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There is considerable efforts by government and various agencies towards the development of information and communication technology (ICT) skills in the developing nations. The efforts include the procurement and deployment of ICT devices and curriculum development; but, these are not yielding the ultimate results as the digital divide continue to widen regionally. This calls for innovation in teaching and learning in ICT. The study assessed the effectiveness of infusion approach to teaching and learning in the tertiary education level. This approach utilises a framework and student-centred approach for which its effectiveness as an instructional delivery was tested for efficacy.

The study adopted quasi-experimental design with pretest and posttest comparison to assess the treatment given. Performance was measured quantitatively through online assessment.

The results showed a phenomenal effectiveness of infusion approach to teaching and learning of general ICT skills as the participants achieved very high performance at the end of the instructional period.

This research is based on general ICT skills and covers a regional cross-section of Nigeria.

Adoption of infusion approach to teaching and learning in ICT would close the prevailing knowledge gaps in the development of ICT skills.

This infusion approach would close the prevailing digital divide, thereby enhancing societal well-being.

This is a novel approach to the development of ICT skills, which would enhance teaching and learning in ICT.

This paper aims to examine the influence of big data (BD) on human resource management (HRM). It defines how these data can be a useful tool in the decision-making process of companies’ human resources to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage.

This paper emphasizes the need to develop a holistic approach to emphasize these relations. Starting from these observations, the document proposes empirical research employing Eurostat data to test the benefits of BD in HRM decisions that optimize the relationship between training, productivity, and well-being.

The findings estimate HRM decisions and their impact in a broader macroeconomic and microeconomic perspective.

BD research is emerging as a crucial discipline in human resources. To overcome this problem, the paper develops an analysis of the literature on cleaner production and sustainability context; it creates a conceptual framework to clarify whether the existing studies consider the growing intensity of BD on human resources.

This paper aims to make a modest attempt to classify the Asia-Pacific countries in terms of the access to information and communication technology (ICT) to unearth the prevalence of digital divide (if any) in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to that, this paper also examines the role played by the digital skill in bridging the digital divide in the context of Asia–Pacific countries.

Secondary data on 43 Asia-Pacific countries for the period from 2012 to 2017 was collected from International Telecommunication Union (ITU) database and World Development Indicators, World Bank. K-means clustering technique was applied to explore the natural grouping of the Asia-Pacific countries based on ICT access. The role of digital/ICT skill in narrowing the access-based digital divide was investigated using panel data regression technique.

Clustering of countries suggested a significant difference amongst the Asia-Pacific countries in terms of ICT access, signifying the prevalence of access based digital divide. Digital skill played pivotal role in promoting ICT access and thereby reducing the digital divide during the period of the study. Per capita income level, level of education, openness of the economy and urbanisation were observed to be the determining factors in reducing the digital divide during the period of study in the Asia-Pacific region.

The study makes an unique attempt to explore the role of digital/ICT skill in tapering the access-based digital divide in the context of Asia-Pacific region.

This study aims to analyze to what extent distance education is feasible and efficient with the limited technological infrastructure in Egypt. The study answers this question from the perspective of households' preparedness level regarding possessing information and communication technologies (ICTs). In addition, it assesses whether the pattern of students' ICT ownership is influenced by disability- and socioeconomic-based inequality in education and whether the pattern of ICT ownership exacerbates such biases.

A three-stage probit model with double sample selection (PMDSS) was applied to estimate the factors likely to influence ICT possession, considering the selection process for school enrollment and education continuation. The authors utilized nationally representative data from the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey 2018.

About 40% of students aged 12–25 did not have ICTs. Most socioeconomically poor households, particularly those living in Upper Egypt, were the least likely to obtain ICTs and rely on distance education. In addition, female students, particularly those with disabilities, had the lowest chance of benefitting from distance learning.

The persistent structural deprivation of school enrollment and educational progression has led to the positive selection of well-off children in education, which is extended to ICT possession and internet use. Without addressing these structural biases, the study suggests that distance education will likely exacerbate educational inequalities.

The study analyzed the extent to which Egyptian families were prepared in 2018 regarding ICT possessions for distance education for their children, particularly those with disabilities. Furthermore, it investigated whether access to distance learning was influenced by disability- and socioeconomic-based inequalities in education.

The purpose of the study was to explore the attitude of faculty members and students of two open universities – Bangladesh Open University (BOU) and Universitas Terbuka (UT) (Open University of Indonesia) towards entrepreneurship development courses of massive open online courses (MOOCs).

The mixed-method research design was employed for this study. A self-structured survey questionnaire and focus group discussions (FGDs) were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. A total of 66 faculty members and 149 tertiary level students of BOU and UT were selected as respondents. These respondents were selected using purposive sampling techniques. Data were analysed using quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques.

The findings revealed that both universities' faculty members and students possessed a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship development courses of MOOCs (EDCM). However, this positive attitude of both groups was significantly different.

The policy recommendations could provide a strategic approach to developing various types of courses within the MOOC, which are attractive as a means of developing entrepreneurship in Bangladesh and Indonesia. It also aggressively promotes EDCM for the academic community in particular and society, in general, to elaborate on their entrepreneurial spirit. Nevertheless, before introducing MOOCs, an empirical study regarding MOOCs readiness is essential for both universities.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between preferred choice of school subject and student information behaviour (IB).

Mixed methods were employed. In all, 152 students, teachers and librarians participated in interviews or focus groups. In total, 1,375 students, key stage 3 (11-14 years) to postgraduate, responded to a questionnaire. The research population was drawn from eight schools, two further education colleges and three universities. Insights from the literature review and the qualitative research phase led to a hypothesis which was investigated using the questionnaire: that students studying hard subjects are less likely to engage in deep IB than students studying soft subjects.

Results support the hypothesis that preferences for subjects at school affect choice of university degree. The hypothesis that a preference for hard or soft subjects affects IB is supported by results of an analysis in which like or dislike of maths/ICT is correlated with responses to the survey. Interviewees’ comments led to the proposal that academic subjects can be classified according to whether a subject helps students to acquire a “tool of the Mind” or to apply such a tool. A model suggesting how IB may differ depending on whether intellectual tools are being acquired or applied is proposed.

The “inner logic” of certain subjects and their pedagogies appears closely linked to IB. This should be considered when developing teaching programmes.

The findings offer a new perspective on subject classification and its association with IB, and a new model of the association between IB and tool acquisition or application is proposed, incorporating the perspectives of both teacher and student.

This paper aims to draw on a socio-technical perspective to explore how information and communication technology (ICT) supports the validation of non-formal and informal learning (VNFIL) in specific practices and arrangements.

The authors use qualitative content analysis to analyse 43 country reports of the “European inventory on validation” published by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) in 2019.

This study conceptualises ICT supported VNFIL practices and arrangements from a socio-technical perspective. Given this, the paper finds that ICT is used mainly to provide information on validation practices and arrangements, store qualification registers online and identify and document learning outcomes. The use of ICT to assess and certify learning outcomes remains limited.

VNFIL is very rarely seen in a technical context. This paper contributes to a theoretical perspective and highlights the mutual interdependence of social and technical components. Furthermore, this study provides an overview of inasmuch ICT is currently used to support VNFIL practices and arrangements. Based on the results, validation researchers and practitioners can get inspiration on how to develop ICT supported VNFIL practices and arrangements further.

The internet and search engines dominate within people’s information acquisition, especially among the younger generations. Given this trend, this study aims to explore if information and communication technology (ICT) practices, internet reliance and views of knowledge and knowing, i.e. epistemic beliefs, interact with each other. Everyday practices and conceptions among beginning undergraduate students are studied as a challenge for higher education.

The study builds upon survey-based quantitative data operationalising students’ epistemic beliefs, their internet reliance and their ICT practices. The survey items were used to compute subscales describing these traits, and the connections were explored using correlations analysis.

The results suggest that the more beginning undergraduate students rely on internet-based information, the more they are inclined to epistemic beliefs where knowledge is regarded as certain, unchanging, unambiguous and as being handed down by some authority.

The approach used in the study applies to the sample used, and further research is required to test the applicability of the approach on larger samples.

The study highlights the risk of everyday information practices being transferred into the educational context.

Ignorance of these changes may pose a risk for knowledge building on different educational levels and in a longer perspective, a threat to democracy.

While there is some research on epistemic beliefs in relation to internet-based information, studies approaching the problem over a possible connection between epistemic beliefs and internet reliance are scarce. In addition, this study implies a conceptual bridge between epistemic beliefs and internet reliance over the concept of algorithmic authority.

The current study is designed to investigate the factors that foster the framing of destination competitiveness and establish the factors that drive the contribution of tourism innovations to economic growth in smart tourism destinations.

A four-year panel data were extracted from the World Economic Forum's travel and tourism competitiveness index and data were analysed using Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood regression model.

The findings demonstrate that both the enabling environment and airport infrastructure significantly affect tourism's impact on the economy of the selected smart European tourism destinations. Conversely, human resources and general infrastructure display a negative correlation with tourism's contribution to the economy. However, no data in the sample support the idea that tourism policies, government prioritization or readiness of tourism information and communication technologies impact tourism's contribution to the economy. Additionally, the marginal effects indicate that improving the enabling environment and airport infrastructure can generate additional benefits for the economy through tourism.

The uniqueness of this study is the integration of smart tourism destinations with the measure of destination competitiveness to provide an empirical bridge that links tourism competitiveness to economic growth.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics and dynamics of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the ICT sector in Qatar.

The methodology of this research is based on a literature review and information collected through semistructured interviews with the different stakeholders involved in the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the ICT sector in Qatar.

The results show that two opposite forces shape the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the ICT sector in Qatar. On one hand, the strong determination and intervention of the Qatari government to diversify the economy by creating a vibrant ecosystem in the ICT sector. On the other hand, entrepreneurs in this sector are still facing some barriers and difficulties, and those issues are tightly related to Qatar's economic characteristics as a rentier state whose economy is driven by hydrocarbon resources.

These findings contribute to the clarification and critical analysis of the current dynamics of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the ICT sector in Qatar, which would have several policy implications.