The following qualitative study examines the usability of a custom-designed Internet safety tutorial, targeted at elderly individuals who use the Internet regularly, for effectively conveying critical information regarding online fraud, scams, and other cyber security. The elderly population is especially at risk when it comes to fraudulent…

Computer facilitated Social Networking (SN) is becoming more prevalent in our society, both in our personal and professional lives. As its use grows, there is a desire to determine how it will impact an organization. If it can positively impact an organization then it is an initiative that could be embraced and leveraged for any number of business…

Integration of educational technology in the context of e-books has experienced slow implementation in elementary schools, specifically in early literacy instruction. Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) is a framework for metacognitive reflection on how the learning of subject matter can be facilitated through the use of…

New products continue to launch quickly but many of them are converged products. The "new product" is not a completely new thing to consumers and the basic features stay the same. As a result, the added functions or fancy design can't explain why consumers adopt the new media. Past studies have examined perceptions of innovations or user…

This dissertation presents the results of three field experiments implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to improve the health or education of children in developing countries. In Guatemala, community health workers at randomly selected clinics were given patient tracking lists to improve their ability to remind parents when their…

The purpose of this study is to explore systems users' behavior on IS under the various circumstances (e.g., email usage and malware threats, online communication at the individual level, and IS usage in organizations). Specifically, the first essay develops a method for analyzing and predicting the impact category of malicious code, particularly…

The United States continues to lag behind other countries in its adoption of health information technology. A failure to increase adoption will jeopardize the nation's ability to reduce medical errors, address the rapid growth of healthcare costs, and enact effective healthcare reform. Health information technology (HIT) implementation success…

Although there have been a number of studies on large scale implementation of proprietary enterprise information systems (EIS), open-source software (OSS) for EIS has received limited attention in spite of its potential as a disruptive innovation. Cost saving is the main driver for adopting OSS among the other possible benefits including security…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of using the interactive student notebook versus the use of traditional note-taking methods on math and science achievement for fifth grade students. The researcher hypothesized that the ISN would have a significant positive impact on math and science student achievement. Multiple regression…

An exploration of use and believed effectiveness of interventions as well as personal interest and perceived effectiveness in working with (1) students with average IQs and depression, (2) students with mental retardation, and (3) students with both mental retardation and depression was conducted via a nationwide survey of 131 school…

This research investigated the impact of automated cognitive assistants, specifically, the Personalized Assistant that Learns (PAL), on situational awareness, efficiency and effectiveness of decision making in the brigade combat team. PAL was recently commissioned by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to enhance decision making with…

Educational institutions of all levels invest large amounts of time and resources into instructional technology, with the goal of enhancing the educational effectiveness of the learning environment. The decisions made by instructors and institutions regarding the implementation of technology are guided by perceptions of usefulness held by those…

National standards and funds have helped ensure that technology access is no longer as problematic as it once was in education, but some questions remain about how effectively educational technologies are being utilized prepare students with 21st century skills that include higher-order thinking skills. For this reason, scholars have emphasized…

As a result of the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004), Response to Intervention (RTI) became a legal and acceptable basis for determining special education eligibility. While there may be evidence that RTI has had positive effects on the prereferral process for special education in some schools, there…

Programming is recognized as being challenging for teachers to teach and difficult for students to learn. For decades, computer science educators have looked at innovative approaches by creating pedagogical software tools that attempt to facilitate both the teaching of and the learning of programming. This dissertation investigates the motivations…