Developing an extramural e-learning environment to bridge the digital divide : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

dc.contributor.authorJohnson, Russell Stewart
dc.date.accessioned2012-10-31T00:20:01Z
dc.date.available2012-10-31T00:20:01Z
dc.date.issued2005
dc.description.abstractThe research presented in this thesis conceptualises a strategy for designing e-learning systems to bridge the digital divide between those who have access to - and know how to use - high performance information technology, and those whose do not. It describes the prototyping of a system to test this conceptualisation, and the subsequent evaluation of the prototype in a realistic setting. From a review of existing research, eight guidelines were synthesised for developing effective extramural e-learning environments. In addition, three broad user-centred strategies were identified as showing promise as possible ways to implement such an environment. These strategies emphasised localised over centralised functionality, specialised over general-purpose tools, and user-initiated adaptability over system-initiated adaptivity. It was hypothesised that by following the design guidelines and combining these three strategies - without making any presumptions about technological platform - a workable way could be found to meet all the requirements for an extramural e-learning environment that offers a significant improvement over correspondence-based courses. Incremental prototyping was used to evaluate and refine the main elements of the design specification and then to integrate them into an operational system. This prototyping confirmed that the method proposed for developing a computer-based learning environment was workable. The prototype was then installed and tested, first over a LAN, and then over a rural telephone-based communication system where it was tested it with users. The system performed very favourably under these conditions. The volunteers' response to the learning computer was enthusiastic, contrasting what they could accomplish with it to the difficulties they faced with conventional systems. It was concluded that the user testing gave strong support to the thesis that distributive, specialised and adaptable strategies can be successfully combined to provide a widely-accessible and usable computer-based learning environment.en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10179/3993
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherMassey Universityen_US
dc.rightsThe Authoren_US
dc.subjectUser interfacesen
dc.subjectComputer systemsen
dc.subjectInstructional systemsen
dc.subjectDesignen
dc.subjectDistance educationen
dc.subjectComputer-assisted instructionen
dc.titleDeveloping an extramural e-learning environment to bridge the digital divide : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealanden
dc.typeThesisen
massey.contributor.authorJohnson, Russellen
thesis.degree.disciplineComputer Scienceen
thesis.degree.grantorMassey Universityen
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)en
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
01_front.pdf
Size:
670.34 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
02_whole.pdf
Size:
16.53 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
804 B
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: