Abstract: As more technology changes the learning environment for educators, this has caused a greater need for instructors need to focus on the syllabus, subject content, administrative tasks, and students with varying learning styles, they may also nee d to address various learning style of students with disabilities. As more universities provide teacher training, the training may not be detailed enough to help instructors be prepared to work with classroom accommodations for students with disabilities . In particular, online instructors have another factor to work with in this situation, they have to work with students with disabilities virtually and offer similar or comparable accommodations. More educational institutions are seeing that more studen ts are enrolling in online programs and courses, and they realize that there may be some additional barriers to learning in terms of this learning environment⠒s technical process and structure. In particular, students with disabilities are enrolling ev en more with online courses with the hopes of a barrier‑free environment. Thus, there are still some barriers still present in the learning environment in terms of technical/software application or interaction/communication problems. The purpose of this paper will be to look at how a university can address such problems and develop/create virtual solutions to these barriers by incorporating the help of others in the online community to brainstorm methods of inquiry and build virtual strategies. In part icular, there needs to be a special emphasis given to online instructors to become better prepared and trained with technology in terms of structure and how to motivate all types of students, especially students with disabilities, to become more interacti ve online. While there is a growing need for more human computer interaction, rather than just selecting and clicking single choices, students with disabilities are finding technology to be more enabling than disabling at times. Consequently, universiti es need to design and develop training progr 

Abstract: This paper examines two sets of usability roles: the consultant vs the organisation based practitioner and the usability manager vs. the usability practitioner. This paper will review the current literature discussion of the usability practition ers role and present findings from interviews with industry practitioners. This research interviewed twenty one usability practitioners with five or more years industry experience. The interview transcripts were then analysed using the grounded theory m ethodology. The analysis provided various findings which highlighted concepts that impacted on the usability outcome of an IS project. The analysis produced twenty seven concepts which were formed into four themes, which included usability mindset, collab orative approach, usability practice and project constraints. The findings present and describe eleven of these concepts in some detail. The concepts presented are directly related conclusions discussed. This paper will focus on the noticeable differences between the various usability roles in relation to the resulting twenty seven concepts. The key findings show that usability managers look to strategic usability issues, by improving stakeholder collaboration and need to focusing on the skillsets of the usability practitioners. Consultants had a higher tendency to focus on usability activities compliance within a process, selecting and performing activities based on constraints (which include technological constraints, time and budget constraints), nee ded to have a degree of flexibility in their usability practice and often were used to validate usability practices in an organisation. Organisational practitioners were more focused on nurturing and educating usability understanding within the organisati on and stakeholders involved in an IS project. A usability practitioner needs to be flexible enough to adapt to the situation they find themselves in when engaged in an IS project in order to maximise usability outcomes. 

Abstract: A considerable body of research exists on the role, and desired capabilities and competencies of the CIO. However, most of these studies have been executed in large, private sector organizations. It seems that the challenges faced by public sect or CIOs are often very different to those in the private sector, and this might place different requirements on them in terms of knowledge and competence, as well as the roles they fulfil. To date, there has been little exploration into such requirements in public entities. To address this gap, exploratory research was conducted into the role and competency expectations of CIOs in the public sector, and into the impact of the public sector context. A dyadic approach, involving both CIOs and their business colleagues, was adopted in order to gain more meaningful insights. Semi‑structured interviews were conducted with both the CIO and the head of their main internal businessŽ partner of 17 local government organizations. The findings indicate that the CIO s and their business partners differ significantly in their views of required competencies. The business partners require a business knowledge and focus similar to theirs, and most manifest scant regard for the technical expertise necessary or the technic al requirements of the organization. IT is there to support them. The government environment often places more onerous constraints on CIOs than in the private sector, especially so in terms of reporting level; the ability to influence strategy; decision m aking flexibility; and resourcing. The findings from this research extend the application of the RBV and also provide greater understanding of the competencies and roles of the CIO. It also provides insights for recruiters of public service IT professiona ls and CIOs, human resources managers, as well as for providers of training programmes. 

Abstract: As social computing systems persist over time, many elements such as user experience, perceptions, attitudes and interactions may change. Facebook and Twitter are two social computing systems that have become increasingly popular among universit y students. This research replicated previous studies by Lampe, Ellison and Steinfield (2008), and Johnston, Tanner, Lalla and Kawalski (2013) to assess how Facebook and Twitter use, perception and attitude have changed among university students. Beca use online social networks, social networking sites and micro‑blogging sites are relatively new as areas of academic research, there is limited research into the impacts of these social networking and micro‑blogging sites. A sample of 486 students from th e University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa completed a survey. The results were then compared to research data from previous studies by Lampe et al. (2008) and Johnston et al. (2013). The results showed that the percentage of students using Face book increased to 95%, Facebook daily usage and the number of Facebook friends doubled from previous surveys. This results also found that the South African students are more dependent on using Facebook, in comparison to using Twitter; that their percep tion of Facebook privacy has led to a decrease in personal information shared on Facebook as well as a change in audience perception. The data also shows that UCT students perceive friends and total strangers to be their main audiences on Twitter; the att itude of UCT students towards Facebook remained positive, on the other hand, a less positive attitude was experienced from the students using Twitter; and Facebook is a more popular method for communication between students. The results clearly highlight the changes in usage, attitude and perception of Facebook over time, and provide a starting point for assessing how usage and attitude to Twitter may change. The results also suggest that should therefore make use of social networking software such as Fac ebook and Twitter both in their personal lives, and in 

Abstract: Cloud computing in many ways can be viewed as both a technology offering and a business alternative. But its adoption today is driven more by economic rationale than by technology justifications. Cloud, being a new offering, is bound to run into a lot of inertia in terms of its initial market acceptance. This inertia is driven by the dissatisfiers … some real and some perceptional … that inhibit a widespread adoption. The four key adoption inhibitors identified in the context of cloud adoption a re vendor related risk, security related risk, no‑gain risk and efficiency related risk. These inhibitors are examined, in terms of their relative impact, across four industry sectors ‑ SME, BFS, Education and Hospitals. This study mainly aims at equippin g the cloud vendors with information regarding the relative risk perceptions of the four mentioned inhibitors on a sector by sector basis. The paper posits that this understanding will facilitate the cloud computing vendors to improve product conceptualiz ation at the production level and fine‑tune product positioning at the sales and marketing level to enhance market penetration. 

Abstract: The popularity of social technologies continues to grow in the society. The term social technology is often referred to digital social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. In order to this a redefinition of this concept based on the original definition is needed. Nowadays the concept of social technologies has several aspects which destabilize the dominant status of technology. It emphasizes social sciences and the humanities as society shapers, reconsiders the strength of social dimension in technological sciences. The aim of this paper is to provide insight into the concept of social technologies, to develop its meaning in information and knowledge society by evaluating social collaboration tools and technologiesanalyzing new n eeds and application forms. Design/methodology/approach … The research results have contributed to the knowledge of the concept of social technologies. Based on the analysis of scientific literature and results of empirical research in the Focus group as well as Content analysis, theoretical framework for defining the concept of social technologies was developed. The paper presents effects relation analysis with particular social collaboration tools and technologies. Each tool and technology was evaluate d by all positive/negative effects simultaneously by setting hierarchical impact of the effect on a tool or technology. Research limitations/implications … The research is limited in a few aspects. To understand the concept of social technologies more dee ply and to develop technological perspectives in social sciences a broader theoretical and empirical research is necessary. In order to generalise the research findings, it is recommended that further research includes different dimensions from the perspe ctive of other fields of science. 

Abstract: Financial Information Management Systems (FIMS) or Accounting Information Systems (AIS) is a cross‑discipline subject, often taught by Computing and Accounting disciplines. In recent years, demand for this subject has grown. However, educato rs have lamented high failure rates among AIS students; professional bodies have reported that graduates lack sufficient meta‑cognitive knowledge of information systems to perform their tasks. Students have reported that their knowledge of databases, ente rprise resource planning and relevant technology topics is lacking. Quality teaching of FIMS or AIS requires instructors to actively update their knowledge of accounting systems and information technology as well as to reflect on their teaching techniques . Reflection and reflective practices are taught within the education discipline, and have grown in popularity among many other disciplines. Yet little has been written about how accounting and IT professionals reflect on their practice and how they apply their reflections to their teaching. Through our case study at an Australian university, we discuss (1) the rationale for the importance of constructivist theory, cognitive load theory, reflective and action‑research in teaching and learning, (2) Blo om⠒s Revised Taxonomy, (3) the application of Bloom and the reflective concept for the design and delivery of FIMS courses, (4) reflection on our strategies for applying these concepts (5) how reflective professionals can assist instructors in t he design and delivery of FIMS courses and, (6) how the proposed five‑dimensional reflective cycle framework can assist academics in the design of AIS courses. Our study supports the view that reflection, within the proposed framework, is an effective strategy; and that Bloom⠒s Revised Taxonomy and the PEER Model are tools which can assist instructors to teach FIMS and AIS courses in a way that enhances participant⠒s learning abilities. We present a five‑dimensional reflective cycle framework t hat facilitates reflective practice among academic and prof