Development and assessment of an organisational readiness framework for emerging technologies : an investigation of antecedents for South African organisations' readiness for server virtualisation

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-125).To determine, holistically, factors that contribute to organisational readiness for these emerging technologies on one part, and the factors that influence organisational preparedness on its own on the other part, raises another concern. This study developed a new conceptual readiness framework NOIIE (an acronym for National e-readiness, Organisational preparedness, Industrial relationships, Internal resistance and External influence), for assessing organisations’ readiness for emerging technologies and applications

Indicators for enhancing learners’ engagement in massive open online courses: A systematic review

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have paved a new learning path for the 21st-century world. The potential to reach a massive geographically dispersed audience is one of the major advantages of MOOCs. Moreover, they can be offered on a self-paced and self-regulated basis and have become an integral part of lifelong learning, especially in workplaces. However, one persistent problem is the lack of learners’ engagement. A harmonisation of studies providing a holistic view into aggregating indicators for enhancing learners’ engagement in MOOCs is lacking. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated MOOC adoption, and learners’ engagement in MOOCs has become even more essential for the success of this educational innovation. We examine the existing literature to derive indicators important for enhancing learners’ engagement in MOOC learning environments. Using a systematic approach, 83 empirical studies were examined, and 10 indicators were identified as important considerations for enhancing learners’ engagement while designing MOOCs—from initiatives for individual learners to platform and instructional design perspectives. We also present a table describing these indicators and offer a structured discussion on each one. We believe the results provide guidelines for MOOC designers and instructors, educational policymakers, higher education institutions, and MOOC engagement researchers.Peer reviewe

A systematic mapping study of HCI practice research

Human–computer interaction (HCI) practice has emerged as a research domain in the HCI field and is growing. The need to transfer HCI practices to the industry began significantly with the works of Nielsen on usability engineering. To date, methods and techniques for designing, evaluating, and implementing interactive systems for human use have continued to emerge. It is, therefore, justified to conduct a systematic mapping study to determine the landscape of HCI practice research. A Systematic Mapping Study method was used to map 142 studies according to research type, topic, and contribution. These were then analyzed to determine an overview of HCI practice research. The objective was to analyze studies on HCI practice and present prominent issues that characterize the HCI practice research landscape. Second, to identify pressing challenges regarding HCI practices in software/systems development companies. The results show that HCI practice research has steadily increased since 2012. The majority of the studies explored focused on evaluation research that largely contributed to the evaluation methods or processes. Most of the studies were on design tools and techniques, design methods and contexts, design work and organizational culture, and collaboration and team communication. Interviews, case studies, and survey methods have been prominently used as research methods. HCI techniques are mostly used during the initial phase of development and during evaluation. HCI practice challenges in companies are mostly process-related and on performance of usability and user experience activities. The major challenge seems to be to find a way to collect and incorporate user feedback in a timely manner, especially in agile processes. There are areas identified in this study as needing more research

Theory, practice and policy: An inquiry into the uptake of HCI practices in the software industry of a developing country

With almost four decades of existence as a community, human–computer interaction (HCI) practice has yet to diffuse into a large range of software industries globally. A review of existing literature suggests that the diffusion of HCI practices in software organizations lacks theoretical guidance. Although many studies have tried to facilitate HCI uptake by the software industry, there are scarce studies that consider HCI practices as innovations that software organizations could or should adopt. Furthermore, there appears to be a lack of structure in the facilitation of HCI methodological development within the specialized emerging regions field such as Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to address this gap, an exploratory investigation regarding the state of uptake of HCI practices in Nigeria is conducted. The aim of this article is to improve our understanding regarding the state of HCI uptake in developing countries and the challenges prevailing. The findings show that HCI practice still remains within its infancy stage in most software companies. Universities are also lacking the required knowledge transfer of HCI to the students, and in effect themselves contributing to the lack of HCI skills in industry. Furthermore, government policies are in need of refinement and end-users’ involvement in software development is not prioritized

School-Based Digital Innovation Challenges and Way Forward Conversations about Digital Transformation in Education

Background: This article attempts to formulate a school-based model to capitalise on the opportunities and strengths within schools in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regions to ideate global school-driven digital innovation(s). Consequently, this article explores various digital innovation challenges, opportunities, and elements for schools, as well as proposed school-driven interventions. The paper seeks to open conversations among various international bodies and educational stakeholders, leading to school actors taking ownership of educational projects and school innovation. Methods: A traditional literature review was adopted to analyse the subject of Digital Transformation in Education (DTE). The traditional literature review is a comprehensive and critical overview based on the past and current literature on a subject matter without stringent methodology. Through the literature review methodology, existing materials on the subject matter are subsequently used. Terms and concepts about school innovation and management/leadership were extracted for consideration. These served as a basis for formulating a reference DTE model for interventions. This paper is underpinned by two main conceptual and theoretical bases: (i) The theory of school-based management and its related indicators, and (ii) Michael Fullan’s concept of school innovation, which is based on the three key factors of Technology, Pedagogy, and Change knowledge. Fullan’s concept is extended to showcase how Active Learning (AL) can inform pedagogical innovation. Results: This paper presents a school-based digital transformation in the education reference model as the outcome. The model uses concept maps to showcase the interrelations between DTE indicators and concepts, and the linkages around which Digital Transformation in Education could be developed as a School-Based Managed (SBM) agenda

Designing for Student-Centered Hybrid Learning Environments: A Framework for Programming Languages Course Design

Hybrid learning environments are a means of delivering instructional content in that online educational materials and opportunities for interaction were combined with traditional classroom methods. Hybrid learning environments give students the opportunity to work in an environment enriched with digital learning tools, and to support student-based learning approach. Student-based learning approach promotes engagement to make students active learners via various ways such as interactivity, feedback, etc. Researchers identified feedback as an activity for promoting effective online learning and more so creating the environment for teacher-student teaching and learning interaction. Besides, some instructional strategies, like gamification and flipping the classroom, have an important role in supporting active learning. In well-designed gamified environments, students tend to dedicate more meaningful interactions with the learning process, as their efforts are promptly and effectively recognized. Students, in flipped classrooms, are transformed from passive listeners into active learners. In this study, we aim to propose a useful course design framework for undergraduate programming languages in hybrid learning environments