The internet, E-commerce and older people: an actor-network approach to researching reasons for adoption and use

Many older people are discovering the Internet, and some are also making good use of electronic commerce and all that goes with it. Others, however, are not adopting these technologies. This paper questions why some older people adopt Internet technologies while others do not, and offers a research framework, based on actor-network theory, for investigating adoption of Internet technologies by older people. In this paper, innovation translation is used to illustrate how specific cases of adoption have occurred. Innovation translation presents a different view of innovation than the better known theory of innovation diffusion, but one that the authors argue is better suited for research in socio-technical situations like this

Ultranet as a Future Social Network: An Actor-Network Analysis

Community development is seen as an increasingly important role for government and the potential of Web 2.0 tools to aid in community development seems obvious. An experimental technology relating to e-government is being introduced by the State Government of Victoria, Australia. This involves a closed social network called the Ultranet which is intended to support communities of parents, teachers and students in State schools. As the Ultranet has only recently come into operation, this paper cannot present an analysis of its operation, only a theoretical investigation of its possibilities. In the paper the Ultranet is seen as an innovation, and handled accordingly. An ActorNetwork approach is proposed as a potential analytical lens for researching the Ultranet, its application and its social impact. The paper also proposed use of actornetwork theory to identify how the Ultranet might be shaped by future use, and how it could be used to identify problematisations of this new network and the actors that it seeks to involve and hence to identify potential translations of the innovation. Analysis of these potential translations allows the creation of a theoretical framework that permits a sensible review of the introduction of the Ultranet. The framework allows for the possible production of communities of practice amongst teachers, a „door‟ for parental involvement as opposed to the „windows‟ currently common in education, with an ideal that involves a Web 2.0 supported community where all parties (students, teachers, resources provided by the Departments of Education, parents and the local community) contribute. The paper suggests that perhaps this is the future of safe, secure social networking for schools

The Australian educational computer that never was

Computers are now commonly used in Australian schools, as in most developed countries. In the early 1980s, a multitude of incompatible microcomputers sought to enter the education market, presenting a significant problem in terms of technical support and teacher professional development. To address this, Australia investigated designing and building its own educational computer. This article tells the story of how Australia's educational computer was designed but never actually built

Curriculum history of business computing in Victorian tertiary institutions from 1960-1985

Fifty years ago there were no stored-program electronic computers in the world. Even thirty years ago a computer was something that few organisations could afford, and few people could use. Suddenly, in the 1960s and 70s, everything changed and computers began to become accessible. Today* the need for education in Business Computing is generally acknowledged, with each of Victoria\u27s seven universities offering courses of this type. What happened to promote the extremely rapid adoption of such courses is the subject of this thesis. I will argue that although Computer Science began in Australia\u27s universities of the 1950s, courses in Business Computing commenced in the 1960s due to the requirement of the Commonwealth Government for computing professionals to fulfil its growing administrative needs. The Commonwealth developed Programmer-in-Training courses were later devolved to the new Colleges of Advanced Education. The movement of several key figures from the Commonwealth Public Service to take up positions in Victorian CAEs was significant, and the courses they subsequently developed became the model for many future courses in Business Computing. The reluctance of the universities to become involved in what they saw as little more than vocational training, opened the way for the CAEs to develop this curriculum area

The Australian Educational Computer That Never Was

Abstract In Australia, as in most developed countries, computers are now commonly used in schools. In almost all cases, schools will use either a Windows PC or an Apple Macintosh. This was not the case in the early 1980s however when microcomputers first began to appear in schools. At that stage, before the appearance of either the PC or the Macintosh, there was a multitude of incompatible microcomputers seeking to enter the education market. This presented a significant problem to education authorities: how were all these types and makes of computer to be supported with professional development for teachers and with suitable educational software? There were just not the funds to support such a large range of computer systems, and the choices available to schools needed to be reduced. The first step to addressing this problem was for each State Education Department to recommend only those computers that it would support. Later, for both educational and industrial reasons, Australia investigated designing and building its own educational computer: all schools would then be encouraged to use just this machine, making support very much easier and more efficient. I had a direct involvement in much of this project. This article tells the story of why and how this happened, and how Australia's educational computer was designed but never actually built

A framework for investigating blended learning effectiveness

Purpose – The move towards “blended learning”, consisting of a combination of online and face-to-face teaching, continues to gain pace in universities around the world. It is important, however, to question the quality of this learning. The OECD has made use of a model of “Readiness, Intensity and Impact” for investigating the adoption and use of eBusiness technologies. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework, based on this model and adapted for blended learning, to assess the readiness, intensity of adoption and impact on blended learning offerings. The framework is tested via a description of how one university has adopted and used blended learning, and investigates the quality of the learning from this approach. Design/methodology/approach – The framework is tested via a case study involving the assessment of a blended learning approach to the delivery of a first-year undergraduate accounting unit at Victoria University, Australia. Various approaches to delivery are assessed over a two-year period. The results are drawn from a survey specifically designed to identify students’ attitudes towards blended learning. Findings – Despite having three new online options readily available for students to access, there was strong support for face-to-face delivery methods. In relation to the framework, the assessment suggested that certain aspects of the university's blended learning approach could be investigated further (particularly student readiness for different blended learning options and an overall assessment of the impact of a blended approach), to provide a more holistic view of the readiness to adopt and impact of the blended learning offerings. Originality/value – The value of this contribution lies in the development of a unique framework to assess the impact of blended learning approaches from the viewpoint of student readiness and intensity of separate delivery approaches – whilst maintaining the need to evaluate the effectiveness of blended learning as an overall package. </jats:sec