Isabella Margarethe Venter

Teamwork: can it equip university science students with more than rigid subject knowledge?

Abstract This study is two-fold in that it is directed at understanding the influence of group constitution on group function as well as the influence of teamwork and cooperative learning on the individuals perception of the subject. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to collect data. The quantitative method used, entailed the use of a self administered questionnaire. Belbins team role test (Interplace) was used to constitute the teams. Unstructured interviews were used to collect the qualitative data. Computer Science students, in their third academic year, were placed in groups (or teams) at the onset of the course using Belbins team role concept. Rather than presenting conventional lectures, students were expected to come prepared to class and to discuss personal insights gained through individual learning in a group situation. The role of the lecturer became the role of a facilitator. Access to the Internet and World Wide Web, allowed students to research topics for a presentation. E-mail enabled students to communicate freely with group members and the lecturer. The majority of students indicated that working in teams contributed to their understanding of the subject, that they gained on a personal and social level and that they have learned more in the group than they would have by learning individually. This method of teaching results in the development of positive intergroup relations and desirable prosocial behaviours which can possibly bridge the gap between tertiary education and the job market. The fact that students now seem to enjoy learning more makes this approach to learning worthy of pursuit. Present structures of our examinations are failing to adequately test the dimensions of learning we wish them to.

Co-designing a Billing System for Voice Services in RuralSouth Africa: Lessons Learned

Access to information and communication technologies remains unaffordable for many in rural areas despite recent progress in providing voice services to remote communities. The sustainability of alternative technical solutions is a challenge, which can be addressed when local knowledge is taken into account during the design process. This research reflects on the process of co-designing a billing system for voice services provided by a Community Network in rural South Africa. Several payment methods were explored with users and operators of the Community Network, focusing on the legal, financial, technical and social feasibility - as well as constraints - of each method. Those methods that suited the communitys needs were implemented and tested with stakeholders. The process revealed factors embedded in the provision of voice services by traditional voice operators in South Africa that prevent economically poor and illiterate users from fully benefiting from voice services. Solutions to these factors were explored with users and were implemented as a billing system. The system is currently being deployed in a rural South African community. Both the problems experienced and solutions proposed may inform similar initiatives.

Open Courseware as a Tool for Teaching and Learning in Africa

Open source software (OSS) shows great promise for future technological innovation and application especially in the area of teaching and learning in Africa. It provides readily available software such as learning management systems (LMS) and learning content management systems (LCMs). Higher learning institutions (HLI) in developing countries can benefit from these OSS initiatives. This paper, based on two case studies (The University of the Western Cape (UWC) in South Africa and the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) in Tanzania), discusses the application of OSS in teaching and learning and reflects on why the adoption of open courseware (OC) by HLI in Africa is very slow. The UWC Free Software Innovation Unit was visited and information was collected from the Websites of both UWC and UDSM. It is anticipated that the findings of the study will be of interest to all stakeholders in the education sector in Africa. It will be useful when planning cost-effective and efficient technology implementation at district level and at national level specifically in Tanzania

Designing Mobile Phone Interfaces for Age Diversity in South Africa: “One-World” versus Diverse “Islands”

Designing for diversity is a laudable aim. How to achieve this, in the context of mobile phone usage by South African seniors, is a moot point. We considered this question from two possible perspectives: universal (one-world) versus focused design (designing for diverse “islands” of users). Each island would be characterised by a measure of relative homogeneity in terms of user interface needs. Our particular focus in this paper is age diversity. The universal approach attempts to deliver a design that can be all things to all people – meeting the needs of all users within one user interface. The islander approach delivers specific and different designs for islands within a diverse world. To determine which the best approach would be, in the South African context, we dispatched a team of student researchers to interview participants from an older generation, on a one-to-one basis. It was beneficial to deploy aspiring designers to carry out this research because we wanted to confront aspiring researchers with the differences between their own and other generations’ usage of, and attitudes towards, mobile phones. Our study found that there were indeed significant age-related differences in mobile phone usage. Our research delivered insights that led to a model of the factors impacting mobile phone usage of the senior generation as a series of filters between the user and their device. We conclude that the island approach is more suitable for age-specific design. This approach might well become less fitting as a more technologically experienced population ages, but at present there is a clear need for an age-sensitive mobile interface design.

Approach to computer literacy education in a Third World setting

Abstract The failure rate of the computer literacy course, at the University of the Western Cape, has been a cause of concern over the last few years. Of the 516 students that registered in 1994 only 414 wrote the final examinations, and of those only 35% were successful. Therefore an investigation was launched into understanding the factors that contribute to the failure rate. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to collect data. The quantitative method used, entailed the use of two sets of self-administered questionnaires. Unstructured interviews were used to collect the qualitative data. Initially it was assumed that students with a mathematical ability and those who had no fear for technology would be the successful candidates in the computer literacy course. Contrary to our expectations no correlation was found between the results of an introductory statistics course (first semester) and the more practical computer literacy course (second semester). However a distinct correlation became apparent between home language, the language of instruction (English) and success rate in computer literacy.

Grid Security Loopholes with Proposed Countermeasures

Grid computing is an emergent computing innovation which offers endless access to computing infrastructure across various organizations (academia and industry). This technology allows the aggregation of various computer systems for usage by different users to run applications. The information stored on these computers may be vulnerable. According to research on attribute based access control for grid computing, security mechanism to authorize and authenticate users, before accessing information on a grid system, is not totally adequate. The issue of security in grid technology has not been fully addressed even though it is a precondition for optimizing grid usability. In this paper some of the security attacks on a grid system were explored and reasonable countermeasures are proposed. An architectural model to prevent any form of attacks explained, is presented.

Using mass video notification methods to assist deaf people

Even though Deaf people in South Africa use texting via cell phones to communicate with hearing people they seldom use it amongst themselves. It is assumed that video messaging will be more accessible for the Deaf as their level of literacy may prevent them from making effective use of information that is disseminated via mass texting. The principal objective of the research was thus to explore a cost effective and efficient mass multimedia messaging system. The intention was to adapt a successful text-based mass notification system, developed by a local non-governmental organization, to accommodate efficient and affordable video mass messaging for Deaf people. The questions that underpin this research are: How should we compare and evaluate various video streaming messaging methods to find the most effective streaming method to deliver video messages? What transport vehicles should we consider: multimedia messaging service, the web, electronic mail or a cell phone resident push/pull application? What is the cost to the end-user and service provider and how can we make such a service more affordable? How does the video quality in terms of sign language vary between each transport vehicle? A mixed research methodology approach was followed to help answer the research questions. The preliminary results indicate that most Deaf people prefer to use the short message service prototype with a web-link to the video rather than the multimedia messaging service prototype with the video attached. Although Deaf people prefer to use the video short message service prototype they are still very concerned about the cost of using the system. They also are concerned about the quality of the sign language video.

Academic domains as political battlegrounds : a global enquiry by 99 academics in the fields of education and technology

This article theorizes the functional relationship between the human components (i.e., scholars) and non-human components (i.e., structural configurations) of academic domains. It is organized around the following question: in what ways have scholars formed and been formed by the structural configurations of their academic domain? The article uses as a case study the academic domain of education and technology to examine this question. Its authorship approach is innovative, with a worldwide collection of academics (99 authors) collaborating to address the proposed question based on their reflections on daily social and academic practices. This collaboration followed a three-round process of contributions via email. Analysis of these scholars’ reflective accounts was carried out, and a theoretical proposition was established from this analysis. The proposition is of a mutual (yet not necessarily balanced) power (and therefore political) relationship between the human and non-human constituents of an academic realm, with the two shaping one another. One implication of this proposition is that these non-human elements exist as political ‘actors’, just like their human counterparts, having ‘agency’ – which they exercise over humans. This turns academic domains into political (functional or dysfunctional) ‘battlefields’ wherein both humans and non-humans engage in political activities and actions that form the identity of the academic domain.

Factors for Developing a Software Industry

Software has become ubiquitous in our modern society with smartphone usage and Internet access skyrocketing even in emerging economies. The digital divide however remains and the software development industry has the potential to narrow this divide. India and Ireland both achieved remarkable success as software developing countries. South Africa, although it has attained some software success, has not as yet fully achieved its potential. A study of India, Ireland and South Africas software industries identified initiatives and strategies which were undertaken to establish it. In this paper the initiatives and strategies are compared to determine if there are commonalities and if any were dominant. A grounded theory research approach, using content analysis, was used to analyse literature about the software industry in India, Ireland and South Africa. This study found that initiatives undertaken by the information technology industry sector and policy formation were the most prominent in developing the software industry.

Software development in the western cape: the role of higher education

The Western Cape in South Africa has been earmarked by the government and industry, as a digital hub for Africa. The region has a number of institutions, enterprises and initiatives in place to realise this goal. A study---taking into account the information technology practitioners perspective---was undertaken within the Cape Town region to determine the promotion of software development within the Western Cape and the role which universities can play in the support thereof. A grounded theory research approach, using both quantitative and qualitative methods was used. This study found that the main stakeholders do not promote the software industry enough. Key initiatives that should be considered include: universities need to configure their curriculum appropriately for industry needs; more awareness around software development should be created particularly at school level in order to attract more students; and universities should build partnerships with industry. At the macro level, government, through policies and funding mechanisms for education and innovation in general, should create an enabling environment to foster these initiatives. Potential hindrances to achieving these initiatives are poor management of academic programmes, underfunding of the sector and a shortage of staff.