History of contact and change in the Goroka Valley, Central Highlands of New Guinea, 1934-1949

The thesis traces the interaction of the Goroka Valley people with European and coastal New Guinean intruders during the pacification stage of contact and change. In this 15 year period the people moved from a traditional subsistence culture to the threshold of a modern, European-influenced technological society. The contact experiences of the inhabitants of the Valley and the outsiders who influenced them are examined, using both oral and documentary sources. A central theme of this study is the attempts by Europeans and their coastal New Guinean collaborators to achieve the pacification of a people for whom warfare has been described as 'the dominant orientation'. The newcomers saw pacification as being inextricably linked with social, economic and religious transformation, and consequently it was pursued by patrol officers, missionaries and soldiers alike. Following an introductory chapter outlining the pre-contact and early-contact history of the Goroka Valley people, there is a discussion of the causes of tribal fighting in Highlands communities and two case studies of violent events which, although occurring beyond the Goroka Valley, had important consequences for those who lived within its bounds. The focus then shifts to the first permanent settlement of the agents of change -initially these were coastal New Guinean evangelists and policemen - and their impact on the local people. A period of consolidation is then described, as both government and missions established a permanent 'European presence in the Valley'. This period was characterised by vigorous pacification coupled with the introduction of innovations in health and education, agriculture, technology, law and religion. The gradual transformation of Goroka Valley society as a result of the people's interaction with the newcomers was abruptly accelerated in 1943, when many hundreds of Allied soldiers occupied the Valley in anticipation of a threatened Japanese invasion. Village life was disrupted as men were conscripted as carriers and labourers and whole communities were obliged to grow food to assist the Allied war effort. Those living close to military airfields-and camps were subject to Japanese aerial attacks and the entire population was exposed to an epidemic of bacillary dysentery introduced by the combatants. However the War also brought some positive effects, including paradoxically, the almost total cessation of tribal fighting, the construction of an ail-weather airstrip at Goroka which ensured its future as a town and administrative and commercial centre, and the compulsory growing of vegetables, coffee, etc, which laid the foundations for a cash economy and material prosperity. The final chapter examines the aftermath of military occupation, the return of civil administration and the implementation of social and economic policies which brought the Goroka Valley people into the rapid-development phase of contact. By 1949 Gorokans were ready to channel their aggressive energies into commercial competitiveness and adopt a cash-crop economy, to accept the European rule of law, to take advantage of Western innovations in medicine, education, transport and communications, to seek employment opportunities at home and in other parts of the country and to modify their primal world view with European religious and secular values. A Stone Age people was in process of being transformed into a modern society.

Investigation into the diffusion of innovation in technical and further education : implementing e-mail through action research

This research project examined the diffusion of change within one Victorian TAFE Institute by engaging action research to facilitate implementation of e-mail technology. The theoretical framework involving the concepts of technology innovation and action research was enhanced with the aid of Rogers's (1983) model of the diffusion of the innovation process. Political and cultural factors made up the initiation phase of innovation, enabling the research to concentrate on the implementation phase of e-mail Roger's (1983) model also provided adopter categories that related to the findings of a Computer Attitude Survey that was conducted at The School of Mines and Industries Ballarat (SMB), now the University of Ballarat—TAFE Division since amalgamation on 1st January 1998. Despite management rhetoric about the need to utilise e-mail, Institute teaching staff lacked individual computers in their work areas and most were waiting to become connected to the Internet as late as 1997. According to the action research reports, many staff were resistant to the new e-mail facilities despite having access to personal computers whose numbers doubled annually. The action research project became focussed when action researchers realised that e-mail workshop training was ineffective and that staff required improved access. Improvement to processes within education through collaborative action research had earlier been achieved (McTaggart 1994), and this project actively engaged practitioners to facilitate decentralised e-mail training in the workplace through the action research spiral of planning, acting, observing and reflecting, before replanning. The action researchers * task was to find ways to improve the diffusion of e-mail throughout the Institute and to develop theoretical constructs. My research task was to determine whether action research could successfully facilitate e-mail throughout the Institute. A rich literature existed about technology use in education, technology teaching, gender issues, less about computerphobia, and none about 'e-mailphobia \ It seemed appropriate to pursue the issue of e-mailphobia since it was marginalised, or ignored in the literature. The major political and cultural influences on the technologising of SMB and e-mail introduction were complex, making it impossible to ascertain the relative degrees of influence held by Federal and State Governments, SMB's leadership or the local community, Nonetheless, with the implementation of e-mail, traditional ways were challenged as SMB's culture changed. E-mail training was identified as a staff professional development activity that had been largely unsuccessful. Action research is critical collaborative inquiry by reflective practitioners who are accountable for making the results of their inquiry public and who are self-evaluating of their practice while engaging participative problem-solving and continuing professional development (Zuber-Skerritt 1992, 1993). Action research was the methodology employed in researching e-mail implementation into SMB because it involved collaborative inquiry with colleagues as reflective practitioners. Thoughtful questions could best be explored using deconstructivist philosophy, in asking about the noise of silence, which issues were not addressed, what were the contradictions and who was being marginalised with e-mail usage within SMB. Reviewing literature on action research was complicated by its broad definition and by the variability of research (King & Lonnquist 1992), and yet action research as a research methodology was well represented in educational research literature, and provided a systematic and recognisable way for practitioners to conduct their research. On the basis of this study, it could be stated that action research facilitated the diffusion of e-mail technology into one TAFE Institute, despite the process being disappointingly slow. While the process in establishing the action research group was problematic, action researchers showed that a window of opportunity existed for decentralised diffusion of e-mail training,in preference to bureaucratically motivated 'workshops. Eight major findings, grouped under two broad headings were identified: the process of diffusion (planning, nature of the process, culture, politics) and outcomes of diffusion (categorising, e-mailphobia, the survey device and technology in education). The findings indicated that staff had little experience with e-mail and appeared not to recognise its benefits. While 54.1% did not agree that electronic means could be the preferred way to receive Institute memost some 13.7% admitted to problems with using the voice answering service on telephones. Some 43.3% thought e-mail would not improve their connectedness (how they related) to the Institute. A small percentage of staff had trouble with telephone voice-mail and a number of these were anxious computer users. Individualised tuition and peer support proved helpful to individual staff whom action researchers believed to be 'at risk', as determined from the results of a Computer Attitude Survey. An instructional strategy that fostered the development of self-regulation and peer support was valuable, but there was no measure of the effects of this action research program, other than in qualitative terms. Nevertheless, action research gave space to reflect on the nature of the underlying processes in adopting e-mail. Challenges faced by TAFE action researchers are integrally affected by the values within TAFE, which change constantly and have recently been extensive enough to be considered as a 'new paradigm'. The influence of competition policy, the training reform agenda and technologisation of training have challenged traditional TAFE values. Action research reported that many staff had little immediate professional reason to use e-mail Theoretical answers were submerged beneath practical professional concerns, which related back to how much time teachers had and whether they could benefit from e-mail. A need for the development of principles for the sound educational uses of e-mail increases with the internationalisation of education and an increasing awareness of cultural differences. The implications for conducting action research in TAFE are addressed under the two broad issues of power and pedagogy. Issues of power included gaining access, management's inability to overcome staff resistance to technology, changing TAFE values and using technology for conducting action research. Pedagogical issues included the recognition of educational above technological issues and training staff in action research. Finally, seventeen steps are suggested to overcome power and pedagogical impediments to the conduct of action research within TAFE. This action research project has provided greater insight into the difficulties of successfully introducing one culture-specific technology into one TAFE Institute. TAFE Institutes need to encourage more action research into their operations, and it is only then that -we can expect to answer the unanswered questions raised in this research project.

Investigation of educator adoption of knowledge media

Human development has occurred against a timeline that has seen the creation of and diffusion of one innovation after another. These innovations range from language to complex computing and information technologies. The latter are assisting with the distribution of information, and extend to the distribution of the human species beyond the planet Earth. From early times, information has been published and mostly for a fee to the publisher. The absorption and use of information has had a high priority in most societies from early times, and has become institutionalised in universities and institutes of technical learning. For most in Western societies, education is now a matter of ‘lifelong learning’. Today, we see higher education institutions, worldwide, adapting their organisational structures and operating procedures and forming strategic alliances with communications content providers and carriers as well as with information technology companies. Modern educational institutes seek productivity and efficiency. Many also seek to differentiate themselves from competitors. Technological convergence is often seen by management to be a saviour in many educational organisations. It is hoped that lower capital and recurrent costs can be achieved, and that competitors in an increasingly globalised industry can be held at bay by strategic use of knowledge media (Eisenstadt, 1995) commonly associated with distance education in the campus setting. Knowledge media set up costs, intellectual property costs and training costs for staff and students are often so high as to make their use not viable for Australian institutes of higher education. Against this backdrop, one might expect greater educator and student use of publisher produced textbooks and digital enhancements to the textbook, particularly those involved in distance education. A major issue is whether or not the timing of instructor adoption of converging information technology and communications technologies aligns with the wishes of both higher education management and government, and with those who seek commercial gain from the diffusion and adoption of such technologies. Also at issue is whether or not it is possible to explain variance in stated intentions to recommend adoption of new learning technologies in higher education and implementation. Will there occur educator recommendation for adoption of individual knowledge media such as World Wide Web access to study materials by students? And what will be the form of this tool and others used in higher education? This thesis reports on more recent changes in the technological environment and seeks to contribute to an understanding of the factors that lead to a willingness, or unwillingness, on the part of higher education instructors, as influencers and content providers, to utilise these technologies. As such, it is a diffusion study which seeks to fill a gap in the literature. Diffusion studies typically focus on predicting adoption based on characteristics of the potential adopter. Few studies examine the relationship between characteristics of the innovation and adoption. Nearly all diffusion studies involve what is termed discontinuous innovation (Robertson, 1971). That is, the innovation involves adoptees in a major departure from previous practice. This study seeks to examine the relationship between previous experience of related technologies and adoption or rejection of dynamically continuous innovation. Continuous and dynamically continuous innovations are the most numerous in the real world, yet they are numerically the least scrutinised by way of academic research. Moreover, the three-year longitudinal study of educators in Australian and New Zealand meets important criteria laid down by researchers Tornatzky and Klein (1982) and Rogers (1995), that are often not met by similar studies. In particular the study examines diffusion as it is unfolding, rather than selectively examining a single innovation and after the fact, thus avoiding a possible pro-innovation bias. The study examines the situation for both ‘all educators’ and ‘marketing / management educators’ alone in seeking to meet the following aim: Establish if intended adopters of specific knowledge media have had more experience of other computer-based technologies than have those not intending to adopt said knowledge media. The analytical phase entails use of factor analysis and discriminant analysis to conclude that it is possible to discriminate adopters of selected knowledge media based on previous use of related technologies. The study does not find any generalised factor that enables such discrimination among educators. Thus the study supports the literature in part, but fails to find generalised factors that enable unambiguous prediction of knowledge media adoption or otherwise among each grouping of educators examined. The implications are that even in the case of related products and services (continuous or dynamically continuous innovation), there is not statistical certainty that prior usage of related products or technologies is related to intentions to use knowledge media in the future. In this regard, the present study might be said to confirm the view that Rogers and Shoemaker's (1971) conceptualisation of perceived innovation characteristics may only apply to discontinuous innovations (Stratton, Lumpkin & Vitell, 1997). The implications for stakeholders such as higher education management is that when seeking to appoint new educators or existing staff to knowledge media project teams, there is some support for the notion that those who already use World Wide Web based technologies are likely to take these technologies into teaching situations. The same claim cannot be made for computer software use in general, nor Internet use in general.

The relationship between human beings and technological systems

By combining the ontological approaches to technology of Dessauer, Ortega y Gasset and Heidegger, with the psychology of Jung, the integrated and psycho-constructivist approach to technology demonstrates that the relationship between human beings and technological systems is a symptomatic, symbiotic and synchronistic factor of human well-being and adaption.

New Zealand higher education in the age of technological convergence

There are competing discourses within New Zealand higher education on the impact of the converging 'forces' of technology, globalisation and corporatisation. Educational leadership in NZ exhibits a demonstrably weaker response compared with the literature and elsewhere. The current behaviour of media organisations may be indicative of any future educational response.

Doing things differently? : technological practice and change in higher education

Explores changes brought about by new technologies. "Technology" is seen to influence, reorder and restructure social and political relations and practices of staff. The study is intended to increase awareness of changing work practices and to encourage an informed and critical view of new technology adoption in education.

The technological knowledge of early childhood pre-service educators

With the current introduction of new national and state Early Years Frameworks and the increased interest and activity in educating early childhood educators, it was timely to investigate what knowledge, if any, early childhood educators had when it came to design technology. Although not prescriptive around technological understanding, the new Framework highlights children's learning related to "creativity", "exploration", "collaboration", and "problem-solving", in the context of connecting with people and technologies. This small pilot project asked 20 pre-service educators a number of questions designed to elicit both their understanding and their practices relating to technology. Responses were recorded and from those given, it was apparent that the Early childhood educators not only included technological activities in their daily practices with children, but generally had a basic understanding of technology, differentiated from other forms of learning activities.

Technological thinking in primary-aged children

When children are involved in design and technology activities, they are able to create solutions to problems, often in new and innovative ways. There have been few studies which have investigated how children work when undertaking technological activities and even fewer which have focused on children's thinking or knowledge while they have been involved in the production of a technological artifact. This paper reports on a research project involving 3 school, 4 classes and 80 children. The project focused on children's language, thinking and creativity while they designed and constructed a recycling device using recycled materials. Using children's written responses to key questions, we can highlight some of their thinking, knowledge and problem-solving strategies. It was clear from the children's responses that aspects of investigation, design, producation and evaluation were evident across all three sites. Findings on children's creativity and language were presented at previous Technology Education Research Conferences (TERC). 

Pervasive limitations : innovating with ambient intelligence (AmI) technologies and restricted absorptive capacity in Australian SME manufacturers

The last 25 years have seen rapid increases in the number and sophistication of technological and process innovations in large manufacturers, producing dramatic improvements in productivity and efficiency. However, smaller manufacturers’ adoption of such innovations has been uneven. Ambient Intelligence (AmI) technologies are being positioned as the next performance and productivity enhancing purchase for manufacturers. This paper defines and gives examples of AmI technologies in current use, summarises AmI technologies of potential interest to small and medium enterprise (SME) manufacturers, and identifies potential impacts of restricted absorptive capacity in SMEs on the adoption of AmI technologies. Comparing two SME manufacturers, one from Germany and one from Australia illustrates a potential application of generic AmI technology based business solutions to a range of SME manufacturers.