e-Governance: Supporting pragmatic direct deliberative action through online communities of interest

Authors often report on the limited success of e-Government initiatives in developing nations. Top down, national strategies are developed to target improved government services, but maintain hierarchical, citizen-state conceptions of governance through representative democracy. An alternative conception, direct deliberative democracy, frames the potential role of the internet in governance differently. Web based platforms might support locally animated deliberations, which target pragmatic outcomes, while the resulting social networks afford collective learning through connections across traditional boundaries. This paper presents an investigation of direct deliberative governance as it occurs in online 'communities of interest', and is based on research with such a community in southern Africa. We investigate contributions to the online governance process and develop an action typology distinguishing between degrees of 'agency freedom'. Network analytic techniques are then used to understand how acts of varying degree are expressed in terms of the structure of a social network. The aim, more broadly, is to understand how the environment shapes acts of direct deliberative governance, and, in turn, how the acts shape the evolution and effectiveness of the community. The preliminary results suggest design considerations for online governance communities, and highlight their role to not only provide deliberative space, but to mediate social network connections

A fresh, holistic, new and desperate need to understand climate change and tourism in southern Africa

No abstract

The Durban University Of Technology's Experiences Of Open Educational Resources

There seems to be growing confidence that the open education movement is set to reshape the higher education landscape. Perhaps the single most formidable challenge retarding the uptake of open education resources (OERs) is instructors' lack of knowledge and experience of these materials. This descriptive case study examines the experiences Durban University of Technology (DUT) faculty have of OERs. As such, it lays the groundwork for subsequent studies of the attitudes of faculty to OERs and to the philosophy of open education. It also interrogates the national and institutional policy environment to establish to what extent these foster a culture of sharing and openness in local higher education.  The findings reported here may thus provide a context for understanding the attitudes of DUT faculty to OERs (examined in a separate study) and may serve as useful indicators of how the university is positioned; that is, how deep its foundations are, with respect to its prospects of participating successfully in the higher education OER movement

Are Higher Education Institutions Positioned To Reap The Dividends Of Open Education Resources? The Case Of Durban University Of Technology

The potential benefits of open education resources (OERs) are well documented in the literature. These include cheaper education, improved equity in respect of educational prospects, greater access to higher education opportunities for non-traditional learners, encouraging new modes of collaborative learning and leveraging public funds by sharing knowledge. So compelling are these advantages that leading universities globally are currently experimenting with new business models calibrated to extract value from educational offerings that, increasingly, will be expected to include free content. In spite of the obvious merits of OERs, the open education movement faces challenges which are rooted significantly in educators' perceptions of these resources. This descriptive case study sought to examine the attitudes Durban University of Technology (DUT) faculty have towards OERs with the aim of gauging their capacity to be actively involved as developers and users of these materials. The study found that in spite of respondents' recognition of the advantages of OERs and even a degree of superficial employment of these instructional aids, there appears to be no real open education ethos at the institution. Evidence of this includes the relatively low level of sharing of content amongst faculty and the consensus of respondents that there is no institutional support for OER initiatives. The study concludes that for the university to retain its relevance in an evolving educational landscape, it should create a framework that will not only create space for OER projects but should also address the very human need for recognition and acknowledgement that developers of free and open content have

Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Detect Turfgrass Drought

Kansas State University is evaluating the ability of using small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to detect drought stress in turfgrass. Their research indicates high resolution remote sensing with small UAS can detect drought stress before it is visible to the human eye. Preliminary measurements of a golf course revealed interesting differences in fairways, tees, and greens between summer and fall seasons. Additional research will be conducted in 2016

Are students being coerced into HIV testing? Ethical considerations related to offering incentives for HIV counselling and testing at tertiary institutions in South Africa

A social marketing strategy, including substantial prizes, was used to promote HIV testing at 17 institutions of higher learning in South Africa. Over 20 000 students with a mean age of 19 years were counselled and tested for HIV. The majority were being tested for the first time. Afterwards they signed a public pledge: ‘We, the class of 2010, pledge to know our status, to stop HIV/AIDS stigma and to contribute to the struggle against HIV/AIDS.’ The students’ opinion of the campaign was surveyed and they were found to be overwhelmingly in favour of it. The issue of whether the prizes unduly influenced the students’ participation is investigated and an approach to resolving ethical dilemmas is presented. The potential of incentives to undermine ‘moral sentiments’ is reviewed

Totius as teoloog

Die modeme teenstelling en probleem van sogenaamde ontwikkelde, dikwels oorontwikkclde, lande en volke teenoor ander wat onder- of onontwikkeld is, geld vandag tot ’n baie groot mate ook in die teologie. Basies moet ons dankbaar wees dat in die geleerde teologie vandag soveel aandag gegec word aan die Bybel as Woord van God, op welke wyse dan ook al, en dat tegelykertyd Bybelverkope orals in die wêreld toeneem en glo onlangs ’n hoogtepunt in Suidelike Afrika bereik het

The impact of organisational culture on service delivery in a major private security company

Published ArticleIn today's highly competitive business environment service delivery has become a key issue. Providing quality service could enhance an organisation's competitive advantage with beneficial financial implications. Service delivery requires the full cooperation and commitment of all the employees in the organisation, including management. The culture of the organisation supports this by eliciting a unified response from employees that supports the quality of service rendered to customers. In this regard the paper provides a statistical analysis of the impact of organisational culture on service delivery in a major South African private security company. Due to its applicability the Competing Values Framework (CVF) was instrumental in measuring the culture of the organisation and the award winning Baldrige Award Criteria in ascertaining its levels of service delivery

Die Departement Godsdiens- en Sendingwetenskap (Afd A), Universiteit van Pretoria, 1917-1978

The Department of Science of Religion and Missiology (Sec A), University of Pretoria, 1917-1978The Transvaal University College began its Faculty of Theology in 1917 in co-operation with the Presbyterian Church and the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk. A Presbyterian minister, Prof E MacMillan, lectured from 1917 till 1934. This marked the end of Presbyterian participation. In the next period, 1935-1937, the Department suffered from a controversy between the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk and its new partner, the Nederduitsch Hervormde of Gereformeerde Kerk. The issue was solved when the Faculty divided into two sections, Section A for the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk and Section B for the Nederduitsch Hervormde of G ereformeerde Kerk. Prof H P Wolmarans was appointed to the chair of Science of Religion (Sec A) in 1938 and served as head of the Department till 1959. He was succeeded by Prof F J van Zyl in 1960, who served till 1978

Review and analysis of work sampling methods : the case of an automated labour performance measurement system using the work sampling method

Published ArticleThis paper analyses work sampling and time study as work measurement methods with the view of employing them in an automated labour performance measurement system. These are compared with respect to Hawthorn effect, labour intensiveness, cost, tediousness and knowledge extensiveness. The analysis proves that work sampling is a better option for developing an automated labour performance measurement system that employs computer vision. Web cameras are used to feed real-time images to a central computer via USB extenders. The computer runs a standalone C++ application that uses a random function to establish when measurements are to be taken. The developed video camera footage is converted into a pixel matrix using OpenCV. This matrix is then filtered and analysed, enabling the tracking of a worker. The data generated is stored in text files. After the work sampling period has elapsed, the data is transferred into Microsoft Excel for analysis. Finally a report of the labour utilisation is generated in Microsoft Excel and then send to the analyst for review