Hana Kopáčková

Accessibility and findability of local e-government websites in the Czech Republic

This article focuses on the accessibility of local e-government web pages. Accessibility is herein considered in a broader perspective, taking also into account that information must be findable within the Internet through conventional fulltext search engines. Based on this assumption, an analysis of 39 local e-government websites in the Czech Republic was carried out in two testing periods (March 2006 and April 2008). The web pages were analysed both from a citizen’s point of view (with disadvantage due to disability or to technical equipment) and from the point of view of fulltext search engines. In the analysis of results, there is an overall evaluation and comparison between testing periods and recommendations for improvement of the current conditions.

Preparedness for mobile learning at higher education

The aim of the article was to explore the possibility of incorporation of mobile technology into university course environment. Quantitative approach in the form of questionnaire was selected as appropriate. Students at the course answered questions focused on their hardware and software equipment, utilization of their devices for the study, curiosity and attitudes towards collaborative project development. The questionnaire also covered practical tasks for smartphone and tablet users. These practical tasks aimed to show how the students are used to solve problems using mobile technology, but there was also a question whether by the use of mobile technologies these tasks will be more interesting for students and if they show creativity.

Utilization of Six Sigma for data improvement

The Six Sigma quality management method is intended for decreasing defects in production organizations; that is for improving the quality of production processes. Production processes need support of relevant business data. In other words the requirement of production quality can be broadened to requirement for high quality business data. This paper addresses application of the Six Sigma principles for increasing quality of data managed within information systems.

Smart city concept as socio-technical system

Smart City is a very popular concept as the advancement in technology bring new possibilities how to make life in cities easier and more comfortable. Whereas the technical part of Smart City concept is highly discussed in research articles, impact on social part of this system is not in the center of interest. This article aims to contribute to the complex view of this concept. First we discuss different concepts close to Smart City and based on literature review to evaluate involvement into technical or social research areas. Then we use Leavitts model adapted for Smart Cities to discuss all interconnected elements. Last part describe plans for Pardubice Smart City in the view of Leavitts model.

Mobile devices in learning — Are students ready for the change?

Mobile devices are changing everyday lives and also change the way how people are engaging in particular activities. Teaching and learning is no exception, over the last ten years there has been an extensive research in this field, which revealed that students acceptance of mobile learning is also influenced by the experience with mobile devices. Motivation of this study was to find out if university students are ready for the introduction of elements of m-learning. Readiness for m-learning in the context of this study covered the experience and also the ownership of mobile devices, since the introduction of mobile devices in learning will be covered under BYOD (bring your own device) policy. We designed three research questions that examined technological readiness (ownership and usage of mobile devices), ability to accomplish the task with mobile device and possibility to discover typology of smartphone users.

Characteristics of digital natives generation in the context of mobile learning

This article reports key findings from the part of larger research investigating if university students possess characteristics specific for digital natives generation. Concept of digital natives generation assume that students born in eighties and nineties are more skilled in operation of information and communication technologies and that they also developed different learning style. Research was held in two consecutive years with 146 participants in 2014 and 175 participants in 2015. The study revealed that students share the same pattern according to the ownership of mobile technologies however there is no clear evidence to support the affirmation about special ability to use information and communication technologies with respect to the success at m-learning task. Findings according to different learning style support the claim that there is similar pattern in annual comparison but disapproved the assumption about the generation being more creative, independent in search of materials and collaborative.