Integrating ICT into the planning process : impacts, opportunities and challenges

Mobile telecommunications have become a key lifestyle and technological trend of the twenty first century. In the context of increased urbanism and pressure on cites for citizen engagement for the purpose of creating good public places the potential of these technologies raises critical questions for planning professionals. Even though technology has become integral to all functions within our urban environment, little is known about perceptions and relationship between urban planners and the ubiquitous, ever-present digital layer of urban data and information. This paper explores this issue, via three focus groups and an additional follow-up interview with planners from local and state government, education and private sector. This paper explores the issues of integrating information and communication technologies into planning practice and the affordances that these technologies offer for community consultation and placemaking.

When digital native meets analogue reality : a case study of ICT skills in first year university students

Recently claims have been made that all universities will in coming decades merge to become just a few mega-institutions offering online degrees to the world. This assumes a degree of literacy with ICT (information and communication technology) amongst potential students, who are often regarded as 'digital natives'. Far from being digital natives, many students have considerable trouble using ICT beyond the ubiquitous Facebook. While some students are computer literate, a substantial proportion lack the skills to prosper under their own devices in an online tertiary education environment. For these students a blended learning experience is needed to develop skills to effectively interact in the virtual environment. This paper presents a case study that specifically examined the ICT capabilities of first-year university students enrolled in the School of Civil Engineering and the Built Environment at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Empirical data are presented and curriculum strategies articulated to develop ICT skills in university undergraduates.

Changing the culture of teaching and learning in ICT and engineering : facilitating research professors to be teaching and learning leaders

This is the project report of a leadership project undertaken jointly by the Queensland University of Technology, University of Technology Sydney, and Monash University. Specific project objectives were to: -To build leadership capacity in teaching and learning, and to improve teaching quality in ICT and Engineering disciplines at three leading Australian universities, and -To facilitate the transference of research leadership to T&L leadership, and disseminate this transference model developed through the project within the Engineering and ICT domains to other disciplines and universities.

Re-imagining STEM : peer scaffolding ICT in initial teacher education

In this paper, we report on how peer scaffolding was used to effect change in tertiary teaching practice and academic disposition in the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Science teaching and learning. We present a small-scale case study investigating the practice of one of this paper’s authors. It is told through two salient episodes which narratively describe the scaffolding used to support a teaching experiment. This was made possible through the national Teaching Teachers for the Future Project (2011-2012) which aimed to enhance the technological pedagogical capability of pre-service teachers across Australia. The outcome was a demonstrable shift in the academic’s disposition towards the use and benefits of ICT in teaching science and an increase in skills and confidence for both the academic and his students. This study and its outcomes fit within the contemporary push to “re-imagine” the teaching of Science, and more broadly of STEM, in schools.

Re-imagining STEM : peer scaffolding ICT in Initial Teacher Education

In this paper, we report on how peer scaffolding was used to effect change in tertiary teaching practice and academic disposition in the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Science teaching and learning. We present a small-scale case study investigating the practice of one of this paper’s authors. It is told through two salient episodes which narratively describe the scaffolding used to support a teaching experiment. This was made possible through the national Teaching Teachers for the Future Project (2011-2012) which aimed to enhance the technological pedagogical capability of pre-service teachers across Australia. The outcome was a demonstrable shift in the academic’s disposition towards the use and benefits of ICT in teaching science and an increase in skills and confidence for both the academic and his students. This study and its outcomes fit within the contemporary push to “re-imagine” the teaching of Science, and more broadly of STEM, in schools.

ICT driven pedagogies and its impact on learning outcomes in high school mathematics

ICT (Information and Communication Technology) creates numerous opportunities for teachers to re-think their pedagogies. In subjects like mathematics which draws upon abstract concepts, ICT creates such an opportunity. Instead of a mimetic pedagogical approach, suitably designed activities with ICT can enable learners to engage more proactively with their learning. In this quasi-experimental designed study, ICT was used in teaching mathematics to a group of first year high school students (N=25) in Australia. The control group was taught predominantly through traditional pedagogies (N=22). Most of the variables that had previously impacted on the design of such studies were suitably controlled in this yearlong investigation. Quantitative and qualitative results showed that students who were taught by ICT driven pedagogies benefitted from the experience. Pre and post-test means showed that there was a difference between the treatment and control groups. Of greater significance was that the students (in the treatment group) believed that the technology enabled them to engage more with their learning.

Introducing ICT to a primary school in a developing country : a Fijian experience

One aspect of quality education in the 21st century is the availability of digital resources in schools. Many developing countries need to build this capability – not just in terms of technology but teacher capability as well. One of the ways to achieve such capacity is through knowledge sharing between teachers and educators in developed and developing countries. Over time such collaboration can have a lasting impact on all participants on both sides of the digital divide. This paper reports on how such collaboration can occur. It focuses on the initial stages of a long-term initiative where our primary objective is to develop models, which demonstrate how we (in developed countries) can engage productively and meaningfully with schools in developing countries to build their ICT capacity. As part of this initiative, we introduced laptops and LEGO robotics tool kits to a rural primary school in Fiji. We developed ICT activities that aligned with the curriculum in a number of subjects. In addition, we worked with the teachers over two weeks to build their expertise.

ICT in vocational education and training: a view of information and communication technology in vocational education in New Zealand

This report looks at opportunities in relation to what is either already available or starting to take off in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). ICT focuses on the entire system of information, communication, processes and knowledge within an organisation. It focuses on how technology can be implemented to serve the information and communication needs of people and organisations. An ICT system involves a combination of work practices, information, people and a range of technologies and applications organised to make the business or organisation fully functional and efficient, and to accomplish goals in an organisation. Our focus is on vocational, workbased education in New Zealand. It is not about eLearning, although we briefly touch on the topic. We provide a background on vocational education in New Zealand, cover what we consider to be key trends impacting workbased, vocational education and training (VET), and offer practical suggestions for leveraging better value from ICT initiatives across the main activities of an Industry Training Organisation (ITO). We use a learning value chain approach to demonstrate the main functions ITOs engage in and also use this approach as the basis for developing and prioritising an ICT strategy. Much of what we consider in this report is applicable to the wider tertiary education sector as it relates to life-long learning. We consider ICT as an enabler that: a) connects education businesses (all types including tertiary education institutions) to learners, their career decisions and their learning, and as well, b) enables those same businesses to run more efficiently. We suggest that these two sets of activities are considered as interconnected parts of the same education or training business ICT strategy.

Building essential BPM capabilities to assist successful ICT deployment in the developing context : observations and recommendations from Sri Lanka

The role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has been identified as an important factor by the United Nations in achieving the millennium development goals (UNAPCICT, 2012)1. The potential for ICT has been identified as a means to reducing poverty, creating global communities by providing access to the internet and mobile networks to rural communities, improving education services, medical services, and information availability. As of today, significant amounts of funds have been invested by the governments and donor organizations in ‘Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D)’projects by establishing telecenters, e-villages, e-health, electronic and mobile banking, and egovernment systems for citizens in general, and more specifically, rural communities to bridge the digital divide (Heeks & Molla, 2009).

ICT to enhance the triangle of life : the soil, the seed, and the life-giver farmer

This paper reports on the outcomes of an ICT enabled social sustainability project “Green Lanka1” trialled in the Wilgamuwa village, which is situated in the Dambulla district of Sri Lanka. The main goals of the project were focused towards the provision of information about market prices, transportation options, agricultural decision support and modern agriculture practices of the farmer communities to improve their livelihood with the effective use of technologies. The project used Web and Mobile (SMS) enabled systems. The Green Lanka project was sponsored by the Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka under the Institutional Capacity Building Programme (ICBP) grant scheme which was sponsored by the World Bank. Six hundred families in Wilgamuwa village participated in the project activities. The project was designed, executed and studied through an Action Research approach. The lessons learned through the project activities provide an important understanding of the complex interaction between different stakeholders in the process of implementation of ICT enabled solutions within digitally divided societies. The paper analyses the processes used to reduce the resistance to change and improved involvement of farmer communities in ICT enabled projects. It also analyses the interaction between stakeholders involved in design and implementation of the project activities to improve the chances of project success.

ICT shared services in the higher education sector : foundations, benefits, success factors and issues

Universities are more and more challenged by the emerging global higher education market, facilitated by advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This requires them to reconsider their mission and direction in order to function effectively and efficiently, and to be responsive to changes in their environment. In the face of increasing demands and competitive pressures, Universities like other companies, seek to continuously innovate and improve their performance. Universities are considering co-operating or sharing, both internally and externally, in a wide range of areas to achieve cost effectiveness and improvements in performance. Shared services are an effective model for re-organizing to reduce costs, increase quality and create new capabilities. Shared services are not limited to the Higher Education (HE) sector. Organizations across different sectors are adopting shared services, in particular for support functions such as Finance, Accounting, Human Resources and Information Technology. While shared services has been around for more than three decades, commencing in the 1970’s in the banking sector and then been adopted by other sectors, it is an under researched domain, with little consensus on the most fundamental issues even as basic as defining what shared services is. Moreover, the interest in shared services within Higher Education is a global phenomenon. This study on shared services is situated within the Higher Education Sector of Malaysia, and originated as an outcome resulting from a national project (2005 – 2007) conducted by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) entitled "Knowledge, Information Communication Technology Strategic Plan (KICTSP) for Malaysian Public Higher Education"- where progress towards more collaborations via shared services was a key recommendation. The study’s primary objective was to understand the nature and potential for ICT shared services, in particular in the Malaysian HE sector; by laying a foundation in terms of definition, typologies and research agenda and deriving theoretically based conceptualisations of the potential benefits of shared services, success factors and issues of pursuing shared services. The study embarked on this objective with a literature review and pilot case study as a means to further define the context of the study, given the current under-researched status of ICT shared services and of shared services in Higher Education. This context definition phase illustrated a range of unaddressed issues; including a lack of common understanding of what shared services are, how they are formed, what objectives they full fill, who is involved etc. The study thus embarked on a further investigation of a more foundational nature with an exploratory phase that aimed to address these gaps, where a detailed archival analysis of shared services literature within the IS context was conducted to better understand shared services from an IS perspective. The IS literature on shared services was analysed in depth to report on the current status of shared services research in the IS domain; in particular definitions, objectives, stakeholders, the notion of sharing, theories used, and research methods applied were analysed, which provided a firmer base to this study’s design. The study also conducted a detailed content analysis of 36 cases (globally) of shared services implementations in the HE sector to better understand how shared services are structured within the HE sector and what is been shared. The results of the context definition phase and exploratory phase formed a firm basis in the multiple case studies phase which was designed to address the primary goals of this study (as presented above). Three case sites within the Malaysian HE sector was included in this analysis, resulting in empirically supported theoretical conceptualizations of shared services success factors, issues and benefits. A range of contributions are made through this study. First, the detailed archival analysis of shared services in Information Systems (IS) demonstrated the dearth of research on shared services within Information Systems. While the existing literature was synthesised to contribute towards an improved understanding of shared services in the IS domain, the areas that are yet under-developed and requires further exploration is identified and presented as a proposed research agenda for the field. This study also provides theoretical considerations and methodological guidelines to support the research agenda; to conduct better empirical research in this domain. A number of literatures based a priori frameworks (i.e. on the forms of sharing and shared services stakeholders etc) are derived in this phase, contributing to practice and research with early conceptualisations of critical aspects of shared services. Furthermore, the comprehensive archival analysis design presented and executed here is an exemplary approach of a systematic, pre-defined and tool-supported method to extract, analyse and report literature, and is documented as guidelines that can be applied for other similar literature analysis, with particular attention to supporting novice researchers. Second, the content analysis of 36 shared services initiatives in the Higher Education sector presented eight different types of structural arrangements for shared services, as observed in practice, and the salient dimensions along which those types can be usefully differentiated. Each of the eight structural arrangement types are defined and demonstrated through case examples, with further descriptive details and insights to what is shared and how the sharing occurs. This typology, grounded on secondary empirical evidence, can serve as a useful analytical tool for researchers investigating the shared services phenomenon further, and for practitioners considering the introduction or further development of shared services. Finally, the multiple case studies conducted in the Malaysian Higher Education sector, provided further empirical basis to instantiate the conceptual frameworks and typology derived from the prior phases and develops an empirically supported: (i) framework of issues and challenges, (ii) a preliminary theory of shared services success, and (iii) a benefits framework, for shared services in the Higher Education sector.

ICT and internet usage in early childhood education : a comparative study of Australian and Malaysian teachers' beliefs and current practices

The thesis is a comparative study of ICTs and Internet use of Australian and Malaysian early childhood teachers in terms of their personal and professional comfort with ICTs, pedagogical beliefs, and their reported classroom practice. The study discovered teachers from both countries as relatively comfortable with digital technologies and the Internet, with most teachers held positive beliefs about ICT usage. The structural barriers in classrooms include lack of Internet access and the wide gap that exists between teachers’ positive beliefs and classroom practice. The study suggests the need for strategic and targeted professional development for teachers.

An ICT Implementation Strategy for Primary Schools in Fiji

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been embraced with hope and optimism in both developing and developed countries. While in the developed countries most citizens have access to one or many of the devices which utilize this technology (e.g. desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile phone), in developing countries this “luxury” can only be afforded by a privileged few. The use of these technologies in primary schools in developing countries is low. This is due to the fact that there are other bigger issues that some of these countries have to grapple with such as meeting the basic health and education needs of its citizens. Quality primary education and global development partnerships are two of the eight Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations (UNDP, 2012). Many Governments, NGO’s, service organizations, and individuals in developing countries are always looking at ways in which the disparity (not just in terms of ICT) can be narrowed. There has to be a greater collaboration between stakeholders in developing and developed countries (Mutonyi & Norton, 2007). How do stakeholders from developed countries engage with partners in developing countries to deliver meaningful and relevant outcomes for primary school students using ICT? As a first step getting the key stakeholders on side is critical. In the Fijian context, schools are managed and run by committees who are members of the community. Therefore, getting the committee on side together with the head-teachers and teachers is critical. Conversations about teaching and learning with technology can then follow with greater ease. The sustainability of any innovative approaches is also an essential element of this equation. Through this lens, this chapter investigates how ICT can be implemented in primary schools in Fiji. It proposes a three-layered approach which focuses on: (1) the community, school leadership, and teachers; (2) content, pedagogy, and technology, and (3) sustainability.

An examination of Saudi high school teachers' ICT knowledge and implementation

This study investigated Saudi high school teachers' implementation of ICT in schools. The study also explored the relationship between the teachers' level of TPACK and their implementation of ICT. In the first phase of the study, more than 250 Saudi teachers from Al-Madinah administrative area filled in a four-part self reported questionnaire while in the second, 12 teachers completed semi-structured interviews. Findings from both phases of the study revealed that Saudi high school teachers demonstrated low level of effectiveness of ICT implementation. Among a number of barriers, Teachers' TPACK knowledge was found as the best predictor of the effectiveness of ICT implementation.

Transforming the core business of teaching and learning in classrooms through ICT

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become an integral part of societies across the globe. This study demonstrates how successful technology integration by 10 experienced teachers in an Australian high school was dependent on teacher-driven change and innovation that influenced the core business of teaching and learning. The teachers were subject specialists across a range of disciplines, engaging their Year Eight students (aged 12–14 years) in the Technology Rich Classrooms programme. Two classrooms were renovated to accommodate the newly acquired computer hardware. The first classroom adopted a one-to-one desktop model with all the computers with Internet access arranged in a front-facing pattern. The second classroom had computers arranged in small groups. The students also used Blackboard to access learning materials after school hours. Qualitative data were gathered from teachers mainly through structured and unstructured interviews and a range of other approaches to ascertain their perceptions of the new initiative. This investigation showed that ICT was impacting positively on the core business of teaching and learning. Through the support of the school leadership team, the built environment was enabling teachers to use ICT. This influenced their pedagogical approaches and the types of learning activities they designed and implemented. As a consequence, teachers felt that students were motivated and benefited through this experience.