Nicholas J. Dimmitt

The study of e-learning technology implementation: A preliminary investigation of universities in Thailand

E-learning (EL) has become an increasingly popular mode of instruction in higher education due to the continual advances in Internet and multimedia technologies. Since many universities are adopting EL, an understanding of the critical factors involved in the implementation of EL technology can help to ensure the successful integration of EL in university administration planning and operations procedures. The objectives of this paper are twofold: to examine approaches to EL usage in universities in Thailand, and to report on a preliminary investigation into factors that influence EL implementation at the Thai tertiary level. Patterns of EL implementation from four cases are presented. Results from in-depth qualitative interviews with administrators, instructors, and students showed that three main factors and one key barrier influence the degree to which EL implementation was successful. The three factors are characteristics of the organization, the instructor and the Internet environment. Of these factors, the organizational component, including both the university policy towards EL and the organization of the EL unit itself, was the most important. The instructors’ perceptions of the benefits of EL and the ease of use also contributed to implementation success, as does Internet accessibility. The key barrier was found to be student preference for instructor-led learning. Implications for both university and EL unit administrators as well as for instructors are suggested for the continued development of EL in Thai universities and similar educational contexts.

Language and Development: Teachers in a Changing World

Abbreviations and Acronyms Section 1: Setting the Scene Section 2: Coping with Change 1. Language teaching in difficult circumstances, Glenda E. Fortez 2. Language and Education in Cambodia, Pit Chamnan and Audrey Cornish 3. Language and agriculture in the Lao PDR, Khamkheuane Vannasouk and Seetha Khemmarath 4. Two language centers in Indonesia, Nasti M. Reksodiputro and Djasminar Tasman 5. Teacher support teams in action, Ali bin Abdul Ghani and Lesley Randles 6. The shock of the new, Anne Hollingworth and Susan Spencer 7. Becoming a better teacher, I Dewa Gde Ngurah Byomantara and Sue Mace Section 3: Teaching and Learning in Different Worlds 8. Cracking the code, Mark Henderson, Edward Reis and Alison Spice 9. Real play in Singapore, Dorothy Cheung 10. Talkbase in Vientiane, Brian Kenny and Matthew Laszewenski 11. An international Labor Organization Project in Cambodia, Graeme Storer 12. Discovering resources in Ho Chi Minh City, Terry Clayton and Jonathon Shaw 13. Business visits in Papua New Guinea, George Kershaw 14. A Chinese Initiative, Jane Jackson, Jane Jackson, Terry Piper and Nancy Yildiz Section 4: Responding to the Players 15. Eight autumns in Hanoi, Patricia A. Denham 16. Donors and recipients, Harvey Smith 17. Consultants and counterparts, Dewi Murni and Susan Spencer 18. The political nature of needs, Steven L. Shaw 19. Sustaining a project, Marlyn P. Marpaung and Tim Kirk 20. Why projects fail, David R. Hall 21. Forward from Bangalore, Makhan L. Tickoo Section 5: Language and Development William Savage Bibliography Index

Environmental Scanning in Thai Food SMEs: The Impact of Technology Strategy and Technology Turbulence

Purpose – Some small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Thai food industry put a lot of effort into keeping up with changes of consumption patterns locally and in the South East Asia region. To see how successfully they are able to create competitive advantage, aims to examine the impact of environmental scanning practices on new product development (NPD) outcomes among SMEs in the Thai food industry. The technology strategy of the company influences how much it uses environmental scanning, and technology turbulence can play a role in exactly how critical is good knowledge of the external environment.Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative research was conducted using semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with food experts and SME owners.Findings – Results suggest that SMEs that practice environmental scanning are better able to develop appropriate new food products. Technology strategy plays a role in how much scanning they use, with a more proactive technology strategy requiring more extensive s...

Recognizing Thai handwritten characters and words for human-computer interaction

Normally, people use a keyboard to interact with a computer. This type of interaction has two main problems; typing speed and typing error. This paper proposes a non-keyboard computer interaction by using a write-pen or mouse to write Thai handwritten characters and words, using a feature-based, fuzzy logic and object-oriented approach (FBFLOOA) to recognize on-line handwritten Thai characters and words. The feature-based concept is used to extract handwritten character features, the fuzzy logic set is used to identify uncertain handwritten character shapes and the object-oriented approach is used to analyse, design and implement a handwritten character and word recognition program.Two phases of Thai handwritten character and word recognition are proposed. The first phase uses only the FBFLOOA to recognize a handwritten character and the second phase uses FBFLOOA combined with a Thai dictionary file to seek a correct answer for a rejected recognition character. The first phase experimental results show a recognition accuracy of 89.24%, 9.20% misrecognition and 1.56% rejection. The second phase precision results are 97.82%, 0.62% misrecognition and 1.56% rejection. Both phases have an average recognition speed of 6.72s per character. The FBFLOOA-executed program size is 189 KB and the Thai dictionary file is 853 KB, which makes FBFLOOA available for notebooks, mobile phones, calculators and pocket computers.

Improving project portfolio management with strategic alignment

This study describes how to apply a project portfolio management approach to a specific selection of projects by using information obtained from the real-world. More precisely, there are three major goals specified for project portfolio management: Maximizing the value of the portfolio (MVP), balancing a portfolio, and aligning a project portfolio with a business strategy. For the first goal, selecting the MVP projects, the optimization technique is used to determine the optimum portfolio since it portrays a systematic way to find a solution. To balance a portfolio, visual techniques are used to make the right balanced portfolio. Finally, we conclude with the result which came from applying mediation regression analysis to achieve the mediating influence of the alignment. The results establish the context in which to measure the alignment between business strategy and project portfolio on business performance. It also provides a platform to study the alignment between project portfolio and business strategy that could leverage the growing appreciation of this subject.

Developing an educational software framework for distance-less learning

This paper considers educational technology as both a tool and process. The focus is on a strategy to develop a software framework with reusable components to support a specific teaching/learning (the Question-and-Answer) model. It demonstrates how such a software framework can be used for building educational software systems which can be adapted easily to different levels and subjects of education on top of Internet/Intranet and web technologies. As a result, the developed educational environment is called distance-less, allowing students to have instant support from teachers by way of an existing virtual permanent connection. An example is provided of a teaching/learning model which was built based on the development principles and guidelines proposed in the paper and which shows one possible application for use with an existing learning and teaching system.

Q&A teaching/learning model as a new basis for developing educational software

The paper presents a Q&A model, which can be used as a basis for the development of educational software using component and framework based software development technology. The Q&A model is used to identify possible questions covering any subject based on Blooms Taxonomy of learning in a cognitive domain (B.S. Bloom and D.R. Krathwohl, 1984). The proposed vertical framework is applied to an educational domain. It provides a specific pattern designed to be used with cognitive oriented subjects at a higher education level. The proposed framework is described in a document specification manner containing framework main component specifications, component interface definitions, and the pattern to link those components. An application implemented based on this framework is easily adopted, as it requires minimum changes to any learning and teaching environment: teachers can retain their styles of teaching and students can retain their styles of learning.

International sustainable exchange: student projects to teach social responsibility

The goal of this project is to have students create a communications medium through which people from local cultures and researchers can use to contribute, analyze, and ultimately understand the practices of different cultural groups around the globe, thus increasing recorded information for the benefit of generations to come. Students that do this will gain valuable experience working in international teams and gain a repect for how technology can contribute positively to helping todays troubled society by making available the practices of centuries old cultures.