence, the postulated aim of change is merely an euphemism for endeavors that reinforce and solidify the status quo—they, due to the lack of empowering potential, can solely further what Habermas termed the ‘colonization of the lifeworld’. The method for the design of ‘possible worlds’ proposed in the present inquiry not only helps to overcome this limitation, but it simultaneously integrates DSRIS more clearly with the overarching undertaking of devising socio-technical systems. Against this background, a designed `possible world’, seen from an explicated value position, is a more desirable, theoretically possible alternative to factual existing contexts in a particular domain. It functions as ‘crash barrier’ for the design of social systems and it can at the same time be leveraged as domain model from which it is possible to elicit requirements for the construction of a reference architecture that describes technical systems backing the processes of and within the ‘possible world’. However, in addition to the method’s development, the Ph.D. dissertation also illustrates the former’s application by designing a reference architecture for systems that support the decision-making processes of community-driven sustainable human development initiatives; one at least theoretically possible concretization of SD. As such, the inquiry makes three research contributions: its primary focus is a constructive extension of the disciplinary body of knowledge through the methodical guidance for C&E DSRIS; however, the reflection of SD as part of the exemplary application is also a critique of the way SD issues are currently tackled and of how they are integrated into the ISR canon. To realize these aims the study proceeds as follows: based on a critical reflection of the philosophical underpinnings of DSRIS, it explicates different routes to bridge the relevance-rigor gap. One of these avenues then serves as starting point for the construction of a method that specifically addresses the peculiarities of C&E DSRIS. The core derivation from the traditional conceptualization of design-oriented ISR lies within the sketch of a desirable, hypothetical alternative of factually existing social systems, which, through the contrasting with the latter, allows to carve out intervention entry points, i.e., aspects in which the ‘factual world’ has to change to become more like the ‘possible world’. To justify the claim that this transition, manifesting itself in the determined intervention entry points, is at least theoretically possible and not utopian, the ‘realist synthesis’ as a technique for the gathering of justificatory evidence from the existing body of knowledge is presented. Rooting endeavors of DSRIS in the scientific knowledge base is an important move to free them from being confined to those problems that are articulated by powerful gatekeepers in practical settings. However, for the design of ‘possible worlds’ to bear fruit in ISR, this step needs to be complemented. Therefore, the synthesis is adapted to also permit the extraction of, from the perspective of the underpinning normative stance, suitable ‘draft meanings’, because these progressive (social) structures or organizational options resulting from interventions provide the basis for the design of reference architectures that are aligned with the ‘possible world’. To illustrate this, from an ISR perspective, fundamental usage scenario, the inquiry, based on a devised preliminary reference architecture development approach, carries out the afore-mentioned exemplary application of the method for the design of ‘possible worlds’