The factors that influence the adoption or non-adoption of information and communications technologies (ICTs) by recently-arrived immigrants in the Wellington Region : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Information at Massey University

The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand recent immigrants' perceptions of ICTs, what causes them to adopt or not adopt ICTs, and the factors that influence such action. A self-selected, volunteer sample of 32 recent immigrants living in 15 households, between the ages of 12 - 65 and who came from developing countries that include Africa (5), the Middle East (4), Central Asia (3) and South East Asia (2) participated in the research. The Refugee and Migrants' Service (RMS), Wellington branch, and ethnic community leaders supported the study and introduced the researcher to potential participants. Two rounds of semi-structured, in-depth audio-taped interviews were held in the immigrants' own homes. The aim of the first round of interviews was to establish trust with the volunteers. The second round of interviews occurred six weeks later. The follow-up interviews provided an opportunity for both the researcher and the participants to validate the transcribed interviews as well as allowing further discussion on their ICT adoption. The majority of participants interviewed had a positive attitude towards ICTs. They viewed the technology as a useful tool because they saw relative- advantage benefits such as accomplishing tasks more easily, saving money on communication and finding employment. A priority on home access was evident for nearly half the interviewees who owned their computers (despite participants being low-waged and some unemployed). The major method of adoption for the immigrants who were new to computing was via friends and family. The personal one-to-one teaching, in a safe, relaxed environment was important to many migrants, as was the timeliness of the teaching. Overall, the results show that young, male participants with a relatively higher educational background were more likely to be adopters. In contrast, older female participants with little or no education were less likely to participate in ICTs. The results also show that the majority of the participants lacked computing experience. This study was exploratory in nature, therefore there is opportunity for researchers interested in understanding ICTs adoption to build on these research findings and explore in greater detail a range of factors that influence recent immigrants' adoption or non adoption of ICTs. The findings have important implication for policy makers and practitioners who wish to create an inclusive society where all members, including recent immigrants, are able to access and use ICTs and hence be able to fully participate in the information society. Recommendations, based on the study's findings, include suggestions to promote ICTs among recently-arrived immigrants community

Modeling end-user adoption of e-government services in Abu Dhabi

A number of recent reports indicate that many governments around the world are increasingly using internet technologies to provide public services. However little is known about the factors that influence end-users’ adoption of these services, particularly in a non-western context. This study used mixed research methods to build, empirically test and validate an e-government adoption model. The findings will be useful to both e-government researchers and practitioners interested in promoting e-government

Reflections on the global most recent e-government development indicators results

▪Overview of e-government ▪E-government readiness and its indicators ▪Study aim and objectives ▪Research methods, results & conclusion ▪Q and

Measuring e-government development : the haves and the have-nots

Since 2003, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) continued to measure the e-government development across the world using a range of indices. The UNDESA produces a biannual report that ranks UN member states according to their most recent e-government development indices. These reports are widely used by egovernment officials to benchmark their country’s performance. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether there has been a significant change in the rankings of the 191 countries that participated in both the 2005 and 2016 surveys using quantitative research methods. To meet the research objectives, the study uses correlation analysis and cluster analysis technique. The correlation analysis is used to assess the degree of association between the 2005 and 2016 rankings, while the cluster analysis technique was used to segment countries into groups based on their 2005 and 2016 rankings in order to detect any significant shift in the cluster membership in each country. The results obtained reveal a strong positive correlation between the 2005 and 2016 e-government development indices, indicating a little variation occurred in the overall ranking of the countries during this period. Also, the cluster analysis results revealed that there are three distinct groups of countries/segments: Leaders, Laggards and Average performing countries. The results also disclosed that there was a little change in countries’ cluster-membership between 2005 and 2016 indicating that countries that were ranked high in 2005 survey are still leading in 2016, and the countries that were struggling in 2005 are still struggling today

A case study of collaborative teaching using experiential learning pedagogical framework

Motivation & context Co-teaching & integrative assessment approach Opportunities and challenges The outcome of this experienc

A comparative analysis of the E-Government Development Index (EGDI). July 20-23 (pp. 23-29). : IADIS Press

During the past two decades, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) published series of reports. Each report presents global survey results that measure e-government development in the 193 UN Member States. The surveys are intended to periodically assess e-government development progress in each of the UN Member States. One of the critical e-government development indicators used in these reports is the E-Government Development Index (EGDI). This quantitative study compares and contrasts the EGDI results (and its principal components indicators) during the past ten years. The study compares the recent two e-government survey results (2018 and 2020) with the (2008 and 2010) results using correlations analysis and cluster analysis. The comparison is performed to achieve two main objectives: first, to measure the degree of EGDI indicators association during the past ten years and detect any significant changes in the overall Member States ranking during the same period. Second, to measure the degree of variation in cluster memberships. The study results show that there is a strong correlation between EGDI scores during the study period. Also, the results show minor changes in cluster membership, indicating that despite the apparent EGDI overall improvements for almost every UN Member State, the situation remains as before. The finds of this study will be of interest to both e-government academics and practitioner

Disruption in the classroom: When hands on becomes hands off

New Zealand’s lockdown response during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the vocational education sector. Teachers were required to make a rapid transition from familiar, face-to-face teaching and learning to online, remote delivery. Later defined as a unique subtype of online learning, emergency transition to remote teaching (ERT) was the most extraordinary, unplanned change ever seen in vocational education. The purpose of this paper is to present selected results from a descriptive survey of teachers across five disciplines following New Zealand’s first lockdown in 2020 (n = 56). As part of the study, teachers were asked to share their view of the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and benefits of ERT and the future of vocational education. Qualitative analysis of free-text responses was made using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) general inductive approach. Four themes emerged: accessibility, sustainability, flexibility and capability. In this presentation, the teacher responses will be set within the themes identified and used to tell the story of disruption and how teacher innovation and creativity forged adaptations necessary to accommodate the emergency. This ‘once in a career’ opportunity provided prolonged exposure to ERT delivery and with it, vocational education sector teachers made use of the opportunity to explore ideas which could be used to shape and inform more permanent formats in future course delivery. From these teacher observations, recommendations for education and service providers, facilities and policy makers will be made

Rapid transition to emergency teaching online: The experience of tertiary teachers and implications for vocational education

Operational definitions: Emergency Transition to Remote Learning which is different to e-Learning or Online learning Participant characteristics Years of teaching How familiar were you with online teaching? Challenges faced by lecturers Teacher perceived student issues The effects of emergency remote teaching (1) ("‘Missing the light bulb moments’ (Participant 2)) The effects of emergency remote teaching (2) ("We saw each other’s homes and met family members and recognised we were all in it together” (Participant 26)) Implications for vocational education Reflection