E-textbooks are often considered as having several advantages over printed textbooks. However, research shows conflicting results regarding school learners' satisfaction with e-textbooks. In South Africa a particular e-book platform, EduBook for e-textbooks, is currently used in 170 schools across the country. In this study the satisfaction and continuance intention of 10 learners from a South African high school where cross-subject implementation of the EduBook platform was piloted, were considered. In this mixed method study, a control group of 7 non e-textbooks users from other schools were used to compare the findings. Guided by the adapted ECM model of Baker-Eveleth and Stone (2015), quantitative data was collected through eye tracking tests and qualitative data was collected through individual interviews and a focus group discussion. The findings confirm the influence of usability, expectations and perceived usefulness on satisfaction and continuance intention to use the e-textbook platform. In addition, it highlights post-adoption expectations created by cross-subject implementation and its influence on learners' satisfaction. The important role played by the way in which teachers use the platform is emphasised and learners provided useful suggestions on how teachers can be prepared and assisted in the use of the platform.
Purpose -Through an evaluation of the information technology (IT) adoption and diffusion models and the free and/or open source policy of the South African Government, the underlying assumption is that the developmental divide between those with and those without access to technology is purely technical. This paper aims to illustrate that if Free and/or Open Source Software is to be used as a building block to bridge the "digital divide" a more social and environmental perspective, which embraces the philosophy behind the software, needs to complement the technical perspective. The human environmental model is presented as a useful alternative which, if embraced, can inform more holistic information and communication technology (ICT) policies. Design/methodology/approach -Through a review of diffusion of innovations models an alternative diffusion framework is described and applied to an interpretive open source case study in South Africa. Findings -Contemporary diffusion and innovation models are narrowly focused on IT as a purely technological linear phenomenon. This perspective also underlies many ICT policies. A more socio-technical adoption model can assist in providing a more holistic approach to ICT policy development. Originality/value -The application of a new innovation model, the human environmental model, to ICT policy provides a holistic framework in which the complexity of the innovation process can be reflected in policy. Such an approach to ICT policy formulation will assist with broadening the perspective of policy makers from IT as a technical solution to IT as part of a socio-technical solution and recognise the duality of the innovation process.
This chapter addresses the question: Can a holistic model of ICT adoption and diffusion improve ICT policy formulation?This question is answered by illustrating that in a globalised economy the existing models of ICT adoption are inadequate in explaining the process of adoption and diffusion, and that a human-environmental model can address this gap by explaining the duality of this process. The example of the South African draft White Paper on e-education is used to support this claim.Keywords: ICT Policy; ICT for socio-economic development; ICT adoption and diffusion; ICT implementation context; human environmental model IntroductionDeveloping countries are well aware of the potential benefits of Information and Communication Technology for development: "There was at one time some debate as to whether information and communication technologies (ICTs) were relevant to developing countries, but this debate has been resolved with a clear yes answer. The question has become not whether, but how ICTs can be beneficial" [15]. Many policies promoting the use of ICT have resulted in large investments in ICT infrastructure and launching of e-governance initiatives. Many purport to support both economic and social development. However, when these policies are examined more closely the question of adoption and diffusion is often not, or at best simplistically, addressed. A rather linear trajectory from installation and training to adoption and diffusion is implicit. The basis for these assumptions regarding adoption is related to the rather flat view of the globalised world and resultant linear diffusion models that support this view.This chapter explores the existing linear and universalistic models of ICT adoption and diffusion which are based on an underlying assumption of a globalised "flat" world (a term popularised by Friedman [6]). This simplistic view Please use the following format when citing this chapter:
Abstract:Purpose This paper investigates the implementation process of an Open Source Enterprise Management System in the South African Public Sector. Change management was observed in relation to challenges and opportunities in the alignment of the internal organisational changes to the imperatives of the national Free and Open Source Software policy.Design/methodology/approach An interpretive case study, using interviews, observation and document review was used. FindingsAlignment of the organisational environment, change management strategies and technology is required to address many of the 'common' change management challenges. However, ICT policies are formed and adopted in a highly complex environment and have embedded property and power relations which impact the nature and direction of their implementation. In this case one of the main challenges arose from the alignment of internal organisational change to a national policy which did not seem to have the full support of the agency which was tasked with implementing it. Originality/valueMany of the challenges faced by the Public Sector Department are commonly described in change management literature, such as inadequate consideration for the social context in which the change was to take place. What emerges from this paper is a caution that there is not a single voice within government and in a multi-levelled and multi-sectoral institution there exist many different rationalities. The internal alignment of the divergent voices within government would be a prerequisite for the organisational environment, change management strategies and technology to be aligned.
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