Welcome to this issue of Computing and Information Technology Research and Education, New Zealand (CITRENZ) Journal of Applied Computing and Information Technology (JACIT), an amalgamation of two pubications from the National Advisory Committee of Computing Qualifications (NACCQ): JACIT and the Bulletin (BACIT).
Are you interested in contributing a paper to JACIT? Please refer to the guidelines and templates available on the Authors tab, and then contact the editors:
Michael Verhaart
Welcome to the third edition (Volume 7, 2013) of the merged Computing and Information Technology Research and Education, New Zealand (CITRENZ) Journal of Applied Computing and Information Technology (JACIT). This edition is the second to be based on the progressive publishing model, where papers are published as soon as they have been through the review process.
Shirley Gibbs
This paper explores the relationship between introductory computing students, self-efficacy, and gender. Since the use of computers has become more common there has been speculation that the confidence and ability to use them differs between genders. Self-efficacy is an important and useful concept used to describe how a student may perceive their own ability or confidence in using and learning new technology.
Kaveh Farbeh-Tabrizi
When Microsoft changed the graphical interface for Microsoft Office, moving from drop down menus to a ribbon bar, students experienced difficulties remembering how to apply the correct commands. This paper examines the changed teaching methods that were developed to overcome the difficulties encountered.
Tim Hunt
This paper describes the design and implementation of a method for allowing the user interface of a software application to be translated by the end user into any other language.
Daphne Robson, Walt Abell, Therese Boustead
Creating educational software requires a thorough understanding of several key areas: pedagogy, software development and user interface design. This study, which is part of a larger investigation into the impact on learning of educational software for learning equation solving, focuses on user interface design and its relationship to pedagogical principles.
Ning Wei, Dr. Kay Fielden, Dr. Donald Joyce
In this paper, gender differences in Web 2.0 usage by postgraduate students in New Zealand are presented. 84 postgraduate students drawn from two different convenience samples were surveyed to discover the extent to which they used and were familiar with Web 2.0 applications. According to Cuadrado-García, Ruiz-Molina and Montoro-Pons (2010, p. 367), "men and women differ in their interaction with technology". In this study, gender differences in the use of different Web 2.0 applications and technologies have been considered. Whilst findings from this study are limited by the way in which the populations were sampled, the sample size and having a majority of international students with English as a second language, it is interesting to note that there were only minor differences between the ways in which male and female postgraduate students use Web 2.0 applications.
Stephanie Day
This paper investigates the use of the social networking site Facebook to self-disclose and analyses the responses of a small group of Facebook users surveyed about their own willingness to self-disclose.
Dr. Cradduck’s paper: “e-technology v t-engagement: A snapshot of Australia's digital economy readiness”, is part of a special section in JACIT. Dr. Luck Cradduck’s paper has been extended from the Internet Technologies & Society 2012 Conference (ITS 2012). The ITS conference aims to address the main issues of concern within WWW/Internet as well as to assess the influence of Internet in the Information Society. The ITS 2013 edition will be held in Malaysia, 29 November - 1 December 2013, and the call for papers is currently open at http://www.its-conf.org.
Dr. Lucy Cradduck
Before e-Technology's effects on users can be accurately measured, those users must be fully engaged with the relevant systems and services. That is they must be able to function as part of the digital economy. The paper refers to this 'user functionality' as t-Engagement. Not all users are t-Engaged and in many instances achieving t-Engagement will require assistance from external sources. This paper identifies the current state of Australia's regional digital economy readiness and highlights the role of Local Government Authorities ('LGAs') in enabling t-Engagement.
Alison Hunter
New Zealand has a thriving computing industry but further growth is hampered by a skills shortage. A lack of women in the industry exacerbates this problem. Women are under-represented in the industry, and those who do take up computing careers experience conditions of discrimination and marginalisation. This paper reports on a qualitative study of the strategies used by women to cope with their marginalisation. Using multi-sited ethnographic methodology, data were collected using semi-structured interviews with twenty-nine computing professionals. Despite some women denying any marginalisation, all were found to employ some form of coping strategy. Seven different strategies were identified. The women interviewed were more inclined to join organisations directly relating to their roles rather than support initiatives which might improve conditions for women.
Executive Editor | Dr. Michael Verhaart, Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand |
Senior Assoc. Editor | Dr. Donald Joyce, Tertiary Education Consultant, New Zealand |
Web Editor | Nick Wallingford, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, New Zealand |
Assistant Editors |
Dr. Aaron Steele, Universal College of Learning, New Zealand Allan Fowler, Waiariki Polytechnic, New Zealand Kim Hagen-Hall, EIT Hawke's Bay, New Zealand Dr. Noel Bridgeman, Pacific International Hotel Management School,New Zealand |
Special Section | Dr. Pedro Isaias, Universidad Aberta,
Portugal Dr. Tomayess Issa, Curtin University, Australia Dr. Piet Kommers, University of Twente, The Netherlands |
Consultant Editor | Krassie Petrova, Senior Research Lecturer, School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, AUT, New Zealand |
Reviewers/Mentors |
Dr. Donald Joyce, Tertiary Education Consultant, New Zealand Dr. Noel Bridgeman, Pacific International Hotel Management School, New Zealand Dr. Sam Mann, Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand Trevor Nesbit, Canterbury University, New Zealand Dr. Mike Lopez, Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Dr. Aaron Steele, Universal College of Learning, New Zealand |