Models of early adoption of ICT innovations in higher education

One of the common dilemmas faced by developers of information communication technology (ICT) initiatives is how to go about identifying potential early adopters of their service. This article outlines background research into this area and details the approaches taken within the JISC-funded Rights and Rewards in Blended Institutional Repositories Project to locate these key individuals within a Higher Education (HE) environment. The concept of an innovation is discussed and the differences between the terms innovation and invention are outlined. Models and frameworks for describing the process of introducing an innovation to an organisation are described. These suggest influential institutional factors, key characteristics of individuals, the innovation, and the organisation that affect the diffusion of an innovation. Together these features create the environment in which new innovations are explored

The Gender Gap In Technical Communication: How Women Challenge The Predominant Objectivist Paradigm

Women are currently underrepresented in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how this underrepresentation translates to a gender gap in the field of technical communication and how this gap causes women to challenge the predominant objectivist paradigm in the field. Through an investigation of peer-reviewed journal articles, periodicals, critical theory, and articles published in online magazines such as Slate, I identify the gendered nature of modern technology and discuss to what extent a shift in the predominant paradigm has occurred in the professional arena. In looking at several theoretical approaches and contemporary examples, I conclude that a significant paradigm shift has not in fact occurred due to an underlying, culturally promoted sexism. Additionally, I conclude that neither new approaches in the technical communication classroom, nor attempts to increasingly include women in the technological fields will result in a significant paradigm change by themselves. I also point to a need for further meaningful research in how sexism influences the professional world as well as a more thorough conversation regarding a fundamental shift in workplace relations between the genders

Collaborative information sharing in complex and extended organizations

Organizational forms are changing and developing. The new forms of organizations include networked and hybrid organizations forms which have interdependencies and use technological applications in their operations. These organizations are extended and complex in terms of relationships, operations and boundary crossing. Whilst literatures on information behaviours exist in different work contexts, there is little or no reference to information sharing in these new complex and extended settings, leaving the area under studied. This study, therefore, set out to explore how complexity and extension influence collaborative information sharing and how complex and extended organizations respond to deficiencies in information sharing. The study used a qualitative research methodology on a single case study organization including 46 semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis from 4 different sets of participants within the case study organization as well as the extended stakeholder community that it works with. This was a non-probability sample based on convenience. Activity Theory was used as a framing tool and lens in guiding the choice of sample as well as analysis, as the approach allows the consideration of transient and cross boundary multiple relationships. Fourth generation activity theory was used as a complementary approach to third generation activity theory; giving a level of insight in terms of the activity systems, shared object, and tensions and contradictions as drivers of information sharing failures. The findings suggest failures in the sharing of information are linked with, in part at least, the increase in complexity caused by organizational extension. This study reports the use of specialised teams and groups (with a complementary nature) as ways of responding to and managing such information sharing failures. Key among the reactions observed was the formation of knots; among these were some whose characteristics are qualitatively different to those discussed and described in extant literature. These knots mitigate the deficiencies in the setting but behave in a different way from knots in other settings studied in the literature. The knots reported are motivated and shaped by the extended specialised nature of the setting and serve as a way of filling the expertise need which cuts across organizational boundaries. The key differences observed are in the crafting process of developing membership, and the speed of formation of such knots. This study has value for both theory and practice; having implications for the use of tools, rules and roles and policy in decision making and guiding practice in responding to information sharing failures in these new, complex and extended, organizational forms

Role of information and communication technology (ICT): Women's empowerment in rural Bangladesh

Rural women in Bangladesh have limited access to resources and public spheres (e.g., educational, health, law and human rights institutions, and many public services) due to socio-cultural restrictions. Women also suffer severe discrimination, thought to be due to lack of access to information. Information and communication technologies (ICT) can reach rural women and have the potential to address knowledge and information needs. The aim of this research was to examine the situation of rural women in Bangladesh in using ICT provided by Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), and investigated whether empowerment was enabled or enhanced through ICT intervention. Since empowerment is a complex phenomenon to measure a model – Women’s Empowerment Measurement through ICT (WEM-ICT) – was developed to take into consideration the socio-cultural norms and context of rural Bangladesh. Using a structured questionnaire based on the model, data was collected from both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in two villages where different ICT projects have been introduced. A second data set was collected two years later using the same instrument for longitudinal as well as new participants. This research explored the impact of ICT intervention in women’s lives in the micro (individual or domestic), meso (village or community) and macro (global, national or regional) environments through an investigation of material, cognitive, perceptual, relational and technological dimensions. Since it is important to make women aware of the benefit of their empowerment through information and knowledge sharing, this research focused on the information gap and suggested possible ways to reduce the gap at the implementation level. The results indicated that the context of the villages, culture, awareness, maturity and engagement affected the empowerment process. ICT intervention impacted positively on many empowerment factors in both villages but other factors did not change due to cultural and traditional aspects of rural Bangladesh. This thesis concludes that consideration of the socio-cultural context at the policy level of ICT intervention for women’s empowerment is a key element for the success of an ICT intervention