Technology: an imperative in schools today

This study identified, prioritized, and fulfilled technological needs of faculty and staff at an elementary school. A list of technological skills in ascending hierarchical order was devised. From the list, a needs analysis was devised. Through the use of the survey, the intern was able to glean a holistic view of the needs of the faculty. Due to financial constraints, the intern provided workshops to fulfill the needs. A comparison of skills both before the workshops and again afterward, showed a significant increase in computer competency in five of the eight indicators-specifically the ability to recognize hardware components, power up a computer, execute a word processor, access the Internet for information, and to send and receive electronic mail

Assessing Information Literacy Skills: A Survey of Undergraduate Education Students at the University of Livingstonia in Malawi

The purpose of this study was to assess the information literacy skills of Education Students at the University of Livingstonia. The study employed a cross-sectional descriptive survey design in which questionnaire was used to collect data. Stratified sampling technique was used to sample students from their respective degree programmes under the faculty of education. Altogether 160 questionnaires were distributed proportionally to respondents and 123 were successfully returned with a response rate of 76.9%.Data was analysed using IBM SPSS where percentages, charts and tables were obtained to present and interpret data. The findings revealed that Faculty of Education students (ES): (1) demonstrated a high level of awareness of types of information sources; (2) they accessed both print and electronic information; (3) expressed familiarity with APA referencing style and acknowledged the importance of providing citation and references to academic work to avoid plagiarism. However, students also demonstrated high deficiency in identifying diverse information sources. They did not have adequate knowledge on writing proper citation and references nor familiarity with the bibliographic and reference management software tools. Based on the findings, the study makes recommendation

Users Expectations as Determinants of Continuance Intention towards mHealth amongst health workers: Case of Cstock in Malawi

The main objective of this study is to identify and test user expectations as potential antecedents and determinants of continuance intention towards use of Cstock mHealth in Malawi. Cstock mHealth is a rapid short message service (SMS) used by Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) to supply, re-supply, and report stock data of medical supplies through mobile phones. The study developed an integrated model based on Expectation Confirmation model (ECM) complimented by other theories from extant literature. A paper-based survey questionnaire was developed and administered randomly to 176 HSAs in health facilities in three districts (Chitipa, Rumphi, and Nkhata-bay) of Malawi. The data analysis followed the partial least squares method to structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings showed that out of 15 path relationships hypothesised, nine were accepted. The study also confirmed that satisfaction (SATIS) and post-usage usefulness (PUU) have direct influence on continuance intention towards Cstock mHealth. Further to this, the study showed that trust had positive influence on both SATIS and PUU. The unexpected results were that IS success model’s quality triads (system quality, information quality, and service quality) had no influence on SATIS. This was contrary to established existing literature that reports quality triads as dominant predictors of user satisfaction. The research model proposed in this study also revealed a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.271, which was considered substantial. This study has shown the role that user expectations play in the continuance usage behaviour of mHealth in Malawi. The study implication is that mHealth policy-makers, designers and practitioners ought to focus on raising the user expectations to enhance successful adoption of future mHealth initiatives in developing countries

An Examination of Continuous Improvement in an Educational Organization

Continuous improvement (CI) is used across organizations to solve problems. Since the 2010s, CI practices have gained popularity in education. When comparing business organizations’ applications of CI practices to those in education, a gap is evident. Educational organizations create strategic plans, set long-term goals, implement initiatives, and measure overall outcomes in terms of student achievement. However, when attempting to build a high-performing culture and improve customer service between district departments and school centers, frequent and routine monitoring of customer experiences must occur. This study examines current CI practices in a large, urban school district as they relate to improving the customer service of district departments. If CI efforts throughout the school district are systemically insufficient, the researchers seek to develop a process to assist district departments with ongoing progress monitoring measures to improve the customer service relationship between departments and schools. This study’s primary rationale evaluates the need for a CI tool assisting school district departments in implementing effective customer service strategies with school centers. Currently, district departments in a large urban school district receive feedback as part of the annual Department Quality Survey (DQS). Once data is analyzed, district departments utilize various methods of developing improvement plans, different strategic actions for implementation, different progress monitoring methods, and have limited feedback on departments’ progress measures before the following year’s survey is issued. The ongoing professional development and progress monitoring are missing from the PDCA cycle. The researchers utilize the conceptual framework model of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) as a resource to develop a tool that remedies the problem. The LSS methodology supports the existing process improvement structures that a large urban school district currently employs. As part of a districtwide strategic plan to develop a high performance culture, the large urban school district administers the DQS. The survey of principals and school leaders examines schools’ satisfaction levels concerning district department-provicded customer service. Individual interviews with responses were recorded and transcribed for data analysis. The researchers used thematic analysis to identify, analyze, organize, describe, and report themes found within the data set (Nowell, Norris, White, & Moules, 2017). The study’s participants provided feedback on the importance of personnel at both district and school levels. Team-building with the ‘right’ people was highlighted as an essential factor in sustaining improvement. Further, communication was found essential to outlining the work to be done, highlighting what is not working, and making necessary changes to improve

UM NOVO PARADIGMA PARA A EDUCAÇÃO SUPERIOR NO BRASIL: A RELAÇÃO ENTRE PESQUISA E ENSINO

O objetivo deste artigo é discutir a validade das políticas públicas para a educação superior adotadas pelo governo brasileiro na última década e analisar suas conseqüências na configuração da universidade para o século XXI, à qual denominamos de “universidade emergente” e buscar potencialidades para a transformação do paradigma vigente na universidade atual. Para a análise, foi realizada uma pesquisa documental dos dados disponibilizados pelos órgãos oficiais de educação, dados dos Ministérios da Educação do Brasil, que focalizam as políticas públicas para o setor e uma pesquisa bibliográfica utilizando textos constitucionais e legais. Recorre-se a teóricos como Duhram e Sampaio (2000),Cunha(2004), Byrne (2011) e outros.O pressuposto que norteia este estudo é demonstrar a possibilidade da pesquisa na universidade (aqui conceituada como as várias categorias acadêmicas do ensino superior), diante das mudanças sociais deste início de milênio e as transformações exigidas da universidade, sua episteme, sua missão e seu ethos no mundo contemporâneo