Readability,Interest, and Coverage of 15 Introductory Textbooks on Educational Computing

No abstract available for this article.     

How can ICT contribute to the learning of foreign languages by pupils with SEN?

In this article Lynne Meiring and Nigel Norman focus on the notion of entitlement and the demands this has made on schools and teachers to cater for the needs of a wide range of pupils previously denied an experience of foreign languages. In order to enable all pupils to realise their potential, facilities and strategies have to be reviewed and developed to ensure that their learning experience is appropriate. This article focuses on the contribution that one such facility, namely information and communications technology (ICT), can make towards removing some of the barriers to learning experienced by some pupils, enabling them to realise some of the benefits of what has often been perceived as a particularly inaccessible curricular area. The authors examine how the generic capability of ICT can enhance and enable the learning of pupils with special educational needs (SEN), but do not purport to consider specifically the specialised technology required for certain manifestations of special need.     

国家自然科技资源共享平台服务绩效评价研究

在分析影响科技资源服务效果相关因素的基础上,提出分层的多指标服务绩效评价体系,探讨该评价体系的适用性.以国家农作物种质资源平台为例,运用归一化方法对平台“十二五”期间的服务效果统计分析,总结服务效果,指出存在的问题,并对未来平台服务提出建议,为平台管理部门决策提供依据.     

产业创新复合系统构建与协同度分析——以信息通信产业为例

产业创新不仅要注重各子系统的创新能力提升,更要注重创新复合系统的整体协同效应。信息通信产业是推动国家经济转型,产业升级的基础性产业,以信息通信产业为例研究产业创新复合系统的协同发展,有助于提升信息通信产业创新能力并且促进其他产业的创新发展。论文以复杂系统理论为基础,构建了信息通信产业创新复合系统理论模型;基于信息通信产业2003-2013年的面板数据,运用复合系统协同度模型对信息通信产业创新复合系统进行实证分析。研究表明信息通信产业创新复合系统总体协同度不高,并且在2009-2010年出现震荡,主要原因是制度创新子系统的不协调以及创新环境子系统有序度长期处于较低水平,针对出现的问题提出相应的策略建议,最后说明了研究的不足之处及进一步研究方向。     

How information systems came to rule the world: Reflections on the information systems field

Abstract

Over some seven decades, a rather mundane transition that in its thoroughness and consequences has gone largely unacknowledged, has taken place, namely the revolution in modern information systems (IS) that guide organizations in their actions. Today, it is fair to say that IS have come to rule the world. They do this literally, by the rules they embody, which dictate how much of everyday life, as it relates to individuals and organizations and the transactions they engage in, takes place around the globe. In essence, IS have become important social and economic infrastructure. Seeking an understanding of how this has come about, I review historical developments in IS, focusing in particular on accounting systems, enterprise systems, retail automation, and electronic commerce. I argue that it is transactions and their facilitation that lie at the heart of IS and its development as a field of practice. I reflect on why this has gone mostly overlooked as such. I consider where we have now arrived with transaction facilitation as infrastructure and its importance in the light of current issues. I suggest how future studies might contribute to our learning more about where we should want to be with our transaction facilitation infrastructure.     

ICTs and Internet adoption in China's tourism industry

The fast development of information communication technologies (ICTs) and the expansion of the Internet have changed industry structures around the world. New technologies have been adopted in the tourism industry in Europe and America for more than 30 years, and the trend is likely to continue into the future. China, as a fast-growing developing country in Asia, is gaining importance in the international tourism market for its historical and cultural attractiveness as a destination. It is also becoming a booming tourism source country as its population starts travelling overseas. This study examines how the ICT and Internet gradually change the tourism industry structure in China; how important such changes are, and to where such changes will lead China's tourism industry. This exploratory research is conducted based on information collected from several tourism organisations, such as airlines, hotels, tour operators, visitor attractions and the tourism authorities within China.     

Digital Nominalism. Notes on the Ethics of Information Society in View of the Ontology of the Digital

The commodification of code demands two preconditions: a belief if the existence of code and a system of ownership for the code. An examination of these preconditions is helpful for resisting the further widening of digital divides. The ontological belief in the relatively independent existence of code is dependent on our understanding of what the “digital” is. Here it is claimed that the digital is not a natural kind, but a concept that is relative to our practices of interpretation. An interpretative system that sees code as something that can or should always be owned implies an increase of social control and threatens vital processes of knowledge creation that are necessary for an open and egalitarian information society. The ontological belief in “digital code” thus provides the backdrop for an ethical view of the information society. Consequently, if we see digital code as an interpretative notion (in the nominalist way), the ethical questions appear in a different light.     

Classroom and technology-supported help seeking: The need for converging research paradigms

Contributions to this special section represent advances in understanding help seeking as a self-regulated learning strategy that occurs in classrooms, during computer-mediated communications, and when using intelligent systems that provide help to improve learners’ help-seeking skills and knowledge acquisition. Collectively, the research and development contributes information relevant for all phases of the help-seeking process. My comments focus on: (a) features of technology-supported help seeking that have implications for motivation, (b) the need for increased attention to the instructional context in which technology-supported help seeking occurs, (c) a necessary convergence of classroom and technology-supported help-seeking research paradigms, and (d) reconsideration of help seeking as a social-interactive strategy.     

ICT与社会资本研究的现状与未来趋势——正反两派学者的研究成果与困境

本研究试图从过往研究成果中厘清ICT与社会资本之间的关系。尽管过去,国际学术界在ICT和社会资本研究领域已经产出了不少重要成果,但该领域仍然处于研究的初级阶段,研究者还需要借助不同的研究视角及研究方法从整体上解释ICT和社会资本之间的互动机制。     

E-Government readiness index: A methodology and analysis

E-Government has received significant attention as digital technologies transcend private businesses and serve as a basic source of transformation in government functions. One most notable project is the United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN) that assesses the e-Government readiness of the 192 member nations according to a quantitative composite index involving website assessment, telecommunication infrastructure, and human resource endowment. However, the UNPAN index, though rich in depth and breadth of data collection, relies on a method that is a simple mathematical average of the values of the variables measured. This paper revisits the UNPAN index and proposes alternative indices based on principal components analysis (PCA). Using the UNPAN survey data, four different versions of the index are presented and the resulting rankings of the nations are examined vis-à-vis the existing ranking. The theoretical and policy implications of the proposed methodology and its results are discussed.