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This study aims to understand the expectations of rural students with respect to their computer access and use. It also made an attempt to learn the expectations of rural students from their schools and local government in providing the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure.

Interview schedules were used to collect the necessary data from the rural students. The interview schedules consisted of various questions that were designed to elicit the expectations of rural students in terms of their usage of computers. A total of 300 interview schedules were collected from the students, and data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (Windows 19.0 version) to test the formulated hypothesis.

This study clearly showed that 72 per cent of female and 63.33 per cent of male students have not used a computer. Most of the students opined that lack of support from teachers (91.57 per cent = Male, 94.25 per cent = Female) and non-availability of computers at home and schools (82.10 per cent = Male, 80.55 per cent = Female) were the main reasons for not using the computer. A notable finding of the study was that 93.68 per cent of male and 95.37 per cent of female students were interested in using a computer. Most of the students opined that the state/local government should establish computer laboratories and provide Internet facilities in rural schools.

This paper has provided useful empirical data regarding the expectations of rural students with respect to their access and use of computers. The results of this study will be more helpful to school authority and government in providing necessary ICT infrastructure to rural schools.

To outline how psychology as one of the original approaches to human‐computer interaction (HCI) has formed a key part of the HCI literature, and to discuss the need for psychological approaches to HCI and system development.

The contributions to the journal Human‐Computer Interaction is examined from the journal's start in 1985 up to the millennium. The analysis focuses the three main elements, task, user and computer, in the classic study “Psychology of human‐computer interaction” from 1983.

Provides information about authorship, and form and focus of research published. The paper concludes that already from the beginning, HCI researchers too narrowly used Card et al.'s analytical framework. Today it has developed into a sub‐theory within a multidisciplinary HCI science and in this role it continues to be an important cumulative factor in HCI.

The main conclusion about the role of psychology in HCI only applies to the mainly US authors who published in the journal investigated in the given period. European research focusing on information technology and people may differ in important ways.

A much needed discussion of a central document of historical importance tying together many HCI researchers and a range of HCI studies.

This paper fulfils partly the need for meta‐analyses of the psychological approach to HCI.

Research into the library as place investigates the role of public library buildings as destinations, physical places where people go for various reasons ranging from making use of the library's resources and services or seeking to fulfill an information or reading need to less easily identified reasons that may include using the library's building as a place to make social or business contacts, to build or reinforce community or political ties, or to create or reinforce a personal identity. This study asks: How are one rural US public library system's newly constructed buildings functioning as places? The answer is derived from answers to sub-questions about adult library users, user, and staff perceptions of library use, and observed use of library facilities. The findings are contextualized using a framework built of theories from human geography, sociology, and information studies.

This case study replicates a mixed-methods case study conducted at the main public libraries in Toronto and Vancouver in the late1990s and first reproduced in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2006. It tests methods used in large urban settings in a rural, small-town environment. This study also expands on its antecedents by using thematic analysis to determine which conceptualizations of the role of the public library as place are most relevant to the community under investigation.

The study relies on quantitative and qualitative data collected via surveys and interviews of adult library users, interviews of library public service staff members, structured observations of people using the libraries, and analysis of selected administrative documents. The five sets of data are triangulated to answer the research sub-questions.

Thematic analysis grounded in the conceptual framework finds that public realm theory best contextualizes the relationships that develop between library staff members and adult library users over time. The study finds that the libraries serve their communities as informational places and as familiarized locales rather than as third places, and that the libraries facilitate the generation of social capital for their users.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate computer literacy competencies among rural and urban students in India and its prime objectives are to find out: how rural and urban students use computers, what is the purpose of computers for these students and what problems have the students encountered while using computers.

Scheduled interviews were conducted to collect necessary data from rural and urban students. The interview schedules consisted of various questions designed to elicit details about the students’ use of computers. A total of 600 interview schedules were collected and data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences for windows to test the formulated hypothesis.

The findings of the study indicate that the infrastructural facilities varied among rural and urban schools. Another notable finding of the study was that majority (91.33 percent) of urban students used computers compared to a significantly less percentage of rural students (32.33 percent). Most rural students have not used computers mainly because they do not know how to (49.75 percent) followed by lack of support from teachers (48.76 percent) and non-availability of computers in their schools (48.27 percent). Electrical power failure was another major problem faced by both urban students (31.75 percent) and rural students (40.20 percent).

This study attempted to learn about the computer literacy competencies among the students and the digital divide in Indian schools. On the basis of the findings, the study has recommended guidelines to bridge the digital gap. These findings and recommendations will potentially be helpful to school authorities and the government in order to take the necessary measurements to bridge the digital gap between the rural and urban students.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influences of system and instructor factors on e‐learning effectiveness under the interactions of computer self‐efficacy. In this study, the factors of the e‐learning system are functionality, interaction, and response. The factors of the e‐learning instructor are attitude, technical skills, and instructional method. The moderating effects of learners' computer self‐efficacy are examined.

The study surveyed general employees in the financial services industry in Taiwan. A questionnaire was developed to measure participants' perceptions. Four hundred questionnaires were sent out, and 362 were returned. Of these, 314 were valid, leading to a return rate of 78.5 percent.

The results of data analysis indicate that both system and instructor factors have significant positive influences on e‐learning effectiveness. Learners' computer self‐efficacy has a moderating effect on the relationship between system functionality and training effectiveness. The higher the computer self‐efficacy, the stronger is the relationship between functionality and effectiveness, and vice versa. However, computer self‐efficacy does not have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between other independent variables and training effectiveness.

Since both system and instructor factors have positive influences on e‐learning effectiveness, HRD managers need to pay more attention to issues in both areas. High computer self‐efficacy can result in better training effectiveness; therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to enhancing employee computer skills and their confidence in using e‐learning.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of gender on pre‐service teachers' computer attitudes.

A total of 157 pre‐service teachers completed a survey questionnaire measuring their responses to four constructs which explain computer attitude. These were administered during the teaching term where participants were attending a technology course. Structural equation modeling, in particular, confirmatory factor analysis and multiple indicators, multiple causes (MIMIC) modeling were used for data analysis.

No statistical significance is found for gender in the four constructs of computer attitude. However, the mean scores for males are higher for three of the constructs. Overall, the data in this study provides evidence to support the notion that computer attitude is a multidimensional construct.

This study contributes to the continuing interests among researchers to study the effect of gender towards the computer. The results of this study did not support others which found significant differences in computer attitudes by gender. This may be due to heavy reliance of computers in many educational institutions for teaching and learning which consequently granted equal access to male and female users. Methodologically, this study had employed MIMIC model as the technique to assess the effect of gender on computer attitude. MIMIC modeling is superior to conventional techniques (e.g. t‐test, ANOVA) because it is capable of analyzing latent and observed indicators.

The megadimensional nature of the complex social systems of the twentieth century, and the increasing levels of interrelatedness, present the individual with a bewildering array of information sources and services.

The primary purpose of this paper is to test and augment the original technology acceptance model (TAM) with three external variables: computer attitude, computer self‐efficacy and personality to study the use of the internet of the business executives not addressed previously.

The study is based upon survey approach to collect the primary data from 105 business executives selected randomly. The study tests and augments the proposed model by using structural equation modeling techniques and explained 42 percent of the variance as shared by the three variables. The final model has shown the influence of computer attitude and self‐efficacy on the TAM component. Finally, perceived usefulness (PU) directly affects the executives' use of the internet.

The results show that computer attitude has a significant effect on perceived ease of use (PEOU). Whereas, computer self‐efficacy has significant but negative effect on PU and has a positive and significant effect on PEOU.

The study has its own limitations and suggests that with the inclusion of some more variables R² could be enhanced and would be further improved by controlling the response biasness due to the self‐reported items. The study also lacks direction in assessing the problems faced by the executives at the inter‐organizational level.

The study has practical significance as at the inter‐organizational level these external variables are under the direct control of the top management and by capitalizing on them through structured training program improved self‐efficacy and by adding variety to the task of executives, the management could further expedite the use of the internet.

This preliminary work adds value to the existing knowledge and supports the previous work that PU belief segments have relationship to predict the behavior intentions to use the technology. The study concludes that business executives consider ease of use as a fundamental belief that helps them to achieve the usefulness component of the technology.

IN the current issue of the journal of the Institute of Practitioners in Work Study, Organisation, and Methods one of its Members, a Mr. E. Cule Davies, plausibly argues that ‘professional standards’ are interdependent with what he terms ‘practical results’. Mr. Davies cites a notional case of a company inviting a ‘specialist’ (the quote marks are his) to improve productivity in a given section and who gave their own professional work study practitioner the same objective to attain.

The purpose of this research is to look at the state, adoption and use of ICTs by students and academic staff at Mzuzu University.

The research used a survey method whose study population included students, academic and library staff. Data for the study were collected using an interview guide and questionnaires.

The research found out the state of ICTs at Mzuzu University was poor. In spite of this, adoption and use of ICTs was high. ICTs were mainly used for academic‐related word processing tasks, including internet access. However, most of the respondents used personal laptop computers connected to an MTL/TNM/AIRTEL dongle, a personal GSM phone, or commercial internet cybercafés off campus to access the internet. The university network was not used much. Obstacles to the adoption and use of ICTs included poor network infrastructure, the limited number of computers, the high cost of internet access, persistent power outages, and the lack of relevant ICT skills, among others.

The study did not involve postgraduate students because many of them pursue their studies by research, and hence they could have been difficult to contact. Adjunct academic members of staff were also excluded because of anticipated accessibility challenges. The findings of this study, therefore, may not necessarily apply to these groups.

The paper makes some recommendations, which, if acted upon by Mzuzu University management, would help improve the state of ICTs at the institution.

Malawi is a country that has generally lagged behind other countries in terms of ICT adoption and use. However, the magnitude of the problem, especially in institutions of higher learning, is relatively unknown owing to the lack of research undertakings in the field. This paper is therefore valuable because it gives a clear picture of the situation on the ground, and also suggests ways of how the problems faced could be solved.