Customer acceptance of IPTV service quality

The purpose of this article is to provide insights into the effects of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service quality and reveal mediation effects in the process of forming the repurchase intention. This study incorporates additional theoretical construct, perceived enjoyment, to reflect IPTV characteristics using extended technology acceptance model (TAM). This study empirically investigated a research model and conducted a survey of IPTV service users. The results of this study are as follows. First, IPTV service quality is summarized as design, security, and customer service, which is supported by second-order factor analysis. Service quality had an influence on perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived enjoyment. Second, perceived ease of use had a significant effect on perceived enjoyment, and perceived usefulness also had an effect on repurchase intention. Third, attitude, trust, and satisfaction had a positive effect on repurchase intention. To reveal the impact on repurchase intention of the IPTV service quality, this study proposes customer acceptance on IPTV service based on a modified TAM.     

Empirical research in progressive education

While the development of empirical psychology was helpful for research in several fields of schooling, progressive education gained much from the diverse branches of child studies in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. There are several outstanding examples like G. Stanley Hall, Jean Piaget and the Geneva Institute, and the German movement of “experimental pedagogy.” Progressive education was not constituted out of empirical research, but was in need of empirical research to secure and stabilize public interest in “new education”. Research activities were launched to secure older theories of child orientation, most of them referring to Rousseau and the “naturalistic approach” to education. Without this tradition progressive education could not have been developed.     

e-Government adoption model based on theory of planned behavior: Empirical validation

The e-Government phenomenon has become more important with the ever increasing number of implementations worldwide. A model explaining the e-Government adoption and the related measurement instrument – a survey – had been developed and validated in this study. In a post Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) approach, theory of planned behavior (TPB) was extended to fit the requirements of e-Government context. The adoption of student loans service of the higher education student loans and accommodation association of Turkey (KYK) was investigated to obtain data for empirical validation. The instrument was administered to over four-hundred students and partial least squares path modeling was employed to analyze the data. The results indicate that the model was an improvement over TAM in terms of predictive power. The constructs trust, perceived behavioral control and attitudes successfully explained the intention to use an e-Government service. The findings presented in this study provide useful insights for researchers and policy makers when dealing with e-Government services.     

Leisure—A function of museums? The Taiwan perspective

The main factor preventing non-visitors from visiting museums is ‘lack of interest’. But the causes of this ‘lack of interest’ are different in Taiwan than in western countries. Taiwanese non-visitors on low incomes are deterred by the strong association of museums with education. They want an experience that will be relaxing, enjoyable and pleasurable, and one which will not require any effort. They do not perceive museums as providing this. Non-visitors want museums to function more obviously as leisure venues that the whole family can actively enjoy. They say museums need to promote themselves as places for exploration and entertainment, as well as for education and learning. If museums wish to attract low-income non-visitors, they must consider how the needs of the non-visiting public can be met.     

Information literacy instruction in four Vietnamese university libraries

This case study explored the perceptions of academic stakeholders about the development and delivery of information literacy (IL) programs in four universities, and identified elements necessary to establishing IL credit courses in Vietnamese higher education. The following research questions framed this study: 1) How do library administrators, instruction librarians, and faculty perceive the current implementation of information literacy instruction (ILI) programs for undergraduates studies in universities libraries in Vietnam? 2) What are the challenges to including IL as a credit course in the curriculum as perceived by library administrators, instruction librarians, and faculty? Respondents were purposefully recruited from four universities, including library administrators, instruction librarians, and faculty. Three online surveys were distributed to 537 individuals through Survey Monkey with 149 replies and a final receipt of 133 completed surveys. Interview and focus group data collection included 23 face-to-face interviews and nine focus groups. Findings showed IL is considered the domain of librarians and has not influenced Vietnamese campus culture. IL activities at four university libraries take the form of lectures, workshops, and basic IL skills modules. Few ILI activities are subject discipline-related. Respondents reported challenges to an ILI credit course revolve around the lasting impact of teacher-centered instruction and rote learning, misperceptions about the effect of IL on student learning outcomes, degree of support of IL by academic stakeholders, degree of faculty–librarian collaboration, and scarcity of resources. Recommendations are given for academic librarians in Vietnam implementing ILI programs and considering developing IL credit courses.     

The new primary school curriculum project: Malaysia, 1982

The major goal of the Malaysian education system is that of promoting national unity among her constituent ethnic groups, namely, Malays and other indigenous groups, Chinese and Indians. This objective has been operationalised nationally in terms of a common school system, common curriculum content, common public examinations and the use of Bahasa Malaysia as the main medium of instruction.In recent investigations, the traditional subject-based, content-loaded primary school curriculum has been reviewed and found to be wanting, in that significant numbers of school leavers have been assessed as almost illiterate. This signalled the need for a skills-based primary school curriculum, which the Curriculum Development Centre launched in January 1982. Its innovatory aspects are manifest, amongst other features, in a reduced dependency on textbooks, more flexible teaching and learning strategies based on ability groupings, and enrichment and compensatory components as well as a more conscious awareness of the all-round development of the individual child.Observations to date indicate that while schooling seems to have become more pleasurable and activity-oriented, the programme may have been launched too hastily, resulting in teachers who have not quite grasped the essentials of the new approach as well as a scarcity in appropriate teaching materials.

---

Zusammenfassung Das Hauptziel des malaiischen Erziehungssystems ist es, nationale Einheit unter ethnischen Gruppen, d.h. den Malaien und anderen einheimischen Gruppen — Chinesen und Indianern — zu fördern. Dieses Ziel ist in Form eines gemeinsamen Schulsystems, gemeinsamen inhaltlichen Curriculums, gemeinsamer öffentlicher Examen und unter Anwendung von Malaiisch (Bahasa Malaysia) als das Hauptlehrmedium durchgeführt worden.Vor kurzem ist in Untersuchungen das traditionelle fachorientierte und stofflichüberladene Primarschulcurriculum kritisiert und — da eine nicht geringe Zahl von Schulabgängern als fast analphabetisch eingestuft worden sind — als unzureichend beurteilt worden. Dies signalisierte die Notwendigkeit für ein entwicklungsorientiertes Primarschulcurriculum, welches das Curriculum Development Centre dann im Januar 1982 auch erstellt hat. Seine innovativen Aspekte zeigen sich u.a. in der verminderten Abhängigkeit von Textbüchern, in flexibleren, auf Fähigkeitsgruppen basierten Lehr- und Lernstrategien, in den Komponenten der Bereicherung und Kompensation, sie zeigen sich aber auch darin, daß man sich der gesamtheitlichen Entwicklung des einzelnen Kindes stärker bewußt geworden ist.Bisherige Beobachtungen deuten an, daß während der Schulbesuch angenehmer und aktivitätsbezogener geworden ist, das Programm wohl zu schnell gestartet wurde. Das hatte zur Folge, daß Lehrer die wichtigsten Aspekte des neuen Versuchs nicht völlig verstanden und es am passenden Lehrmaterial mangelte.

---

Résumé L'objectif principal du système d'éducation Malais est de promouvoir l'unité nationale au sein des groupes ethniques qui constituent la population, c'est-à-dire les Malais et autres groupes indigènes, les Chinois et les Indiens. Cette politique a été mise en opération à l'échelle nationale par un système scolaire commun, un contenu curriculaire commun, des examens publics communs et l'emploi de la langue malaise comme principal véhicule d'instruction.Dans les recherches récentes, on a procédé à un réexamen du curriculum traditionnel de l'école primaire, divisé en matières académiques et encombré sur le plan de contenu dans la mesure où ce curriculum s'est avéré défectueux, la plupart des élèves l'achevant étant jugés presque analphabètes. Cette situation témoignait de la nécessité, pour l'école primaire, d'un curriculum qui soit centré sur les connaissances fondamentales, et que le Centre de Développement du Curriculum a lancé en janvier 1982. Les aspects innovateurs de ce curriculum se manifestent, entre autres traits, par une dépendance réduite vis-à-vis des manuels scolaires, par un enseignement plus flexible ainsi que par des stratégies d'apprentissage élaborées autour de la répartition des élèves en fonction de leurs aptitudes, et autour du renforcement et des composantes de l'enseignement correctif. On y remarque aussi une prise de conscience plus nette du développement complet de chaque enfant en tant qu'individu.Les observations faites à ce jour montrent que si l'enseignement semble être devenu plus agréable et mieux orienté sur l'activité, le programme a toutefois été lancé peut-être trop hâtivement, ce qui a eu pour conséquence que les enseignants n'ont pas tout à fait bien compris l'essentiel de la nouvelle approache et qu'il y a pénurie de matériel didactique approprié.

     

Google Scholar acceptance and use among graduate students: A quantitative study

Adding the external variables of satisfaction and loyalty to Fred Davis' technology acceptance model (TAM), this study examined the extent to which graduate students perceived Google Scholar to be a resource that is useful and easy to use. A survey of 1141 graduate students at the University of Minnesota asked questions exploring their perceptions of Google Scholar as part of their research process. Seventy-five percent of survey participants had used Google Scholar at least once before, and a statistical analysis of the responses found that perceived usefulness, loyalty, and, to a lesser extent, perceived ease of use, were positively and significantly related to the graduate students' intended use of the information resource. This research showed that TAM is an applicable model for predicting graduate student use of Google Scholar, which can help academic librarians seeking to understand graduate student acceptance of new information sources. Additionally, this study provides information about how librarians might best promote Google Scholar and other library resources to graduate students.     

Evaluation of Korean information infrastructure policy 2000–2010: Focusing on broadband ecosystem change

South Korea has been very active in broadband development for the last decade, which has made major strides in its development. This study evaluates the evolution of Korea's broadband development from the year 2000 to the present day. Historic and archival data related to Korean broadband projects are reviewed in this paper, drawing on broadband ecosystem as a framework for assessment. The purpose of this study is to provide insight into challenges and create a prospectus by offering a socio-technical analysis of broadband development. This will involve the in-depth investigation of the social dynamics, political discourse, and technological choices inherent in the design and development of the next generation of networks. Despite active investment and proactive drive, uncertainty still remains surrounding the evolution of broadband and what impact it may have on the new broadband milieu in Korea. This study will offer an effective adoption/diffusion strategy as well as a viable information policy model for more advanced infrastructure in other countries.     

Foundation of basic arithmetic

This is the second of a series of articles, in which we demonstrate the utility of the place value system of representing numbers.