An ecological model to understand the variety in undergraduate students’ personal information systems

A first-year undergraduate course in Information Systems in a South African university includes an opportunity for students to reflect on their own use of information and personal information systems. Their reflections provide data about the technologies and tools that they use to find and manage everyday life information, as well as academic information, and about the sources of information they draw on. This paper analyses data collected over three years and reports on the dominant technologies and information sources that students use. We then adapt the ecological model of information seeking and use developed by Williamson (1998) to make sense of the diversity of information sources and students’ choices in engaging with them. The results show that students rely to a very small degree on traditional university information sources. The study offers insights into the information contexts and behaviour of students and argues for the importance of a flexible range of information sources to support students in the complex process of managing information for academic success. The results will be of interest to those involved in designing and delivering undergraduate programmes, as well as those providing information services and infrastructures

Addressing trust, security and privacy concerns in e-government integration, interoperability and information sharing through policy: a case of South Africa

Technology enabled government promises to deliver better services and hence facilitate better lives for citizens. However such e-government cannot be implemented without trust between government and citizens and between government departments. Concerns over information security and privacy have become a contentious issue for governments and stand in the way of that trust. Policy and legislation are two mechanisms that governments have to implement to address these concerns. The purpose of this study was therefore to identify and review policy and legislative measures implemented by the South African government to address information security and privacy as well as e-government information sharing, integration and interoperability. The study is an interpretive case study using documentary evidence and a review of literature as data collection methods. The study found that South Africa has implemented a number of policy and legislative measures aimed at addressing these concerns. The study concluded that some of these measures are compromised by poor implementation, poor coordination in government, poor state of governance, conflicting legislation and policy and poor compliance

Patterns of practice in South African doctoral education: an empirical study

In South Africa, doctoral education is usually organised in a traditional supervision model, but the practice of supervision differs across academic units and supervisors. In her comparison of PhD experiences in British universities, Chiang identified two research training structures, namely teamwork and individualist. These different structures affected the research environment, the relationships between supervisor and supervisee, and the experience of doctoral study. Can such differences be observed in South African universities? In a qualitative study of four academic units from different disciplines, four patterns of practice were detected in the ways in which doctoral supervision and research activities were organised. This article characterises these patterns of practice and discusses their impact on the doctoral experience

Doctoral education in South Africa: models, pedagogies and student experiences

Thesis (Ph.D.), Faculty of Humanities, School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009People who hold doctoral degrees are considered valuable national resources able to produce knowledge to address pressing problems, and important sources of labour for the higher education sector. However, in 2006, only 1100 people graduated with doctoral degrees in South Africa. This limits the potential for research and improvements in higher education. In addition, 618 of those graduates were white, making it difficult to address equity concerns. Within the higher education sector there are debates about how to increase enrolments in doctoral education and the best way to run PhD programmes for effective learning, high quality research results and for efficiency. But there is little South African-based empirical research into what makes people undertake PhDs, how the programmes work and what learning and knowledge result. This study explores how different stakeholders – national and institutional policymakers, academic staff and doctoral people – understand the PhD; how these understandings influence the practice of doctoral education; and how different practices affect the PhD experience and the learning and knowledge produced. The primary research question I address is: “How do existing models and pedagogies of doctoral programmes shape the learning of doctoral people and the outcomes of doctoral programmes in South Africa?” The origins of the Doctor of Philosophy degree are often traced back to the nineteenth century reforms of German universities when the idea emerged that all scholars should be actively involved in research. But this is a simplistic view. By examining the evolution of the PhD in greater depth, it becomes clear that it has undergone continuous change and has always served both the high-minded pursuit of knowledge and the more prosaic pursuit of skills for employment. The literature reflects ongoing tension between the scholarly view of the PhD as knowledge generation by an emerging scholar, and the labour market view of the PhD as developing high-level research skills. In the South African context both of these views can be observed, but I also identified a view of the PhD as ongoing personal development through an engagement with knowledge. The three views of the PhD are underpinned by different discourses which inform the practice of doctoral education. In South Africa, the traditional model of individual supervision dominates, and it varies by discipline, department and supervisor. But patterns of practice can be discerned and I identify four of these and discuss how supervisors construct their individual supervision practice. Doctoral education is also a function of the people who do PhDs. Much of the research undertaken in the overdeveloped world focuses on younger people who are starting out on academic careers. However, in South Africa, many people doing PhDs are older and midway through careers which are often not academic. This leads me to propose a model of intersecting contexts, as an alternative to McAlpine and Norton‟s nested context model of doctoral education, which more accurately reflects the local situation. I discuss the PhD experience and make use of the intersecting contexts model to develop the notion of congruence between the PhD, the contexts and the PhD person with more positive experiences being related to higher degrees of congruence. Finally, I consider how the outcomes of doctoral education, the learning and knowledge which result, relate to the expectations of the different stakeholders. The research took the form of a qualitative study with a multiple case-study design employing theoretical replication. I examined doctoral education in four academic units at three South African universities with the units selected to represent different disciplines. All four units were in previously advantaged universities from the English-speaking tradition and all were successfully producing PhD graduates. These rich pictures of how doctoral education takes place contribute empirical evidence to current debates about the PhD in South Africa. At a conceptual level I identify the competing discourses about what a PhD is. I provide a more nuanced understanding of the practice of doctoral education within the overarching model of individual supervision. The intersecting contexts model provides a way to understand the expectations and circumstances of doctoral people and the notion of congruence illuminates their varied experiences. Finally, the study confirms that the outcomes of doctoral education, in terms of learning and knowledge generated, meet at least some of the expectations of policy-makers, supervisors and people who do PhDs

Towards a shared understanding of emerging technologies: Experiences in a collaborative research project in South Africa

While the practice of using educational technologies in Higher Education is increasingly common among educators, there is a paucity of research on innovative uses of emerging technologies to transform teaching and learning. This paper draws on data collected as part of a larger study aimed at investigating emerging technologies and their use in South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to improve teaching and learning. The research employed a mixed method research design, using both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods—quantitative data from a survey of 262 respondents from 22 public HEIs in South Africa and qualitative data gathered from 16 experts/practitioners on their self-reflective definition of the term “emerging technologies.” The paper concludes that levels of institutional development, access to resources, discipline, group belonging and individual motivation of respondents influenced the way they defined emerging technologies including what constituted an innovative use of technology, foregrounding the contextuality of emerging technologies.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Patterns of practice in South African doctoral education: an empirical study

In South Africa, doctoral education is usually organised in a traditional supervision model, but the practice of supervision differs across academic units and supervisors. In her comparison of PhD experiences in British universities, Chiang identified two research training structures, namely teamwork and individualist. These different structures affected the research environment, the relationships between supervisor and supervisee, and the experience of doctoral study. Can such differences be observed in South African universities? In a qualitative study of four academic units from different disciplines, four patterns of practice were detected in the ways in which doctoral supervision and research activities were organised. This article characterises these patterns of practice and discusses their impact on the doctoral experience

Doctoral discourses in South Africa

In the South African context, three doctoral discourses are heard, each with their own assumptions about the purpose of doctoral education and the kinds of people who undertake doctoral study, and with their own implications for the practice of doctoral education. Two of the three discourses are familiar and well documented in the local and international literature. The third is an emerging discourse identified in the course of a qualitative study of four doctoral programmes at three South African universities. This paper unpacks these discourses, examining tensions that arise between them. I argue that all three discourses contribute useful perspectives to our national understanding of doctoral education, and I discuss some implications for the practice and research of doctoral education

Doctoral discourses in South Africa

In the South African context, three doctoral discourses are heard, each with their own assumptions about the purpose of doctoral education and the kinds of people who undertake doctoral study, and with their own implications for the practice of doctoral education. Two of the three discourses are familiar and well documented in the local and international literature. The third is an emerging discourse identified in the course of a qualitative study of four doctoral programmes at three South African universities. This paper unpacks these discourses, examining tensions that arise between them. I argue that all three discourses contribute useful perspectives to our national understanding of doctoral education, and I discuss some implications for the practice and research of doctoral education

Towards a “Smart Society” Through a Connected and Smart Citizenry in South Africa: A Review of the National Broadband Strategy and Policy

Part 4: Smart InnovationsInternational audienceBroadband has been recognised as an enabling technology in connecting government and citizens in transitioning towards a smart society. However, governments, especially in developing countries, continue to face challenges in their bid to connect citizens. This study provides an understanding of how institutional pressures have influenced policy implementation to advance the “smart agenda” in a developing country context, using South Africa as an exemplary case study. The study is an interpretive qualitative case study, using documentary evidence as data. Institutional theory is used as a lens for interrogating the issues confronting government in implementing “smart” initiatives. We conclude that policy alone is not sufficient if not supported by a strong implementation plan and other supporting institutional mechanisms such as leadership to coordinate, and direct resources and activities in the institution

“They can’t even agree!” Student conversations about their supervisors in constructing understandings of the PhD

This paper examines conversations among doctoral students about their supervision experiences. It is a foray into their spare time, when they reflect through conversations, on encounters with their supervisors. While these conversations are usually stimulated by gossip around lifestyles, entertainment and frustration, they represent useful generative spaces for negotiating meaning around the complexities of doctoral supervision. We argue that, if student conversations are stimulated as critical spaces for engagement, where shared meaning about supervision experiences is discussed, they can promote effective student/supervisor interaction and enhance learning. This is to generate a debate that can turn student contestation over doctoral supervision into generative and productive mechanism for understanding the nature of such supervision. The data was collected using ethnographic strategies in the form of notes recorded by students at Wits and UJ