Management and organisational barriers in the acquisition of computer usage skills by mature age workers

Aim: To investigate workplace cultures in the acquisition of computer usage skills by mature age workers. Methods: Data were gathered through focus groups conducted at job network centres in the Greater Brisbane metropolitan region. Participants who took part were a mixture of workers and job-seekers. Results: The results suggest that mature age workers can be exposed to inappropriate computer training practices and age-insensitive attitudes towards those with low base computer skills. Conclusions: There is a need for managers to be observant of ageist attitudes in the work place and to develop age-sensitive strategies to help mature age workers learn computer usage skills. Mature age workers also need to develop skills in ways which are practical and meaningful to their work.

International review of computer usage and applications by construction project managers

As computer applications become more available—both technically and economically—construction project managers are increasingly able to access advanced computer tools capable of transforming the role that project managers have typically performed. Competence at using these tools requires a dual commitment in training—from the individual and the firm. Improving the computer skills of project managers can provide construction firms with a competitive advantage to differentiate from others in an increasingly competitive international market. Yet, few published studies have quantified what existing level of competence construction project managers have. Identification of project managers’ existing computer application skills is a necessary first step to developing more directed training to better capture the benefits of computer applications. This paper discusses the yet to be released results of a series of surveys undertaken in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and the United States through QUT’s School of Construction Management and Property and the M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Building Construction at the University of Florida. This international survey reviews the use and reported competence in using a series of commercially-available computer applications by construction project managers. The five different country locations of the survey allow cross-national comparisons to be made between project managers undertaking continuing professional development programs. The results highlight a shortfall in the ability of construction project managers to capture potential benefits provided by advanced computer applications and provide directions for targeted industry training programs. This international survey also provides a unique insight to the cross-national usage of advanced computer applications and forms an important step in this ongoing joint review of technology and the construction project manager.

Do diabetic veterans use the Internet? Self-reported usage, skills, and interest in using My HealtheVet Web portal.

OBJECTIVE: The Veterans Health Administration has developed My HealtheVet (MHV), a Web-based portal that links veterans to their care in the veteran affairs (VA) system. The objective of this study was to measure diabetic veterans' access to and use of the Internet, and their interest in using MHV to help manage their diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional mailed survey of 201 patients with type 2 diabetes and hemoglobin A(1c) > 8.0% receiving primary care at any of five primary care clinic sites affiliated with a VA tertiary care facility. Main measures included Internet usage, access, and attitudes; computer skills; interest in using the Internet; awareness of and attitudes toward MHV; demographics; and socioeconomic status. RESULTS: A majority of respondents reported having access to the Internet at home. Nearly half of all respondents had searched online for information about diabetes, including some who did not have home Internet access. More than a third obtained "some" or "a lot" of their health-related information online. Forty-one percent reported being "very interested" in using MHV to help track their home blood glucose readings, a third of whom did not have home Internet access. Factors associated with being "very interested" were as follows: having access to the Internet at home (p < 0.001), "a lot/some" trust in the Internet as a source of health information (p = 0.002), lower age (p = 0.03), and some college (p = 0.04). Neither race (p = 0.44) nor income (p = 0.25) was significantly associated with interest in MHV. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that a diverse sample of older VA patients with sub-optimally controlled diabetes had a level of familiarity with and access to the Internet comparable to an age-matched national sample. In addition, there was a high degree of interest in using the Internet to help manage their diabetes.

Computer usage and the validity of self-assessed computer competence among first-year business students

Abstract This study evaluates the reliability of self-assessment as a measure of computer competence. This evaluation is carried out in response to recent research which has employed self-reported ratings as the sole indicator of students’ computer competence. To evaluate the reliability of self-assessed computer competence, the scores achieved by students in self-assessed computer competence tests are compared with scores achieved in objective tests. The results reveal a statistically significantly over-estimation of computer competence among the students surveyed. Furthermore, reported pre-university computer experience in terms of home and school use and formal IT education does not affect this result. The findings call into question the validity of using self-assessment as a measure of computer competence. More generally, the study also provides an up-to-date picture of self-reported computer usage and IT experience among pre-university students from New Zealand and South-east Asia and contrasts these findings with those from previous research.

Barriers to student computer usage: staff and student perceptions

Ensuring that all graduates are able to exploit new technologies is a primary goal of all UK universities and a variety of assumptions have underpinned policies designed to promote this goal, This paper explores some of these assumptions through the findings of a. longitudinal study involving a cohort of over 800 university students. The study adopted a student perspective to examine the factors affecting their use of computers over a three year period. Unsurprisingly, the results indicated that situational factors (e.g. access, training and time) influence the extent to which students use computers, but a disparity was found in the importance attributed to these factors by the academic staff, who focused on the needs of their department, and by the students, who focused on their individual needs. Results suggest that increased attention to a student perspective may lead to improved strategic planning in students' use of computers.

Acceptable use policy and employee computer usage: case of Sri Lankan software development industry

Organizations introduce acceptable use policies to deter employee computer misuse. Despite the controlling, monitoring and other forms of interventions employed, some employees misuse the organizational computers to carry out their personal work such as sending emails, surfing internet, chatting, playing games etc. These activities not only waste productive time of employees but also bring a risk to the organization. A questionnaire was administrated to a random sample of employees selected from large and medium scale software development organizations, which measured the work computer misuse levels and the factors that influence such behavior. The presence of guidelines provided no evidence of significant effect on the level of employee computer misuse. Not having access to Internet /email away from work and organizational settings were identified to be the most significant influences of work computer misuse.

Longitudinal study of computer usage in flexible engineering education

A longitudinal analysis of computer usage by commencing students in Deakin University's undergraduate engineering and technology programs over the period 1998 to 2001 revealed that; access to computers was at high levels; mean computer usage for off campus students had not changed significantly, but had risen significantly for on campus students; while access to the Internet / WWW had not increased significantly, reported regular use of the Internet / WWW had risen significantly; while most students continued to report their source of Internet / WWW access as either home or university, the proportion reporting home as their source of access had risen significantly; and the reported regular use of email rose significantly. Other results are also presented.

These results imply that commencing engineering and technology students are well placed to adopt online delivery and support of teaching and learning. However, while it might now be reasonable to assume that all students have access to computers and the Internet, the experiences of on campus students in computer laboratories with broadband network access will be different from off campus students accessing the Internet via a dialup modem connection. A small proportion of commencing students were unaware of the computing facilities provided by the university; an orientation program covering computing facilities and services would benefit all commencing students.

Changes in computer usage in engineering education

A longitudinal analysis of computer usage by commencing students in Deakin University’s undergraduate engineering and technology programs over the period 1998 to 2001 revealed that; access to computers was at high levels; mean computer usage for off-campus students had not changed
significantly, but had risen significantly for on-campus students; while access to the Internet / WWW had not increased significantly, reported regular use of the Internet / WWW had risen significantly; while most students continued to report their source of Internet / WWW access as either Home or University, the proportion reporting Home as their source of access had risen significantly; and the reported regular use of e-mail rose significantly.

On- and off-campus computer usage in engineering education

Computers and information technology play an important role in engineering education at the School of Engineering and Technology, Deakin University, Australia. Experience has shown that there are significant demographic differences between on- and off-campus engineering student groups. It was thought that the differences in the student groups might also lead to differences in computer usage patterns between the groups. A survey on computer usage was undertaken to determine the computer usage patterns of students at the commencement of their studies. The survey revealed differences between on- and off-campus students in whether students indicated they were regular computer users (on-campus = 77.2%, off-campus = 94.7%), the average reported hours per week usage of computers (on-campus = 6.0 h, off-campus = 23.3 h), the reported source of computer access, whether students indicated they were regular users of e-mail (on-campus = 29.8%, off-campus = 73.7%), whether students indicated they were regular users of the World Wide Web (on-campus = 38.6%, off-campus = 68.4%), and the reported source of World Wide Web access. It is proposed that the differing personal circumstances of the two student groups may contribute to the difference in survey responses.

An assessment of computer usage within the Bahamian public school system and recommended guidelines towards the development of a strategic national computer plan

Computers have dramatically changed the way we live, conduct business, and deliver education. They have infiltrated the Bahamian public school system to the extent that many educators now feel the need for a national plan. The development of such a plan is a challenging undertaking, especially in developing countries where physical, financial, and human resources are scarce. This study assessed the situation with regard to computers within the Bahamian public school system, and provided recommended guidelines to the Bahamian government based on the results of a survey, the body of knowledge about trends in computer usage in schools, and the country's needs. ^ This was a descriptive study for which an extensive review of literature in areas of computer hardware, software, teacher training, research, curriculum, support services and local context variables was undertaken. One objective of the study was to establish what should or could be relative to the state-of-the-art in educational computing. A survey was conducted involving 201 teachers and 51 school administrators from 60 randomly selected Bahamian public schools. A random stratified cluster sampling technique was used. ^ This study used both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Quantitative methods were used to summarize the data about numbers and types of computers, categories of software available, peripheral equipment, and related topics through the use of forced-choice questions in a survey instrument. Results of these were displayed in tables and charts. Qualitative methods, data synthesis and content analysis, were used to analyze the non-numeric data obtained from open-ended questions on teachers' and school administrators' questionnaires, such as those regarding teachers' perceptions and attitudes about computers and their use in classrooms. Also, interpretative methodologies were used to analyze the qualitative results of several interviews conducted with senior public school system's officials. Content analysis was used to gather data from the literature on topics pertaining to the study. ^ Based on the literature review and the data gathered for this study a number of recommendations are presented. These recommendations may be used by the government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to establish policies with regard to the use of computers within the public school system. ^

On- and off-campus engineering student usage of a computer conferencing system

This article reports on the introduction of a computer-conferencing component into a first-year study unit in technology management at Deakin University, Australia. It was found that significant variations in computer usage were correlated to student study mode, including source of computer access, source of Internet access, hours-per-week computer usage, regular use of e-mail, regular use of the Internet, number of times the conference was accessed, use of computers for games, and use of computers for learning. Other moderate differences were also noted. Following exposure to the computer conference, on-campus students were more likely to agree that computers could assist their learning, and off-campus students were less likely to agree that learning from computers would be better than classes/lectures.

Usage of a computer conferencing system by on- and off-campus engineering students

This paper reports on the introduction of a computer conferencing  component into a first year study unit in Technology Management at Deakin University, Australia. It was found that significant variations in computer  usage were correlated to student study mode, including source of computer access, source of Internet access, hours per week computer usage, regular use of email, regular use of the Internet, and number of times the conference was accessed. Other moderate differences were also noted. Following  exposure to the computer conference, on-campus students were more likely to agree computers could assist their learning, and off-campus students  were less likely to agree that learning from computers would be better than classes/lectures.