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This study seeks to explore technology use in a higher education classroom with the focus on tablet computers.

Study participants consisted of 36 undergraduate students from Rutgers University's Information Technology and Informatics major. Data were collected using an online survey, a classroom observation, and a group interview.

The study findings demonstrate unexpected technology uses that can be explained by the characteristics of the student group, the Net generation, namely, their impatient multi‐tasking and opportunistic behaviour. Students used tablet computers to take notes, conduct group activities and interact with the instructor. Students’ preference for typing was found to be a barrier in their adoption of tablet computers.

The findings can help technology developers and educators better understand and optimize their use of computing technology in higher education. Limitations of this study include only one class was studied, and classroom observation probed student behaviors only at selected points in time.

The unique value of the study included: the study was not limited to tablet technology and investigated students’ use of multiple technologies; the study captured student behaviors in an actual learning environment, and the study provides empirical evidence for students’ multi‐tasking in a classroom and for their use of tablet computers for hand writing.

Portable computers have been around just about as long as personal computers, and have always involved serious compromises. The compromises continue, but the computers have improved enormously in true portability, power, and price. You always pay a premium for portability, and more of a premium for the ability to actually work on the road. While the premium has come down, it's still there—but now, you can get almost as much power as you need, if you pay the price. In his second look at the last eight years in DOS computing, Crawford shows how conservative choices in portable computing have evolved, and discusses why conservatism makes more sense when buying a portable.

The manager of the Sony VAIO personal computer in China has been given two segmentation studies. One study is country-specific and product-specific. The other is a global segmentation study, which covers all regions and all of Sony's many consumer electronics. Which segmentation study should the manager rely on---or is there a way to rely on both? After deciding which study is best, which consumer should the manager target, and with what position?

To provide a basis for students (with the help of their lecturer or professor) to answer the following questions: What are the general purposes of a market segmentation study, and what are some of the associated challenges? Is it better for a segmentation study to provide information about the likelihood of category purchase or the likelihood of brand purchase? What are the plusses and minuses of a global versus local segmentation study, and what are the marketing implications of each?

This paper describes a small research project undertaken in a technical college in Qatar on the use of iPads in the classroom. iPads were trialed for a semester each in mathematics and physics classes; students completed pre- and post-surveys. Classroom observations were carried out and interviews were conducted with both faculty (N=3) and students (N=19). Over 80% of students reported positively on the iPad as being “helpful” to “very helpful” for learning new things and course materials, for increasing their interaction with online course materials and getting course information and for exploring additional material related to course topics. Faculty perceptions of iPad use in class were also positive.

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the differences in consumers’ willingness to pay for different types of design attributes due to different levels of specific anticipatory emotions evoked by them. The research aims to show how firms can benefit by leveraging the findings that different types of design attributes – that is, functionality, aesthetics, and environmental sustainability – affect profit margin per unit differently. Further, the chapter claims that design is a core competency that can pay dividends in terms of profit margins for firms. It is important for firms to develop expertise in understanding and leveraging relationships between the types of design attributes, specific emotions, and consumers’ willingness to pay.

The chapter uses the product categories of cell phones and laptop computers in the three experiments to test the hypothesized relationships between design attributes (functionality, aesthetics, and environmental sustainability), specific emotions, and willingness to pay.

The research finds that different attributes of design – functionality, aesthetics, and sustainability – evoke different types of emotions and different levels of willingness to pay.

The data were primarily collected via experiments in a behavioral laboratory.

Firms can leverage different attributes of design to position and price products according to emotional requirements of the target customer segment to match their willingness to pay and maximize profit margin per unit.

The research specifically measures willingness to pay in joint presentation – independent evaluation scenarios to assess differences in how functionality, aesthetics, and sustainability impact willingness to pay.

The purpose of this paper is to encourage administrators of device‐lending programs to leverage existing quantitative data for management purposes by integrating analysis of quantitative data into the day‐to‐day workflow.

This is a case study of NCSU Libraries' efforts to analyze and visualize transactional data to aid in the on‐going management of a device‐lending program.

Analysis and visualization of qualitative data related to technology lending revealed patterns in lending over the course of the semester, day, and week that had previously gone unrecognized. With more concrete data about trends in wait times, capacity lending, and circulation volume, staff are now able to make more informed purchasing decisions, modify systems and workflows to better meet user needs, and begin to explore new ideas for services and staffing models.

The concepts and processes described here can be replicated by other libraries that wish to leverage transactional data analysis and data visualization to aid in management of a device‐lending program.

Although much literature exists on the implementation and qualitative evaluation of device‐lending programs, this paper is the first to provide librarians with ideas for leveraging analysis of transactional data to improve management of a device‐lending program.

The purpose of this paper is to detail the necessity for more informed decision making and leadership in the implementation of 1‐to‐1 computing in education.

The contexts of high‐tech countries of Singapore and Japan are used as case studies to contextualize and support four evidence‐based recommendations for “true”, “principled” and “right” leadership in technology integration in educational institutes.

The cases of Singapore and Japan reveal different stages of technology implementation in education. Singapore has a broad, government‐backed vision for technology integration and has invested heavily in infrastructure and human capital. However, the paper highlights how the benefits of 1‐to‐1 computing are not easily recognizable in practice and its implementation does not fit well into schools’ strategic plans. Japanese education, on the other hand, has low technology utilization in its schools and subsequently produces graduates who lack basic digital and technological literacy skills.

For success in 1‐to‐1 computing, education managers must provide sustained and informed leadership whilst facilitating an environment where all involved continually communicate and appraise their progress.

The paper offers four evidence‐based recommendations for education leaders. Making right decisions requires education leaders to acknowledge the shift of epistemic and technological expertise that exists in and beyond the classroom, actively encourage teachers to communicate their curriculum, assessment and pedagogical intentions with management and administrators, support the partnering of students with staff in task design, provide space and time for staff to openly discuss progress, and provide a range of potential pedagogical and technological benchmarks.

The purpose of this paper is to examine eight years of quantitative and qualitative student feedback on library services collected through an institution-wide student satisfaction survey.

This paper utilizes data collected during an eight-year period from the college’s student satisfaction survey. This survey contained 40 questions which addressed topics concerning the college’s 13 major departments. Six of the questions were devoted to library services.

Over the eight years surveyed, across all divisions surveyed (undergraduate students, graduate students and graduate Saturday students), students on average tended to select “agree” or “strongly agree” with the following six questions asked: The materials in the library meet my course requirements. The library has enough laptop computers for student use. The instructional materials for using the online databases are helpful. The library hours match my schedule and needs. The library equipment is in good working order. The library is generally quiet and suitable for study.

This institutionally crafted, mixed methods survey was deployed over an eight-year period at a relatively minimal cost (in-house staff hours were used to analyze the data gathered and paper Scantron sheets were used to deploy). Furthermore, rich data were gathered from a relatively simple instrument and this information was used to make institution-wide decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of worker orientation in their cubicles on workplace behavior and experience.

Data were collected via written surveys, oral interviews, and workspace observations.

Based on computer location, cubicle occupants in a large corporate office were classified as facing out or facing into the corner of their cubicle. People faced out to enhance communication, to protect the confidentiality of material they were working with, and to avoid being startled. Those facing in did so to reduce distractions and/or physical constraints. The chief disadvantages of facing in were loss of confidentiality and the possibility of being startled by people approaching from the rear. Cubicle occupants whose computers faced out, relative to those facing in, maintained that their spatial orientation had a positive effect on communication and morale within the work unit. Respondents used nonverbal signals to modulate interaction with others, employing seating locations and body positions to reduce likelihood of interruption and used different signals to indicate receptivity to interaction.

A workspace should have the flexibility to meet a wide range of functional and individual requirements.

Workspace orientation has not previously been investigated in this way and important insights were obtained through this study.

As multinational firms seek to acquire competitive cost advantages through global sourcing, it is also important for them to develop effective strategies to reduce possible damage of a negative country‐of‐origin (COO) effect. This study aims to examine whether brand image and evaluation mode could alleviate a negative COO effect.

A 2(COO)×2(brand)×2(evaluation mode) experimental design was employed in order to examine whether brand and COO effects on product evaluation vary under different evaluation modes. The data were analyzed by a repeated measure MANOVA.

The results showed that products made in favourable countries were rated higher in joint evaluation mode than in separate evaluation mode. Conversely, products made in unfavourable countries were better evaluated in separate evaluation mode than in joint evaluation mode. The results of the study are not in favour of the notion that a strong brand image could overcome the negative effect of COO.

Conclusions of the study suggest that the COO effect plays an equally important role in consumer product evaluation for both strong and weak brands. Thus, even for a product with strong brand image, the negative consequences of COO stemming from consumersˇ unfavourable attitudes towards the manufacturing country are not likely to be completely eliminated. Moreover, to alleviate the negative impact of unfavourable COO, marketers may want to avoid direct comparison between products made in unfavourable countries with those made in favourable countries, regardless of their brand strength.

When marketing a product made in an unfavourable country, marketers should manage to create a selling environment facilitating a separate evaluation mode. In contrast, marketers should proactively manage to display products from favourable countries along with those from unfavourable countries in order to further enhance quality perceptions.

The results of the study could help marketers employ advantageous merchandizing or advertising strategies to lessen the negative effect of COO.