scholarly journals Utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Tools for Sharing of Agricultural Related Information in Osun State: Implications for Rural Information Needs

Author(s):  
Saheed Ige Adetunbi ◽  
A. T. Kareem ◽  
B. A. Oyebamiji

The study was motivated by the need to harness technological advancement to enhance agricultural production in Osun State. The study assessed the utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) tools for sharing of agricultural related information in Osun State, Nigeria. The study illustrated the socio economic characteristics of the Respondent, identified the available ICT tools for sharing of various agricultural related information, identified agricultural related information shared through various available ICT tools, measured the frequency of utilization of the identified ICT tools and assessed the severity of challenges encountered by Respondent in the utilization of ICT tools in the study area. Sixty percent of Extension Agents in each of the three zones in the study area were sampled. The data collected were examined using descriptive statistics tools while regression analysis was used to test the significant relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of Respondents and their frequency of utilization of ICT Tools for sharing of agricultural related information in the study areas. The analysis of the data was carried out with the use of SPSS version 22. The findings revealed that the average age of Respondents was 39 years; more than half of the respondent (67.1%) were male; most (81.4%) of the respondent were married; majority (68.6%) of the respondent were Christian; about (70%) of the respondent had tertiary education. The mean household size was 5 members per household; majority of the respondents belonged to one association or the other and they access the internet with their own data plan. Radio (wms 2.7) was ranked first as most available ICT tools for sharing information in the study area. Furthermore, information on availability and sources of farm inputs (wms2.3) was ranked most shared information while information on storage facilities (wms1.0) was ranked the least shared information by the Respondents. Also, the initial cost of procurement of ICT gadgets, cost of maintenance, risk of theft of gadget, and fluctuating power supply were the major challenges encountered with the use of various ICT tools. Regression analysis identified a significant relationship between selected socio-economic characteristics of the Respondents and frequency of Utilization of ICT Tools for sharing Agriculture related information. The study recommended use of Radio as medium through which agricultural related information should be shared bearing in mind its ease of access, little cost of procurement and maintenance, extent of reach and frequency of usage among the respondents. Provision of access to internet facility was recommended in order to afford respondents a limitless right to use information on the World Wide Web. Finally, alternative source of power to enable respondents recharge their ICT gadgets was recommended to make up for unreliable electricity supply.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-311
Author(s):  
Veronica Esperanza Ruiz Domínguez ◽  
Martha Ríos-Manríquez ◽  
María Dolores Sánchez-Fernández

The information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have changed how the professors in the Higher Education Institutions (HEI) conduct their activities that benefits their work and personal routines. Nevertheless, the lack of proper ICT tools needed to its implementation (Lack of Work Techno-resources-LWTR) causes stress disturbances, affecting the professor’s health. This research focuses in determine if the LWTR is defined by psychosocial factors as Techno-anxiety and Inefficiency. Also to understand if those factors contribute to the level of technostress in professors of the HEI in the Laja-Bajio region of Guanajuato, Mexico. The analysis includes a sample of 415 professors, and a descriptive, correlational and regression analysis. Results points that professors consider ICT as a factor to increase their self-efficiency, their work in teams and their autonomy, having enough technological equipment to accomplish their work activities. Results also showed that the Techno- anxiety is the factor that mostly influences in the Technostress. Besides, the multiple regression analysis determines the Lack of Work Techno-resources in the professors. In conclusion, this paper contributes to the knowledge of which factors, caused by the ICT, contributes to stress in higher education professors.


2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 308 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Rodger ◽  
A. Skuse ◽  
M. Wilmore ◽  
S. Humphreys ◽  
J. Dalton ◽  
...  

This paper examines how pregnant women living in South Australia use information and communication technologies (ICTs), principally Internet and mobile phones, to access pregnancy-related information. It draws on 35 semistructured interviews conducted as part of the ‘Health-e Baby’ project, a qualitative study designed to assess the information needs and ICT preferences of pregnant women cared for at a South Australian metropolitan teaching hospital. Our research shows that although ICTs offer exciting possibilities for health promotion and the potential for new forms of communication, networking and connection, we cannot assume the effectiveness of communicating through such channels, despite near universal levels of ICT access. In turn, this highlights that if e-mediated health promotion is to be effective, health promoters and practitioners need to better understand ICT access, usage and content preferences of their clients.


Author(s):  
Burak Pak

This paper aims at discussing the potentials of bottom-up design practices in relation to the latest developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by making an in-depth review of inaugural cases. The first part of the study involves a literature study and the elaboration of basic strategies from the case study. The second part reframes the existing ICT tools and strategies and elaborates on their potentials to support the modes of participation performed in these cases. As a result, by distilling the created knowledge, the study reveals the potentials of novel modes of ICT-enabled design participation which exploit a set of collective action tools to support sustainable ways of self-organization and bottom-up design. The final part explains the relevance of these with solid examples and presents a hypothetical case for future implementation. The paper concludes with a brief reflection on the implications of the findings for the future of architectural design education.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-99
Author(s):  
Mykhailo I. Lepkyi ◽  
Liudmyla Y. Matviichuk ◽  
Tetiana V. Lysiuk ◽  
Oksana S. Tereshchuk ◽  
Volodymyr M. Podolak

The article is focused on the problem of training future tourism specialists using informational and communication technologies. The educational process of preparation requires changing the educational and methodological support in order to give the students the opportunities to master modern professional tools, technologies, methods of creating high quality tourist products. To solve this problem, the authors propose a model for the development of high quality training of tourism professionals through the use of computer 3D-tours. The development of this model took into account the theoretical and methodological basis regarding the professional training of future specialists in the field of tourism, the results of the analysis of educational programs, curricula for training students of the speciality “Tourism” and the data of the pilot experiment. It consists of the following main blocks. The conceptual-oriented block includes concepts, approaches, principles of participation, information and communication technologies. The content-technological block includes the content of the educational project of developing 3D-tours, levels of professional knowledge and skills, as well as types of familiriazation with ICT tools. The educational content of the model takes into account the practical mastery of the student’s professional skills in the development of various 3D-tours. During this process, the ICT tools are introduced gradually in a certain order. The organization-activity block of the model includes forms of organizing the study and technologies for studying. This model entails the involvement of classroom-based and remote, individual, and group forms of organization of the educational process, organization of project development for a detailed analysis of educational topics. The assessment-resultative block includes criteria, metrics and levels. During the development of the model, the results of the activity of thesubjects of the educational process were analyzed in accordance with two groups of criteria: the criterion of formation of professional theoretical knowledge, practical skills of 3D-tour development and the criterion of the level of using modern software and technical means in creative educational development. The developed model allows for increasing the quality of training of future tourism specialists. During the practical application of the proposed model, virtual 3D-tours were developed. Their development has shown the possibility of implementing the model of development of training of specialists in tourism by using computer 3D-tours with the use of modern ICT tools in the study of special disciplines and the attaining professional skills.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kerese Tuifaktoga Manueli

<p>Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are pervasive in our daily lives. In New Zealand tertiary education institutions, the adoption of ICT is widespread. Meanwhile, Pasifika students’ participation in tertiary education has been increasing. Yet, for this group of students, academic success has been a concern to successive governments, tertiary institutions, and Pasifika peoples. ICT may offer an opportunity to improve Pasifika students’ academic achievement. The study is premised on the belief that positive learning experiences will lead to improved academic outcomes. Consequently, the study explored ways of using ICT to enhance Pasifika students’ learning experiences. Adopting an interpretivist approach, the case study investigated the ICT skills and the use of ICT for learning enhancements of a group of Pasifika students at a New Zealand institute of technology. Over a period of eighteen months, data was gathered through talanoa, participant observation, and the researcher’s reflective journal. The three method approach enabled data triangulation. Data analysis adhered to the theoretical propositions of the study. Among the key findings, is the disturbing realization that Pasifika students’ ICT skill levels were not at the level assumed by the institution. The main uses of ICT by the Pasifika students in this study were for personal communication and entertainment. The students’ use of ICT for educational purposes was limited due to the mismatch of their ICT skills and those required by the institution. Inadvertently, this has further disadvantaged the students’ learning experiences. The study concludes by offering an ICT skills development framework for use with Pasifika students. Moreover, the study proposes a number of recommendations for practice, policy, and further research.</p>


Author(s):  
Arjun Neupane ◽  
Jeffrey Soar ◽  
Kishor Vaidya ◽  
Sunil Aryal

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been seen as pioneering tools for the promotion of the better delivery of government programmes and services, enabling the empowerment of citizens through greater access to information, delivery of more efficient government management processes, better transparency and accountability, and the mitigation of corruption risks. Based on a literature survey of previous research conducted on ICT systems implemented in various countries, this chapter discusses the potential of different ICT tools that have the capacity to help to promote public participation for the purpose of reducing corruption. The chapter specifically reviews the different ICT tools and platforms and their roles as potential weapons in fighting corruption. This chapter also evaluates different ICT tools, including e-government and public e-procurement. Finally, the authors develop a theoretical research model that depicts the anti-corruption capabilities of ICT tools, which in turn, has implications for academics, policy makers, and politicians.


Author(s):  
Arjun Neupane ◽  
Jeffrey Soar ◽  
Kishor Vaidya ◽  
Sunil Aryal

The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) plays a significant role in the economic, technological and social progression of a country. Corruption in government agencies and institutions is a serious problem in many countries in the world, especially in under-developed and developing countries. The use of ICT tools such as e-governance can help to reduce corruption. In this chapter, the authors discussed the application of e-government principles to mitigate corruption. Based on the available literature, this study identified some potential elements of e-government, which are currently practised around the world and how they are interrelated to fight against corruption. Finally, the authors present an evidence-based e-government anti-corruption framework.


Author(s):  
Francesco Amoretti ◽  
Fortunato Musella

Technological factor is mainly underestimated in the literature on institutions and organizations. Although organizational studies and information technology are disciplines dedicated respectively to studying socio-political and technical aspects of organizing, cross-fertilization among such fields has remained quite limited. Only rarely the variable of technology has been interpreted as a crucial element for explaining institutional uniformity. From a more general point of view, changing technical factors have been considered “relatively unimportant sources of organizational change in a mature organizational field” (Yang, 2003, p. 433). Only after the spread of the information and communication technologies (ICTs), a good number of studies has started to consider the relationships among information technology and organizational structure (Guthrie, 1999). Neo-institutional analysis on the use of information technology was mostly directed at showing how the embeddedness of organizational actors “in cognitive, cultural, social, and institutional structures influences the design, perceptions, and uses of the Internet and related [information technology]” (Fountain, 2001, p. 88). Therefore, it can been argued that most of the literature on this field concerns the way in which technology represents a social construct, because it shows that any technological application is strongly influenced by social aspects, such as cognitive frames, political culture, local traditions and so forth. Yet, a few contributions have been dedicated until now to investigate how institutions change through the introduction of new technologies. Although technological innovation is said to be the source of variation in a given institutional context, as “new technology offers new possibilities for solving problems [and] new practices arise when innovative organizations take advantage of its novel benefits” (Leblebici, 1991, p. 335), little attention is focused on technological variables. Despite such disregard, in the following article some examples of the strategic use of information and communication technologies will be included, with specific reference to pressures exerted by ICTs for producing “institutional isomorphism.”


2020 ◽  
pp. 026666692090660
Author(s):  
Hung Gia Hoang

In order to facilitate the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for accessing agricultural information by smallholders, it is critical to understand their perspectives on the use of ICT. However, few empirical studies have considered how smallholders utilise ICT in Central Vietnam. This research investigates the Central Vietnamese smallholders’ views on the extent of use of ICT for accessing agricultural information. A sample size of 250 smallholders was randomly selected from a total of 687 smallholders in Trieu Phong district, Central Vietnam. A two-section questionnaire was used to gather data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The smallholders used mobile phones, TV and radio networks/broadcasts as the common ICT tools, and these were also effective ICT tools for accessing agricultural information. Lack of knowledge and skills for using applications on mobile phones were the main challenge to the smallholders’ use of ICT. A statistically significant relationship, existing between the extent of mobile phone use and the smallholders’ age (χ = 10.04, p = 0.040), gender (χ = 5.99, p = 0.014) and the type of households (χ = 6.84, p = 0.033), was found. Similarly, there was a statistically significant relationship existing between the extent of radio network/broadcast use and the smallholders’ age (χ = 9.58, p = 0.048) and gender (χ = 4.83, p = 0.028).


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae-Gil Lee ◽  
Kwan Lee ◽  
Seoung-Ho Ryu

Future vehicles are becoming more like driving partners instead of mere machines. With the application of advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs), vehicles perform driving tasks while drivers monitor the functioning states of vehicles. This change in interaction requires a deliberate consideration of how vehicles should present driving-related information. As a way of encouraging drivers to more readily accept instructions from vehicles, we suggest the use of social rules, such as politeness, in human-vehicle interaction. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment, we test the effects of vehicle politeness (plain vs. polite) on drivers’ interaction experiences in two operation situations (normal vs. failure). The results indicate that vehicle politeness improves interaction experience in normal working situations but impedes the experience in failure situations. Specifically, in normal situations, vehicles with polite instructions are highly evaluated for social presence, politeness, satisfaction and intention to use. Theoretical and practical implications on politeness research and speech interaction design are discussed.


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