Building IT capabilities: learning by doing

Traci A. Cartea∗, Ajantha Dharmasirib and Travis Pererab

aDivision of MIS, Michael F. Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019,USA; bPostgraduate Institute of Management, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are ubiquitous in much of the developedworld. With the growing interest in business process outsourcing, further deployment of thesetechnologies in developing countries is a valuable economic development tool. Unfortunately,digital inequity, stemming from shortcomings in National Information Infrastructure as wellas lack of IT skills, language barriers, and illiteracy often constrain ICT adoption and use indeveloping countries. The case study presented here focuses on an e-learning initiative withinSri Lanka. A key government ministry selected 150 of its employees for inclusion in a hybridlearning post-graduate diploma program in public administration. While this program doesnot focus on teaching information technology skills, its hybrid context provides the addedbenefit of developing technology skills among participants. We followed the participants ofthe program from start to finish. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data,we found that over the course of the program, participants became more aware of Internetavailability and female participants displayed improvements in computer self-efficacy.These results suggest hybrid learning programs, such as the one studied may indeed serveto simultaneously deliver content and improve IT skills and awareness.

Keywords: digital inequity; e-learning; content-based instruction; technology adoption;computer self-efficacy

1. Introduction

Digital inequity refers to unequal access to and use of information and communication technol-

ogies (ICTs) (DiMaggio, Hargittai, Celeste, & Shafer, 2004). Some previous work (Van Dijk &

Hacker, 2003) has focused on the access to part of this definition, suggesting the development of

a National Information Infrastructure (NII) and the corresponding improvements in technology

access address the key digital inequality hurdle. Infrastructural development is a necessary

element of closing the digital gap and such efforts are steeped in policy decisions and cultural

norms (Garfield & Watson, 1997). However, we argue that the use of element of the above defi-

nition is more difficult. Individual citizens wishing to be competitive locally and abroad,

especially in governmental and business-oriented positions need to know how to use technology

(Hsieh, Rai, & Keil, 2008), suggesting the development of an NII is a necessary, but not a suffi-

cient condition for shrinking the digital divide. Governmental efforts need to also focus on

developing the complementary IT skills needed to leverage the infrastructure investments.

Developing knowledge and skills about ICT is fundamental to any development effort

focused on securing a greater role within the information society for a developing country

and its citizens (Avgerou, Navarra, Miller, Sahay, & Volkow, 2003). Such skill development

can result in access to better and more timely information, better decision-making, and

ISSN 0268-1102 print/ISSN 1554-0170 online

# 2011 Commonwealth Secretariat

DOI: 10.1080/02681102.2011.604083

http://www.informaworld.com

∗Corresponding author. Email: tcarte@ou.eduSaıd Assar is the accepting Associate Editor for this article.

Information Technology for Development

Vol. 17, No. 4, October 2011, 289–305

citizen empowerment (Bhatnagar, 2000). The importance of human capital development in any

governmental development effort is featured in global policy meetings and academic research

symposia (Bada & Madon, 2006). Training and education initiatives can be useful techniques

for developing ICT skills and, as such, human capital.

It has been suggested that simply by exposing individuals in developing countries to basic

forms of technology over a period of time can lead them to learning, adapting, and developing

the needed skills to benefit from ICTs (Musa, 2006). Technology is often a formal medium of

instruction – especially in distance education settings. However, and perhaps more importantly,

individuals around the world are increasingly being exposed to technology, especially the Inter-

net, as a source of information about the world. In light of the increasing role, IT is playing in the

everyday lives of individuals perhaps ICT education could be facilitated by more explicitly

recognizing technology’s usefulness both as the medium and the message. Content-based

instruction (CBI), often used in the teaching of a foreign language, is a curricular approach

intended to foster integration of medium and content (Crandall, 1993). In a foreign language

context, this might take the form of teaching a social studies class in Spanish fostering academic

growth (specifically in student social studies knowledge), while simultaneously improving

Spanish language proficiency.

There is some support in the IT literature for the notion that CBI may be a useful instruc-

tional technique for teaching IT skills; interestingly this support comes from studies focused on

recreational use of IT. For example, Hsieh et al. (2008) found that entertainment was a key

motivating factor for the digitally disadvantaged to use IT. Other researchers have linked rec-

reational use of IT to educational outcomes (Belanger & Van Slyke, 2000; Prensky, 2004). In

the context of ICT education, CBI may be viewed as part of a form versus function debate. One

may engage in formal ICT instruction or functional ICT instruction. In formal instruction, one

might learn about the Internet by demonstrating understanding of Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) protocol and n-tier client server architectures. In a functional

alternative, the student instead uses the Internet (an n-tier client server architecture running a

TCP/IP protocol) to download information, participate in chat forums and upload homework

for a course in management. In the former example, the student likely demonstrates a more

formal understanding and in the latter a more functional one (as well as an improved under-

standing of the intended management concepts).

If CBI is an appropriate lens to apply to technology instruction, then e-learning programs

may provide a valuable building block to bridging the digital divide by improving IT skill

sets via the simultaneous improvement in skills associated with both the medium and instruc-

tional context. In order to evaluate this premise, we followed the progress of students through

a hybrid-learning-based program in Sri Lanka. This post-graduate diploma program in public

administration included 150 employees of a key ministry who were selected to participate.

The coursework was focused on developing managerial skills in the participants that could be

immediately put to use in the public sector careers. Thus, our research question is:

Can an e-learning educational context be useful in developing improved IT skills without explicitlyteaching IT?

In this paper, we present quantitative and qualitative findings from an 18-month hybrid-learning

program we followed. Surveys were used to capture participants’ attitudes toward technology

and self-efficacy beliefs toward technology at the beginning and end of the program. Further,

interviews were conducted to understand the process by which the program unfolded and the

students’ response to that process. The results suggest that hybrid-learning programs can posi-

tively impact IT skills and attitudes without expressly teaching IT. The researchers were partici-

pant observers, and our data are collected from a single program. As such, the research is best

290 T.A. Carte et al.

viewed as a case study from which findings are extracted, but need additional testing in a more

generalizable setting. The following sections provide a literature review, background on Sri

Lanka’s educational system and e-learning and distance education efforts, the program, our

study design and methods, and finally our findings and recommendations.

2. Literature review

CBI has been defined as “the teaching of content or information in the language being learning

with little or no direct or explicit effort to teach the language itself separately from the content

being taught” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p. 204). Such an approach emphasizes learning about

something versus learning a language (or a technology) and acknowledges that a key purpose of

language learning (like ICT learning) is to facilitate the communication of meaning. In the

context of second language instruction, the distinction is made between acquisition (a process

tied to first language development, whereby very small children acquire language through

everyday interactions with their world) and learning (more closely linked to second-language

development, whereby language skills are developed through formal instruction) with some

researchers concluding that acquisition is more effective (Krashen, 1985).

Some ICT education researchers have long acknowledged the value of CBI in the ICT

context noting that “ICT literacy is . . . a secondary effect of content-related ICT use”

(Tondeur, Van Braak, & Valcke, 2007, p. 964) and advocate the educational use of ICT be

embedded within content-related ICT use. Prior studies have linked content-related ICT use

in secondary education to fostering collaborative learning, adding flexibility to the learning

process, and providing cross-cultural opportunities (Van Braak, 2001). While ICT skills are gen-

erally seen as a core competency needed to participate in the knowledge-based society (OECD/CERI, 2001). Previous work on ICT education is often not drawn upon by policy-makers when

developing curricula and guidelines for teachers on how to use ICT because there is a tendency

to think ICT is new and requires new learning ideas or techniques.

In this paper, we provide evidence that CBI or content-related ICT use can improve citizens’

awareness about ICT and their future willingness to use it. Such factors can lead to greater every-

day use and the development of skill sets that can enable citizens to compete more effectively in

the global economy. However, such skill development alone is insufficient to close the digital

divide, citizen also require sufficient access to technology and base literacy skills. In the follow-

ing section, we highlight our study’s context – Sri Lanka – indicating the state of the NII and

base literacy skills of its citizens.

3. Country background

Sri Lanka has a rich educational history built on the British education system stemming from its

colonial past. While the overall quality of education in the country is high – the literacy rate is

92%, and 83% of the total population have completed secondary education – only 10% are com-

puter literate (Abeysekera, 2008). The geographic distribution of computer literacy in Sri Lanka

as shown in Figure 1 is asymmetrical, suggesting potentially large IT payoffs from e-learning

opportunities.

The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) recognized a need to better leverage IT and thus

adopted a national policy on ICTs and created the Information and Communication Technology

Agency in 2003. Highlighted in Table 1, a number of distance learning and e-learning initiatives

have been funded by or otherwise approved by the GOSL. Among these programs, the DEPS

program could be considered the forerunner for the methodology and administration of the Post-

graduate Diploma program studied here.

Information Technology for Development 291

NII enables the flow of data within and between countries. The development of NII is an

important part of any understanding of digital inequity as well as any effort to reduce such

inequities because NII provides access to ICTs. The term can be applied broadly to telephone

and cable television services as well as data communication networks that exist within a

nation (Garfield & Watson, 1997). For the purpose of this study, we limit our examination to

Sri Lanka’s data communication infrastructure.

Figure 1. Computer literacy.Source: Abeysekera (2008).

Table 1. Important distance education initiatives.

The Open University of Sri Lanka Provides higher educational opportunities to workingadults through the Distance Mode. Fully onlinecourses and supplementary courses from theFaculties of Engineering, Natural Sciences andHumanities and has an e-learning platformconnecting 38,896 registered sites with 16,927,590users in 1,713,438 courses (as of January 2008)

The Distance Learning Centre (DLC) in Colombo A node of the World Bank’s Global DevelopmentLearning Network (GDLN), facilitating distancelearning programs, provides decision-makers,mainly at middle to top management personnel inboth private and public sectors, regular andaffordable interaction with peers and experts acrossthe globe

The Distance Education Modernization Project(DEMP) of the Ministry of Education, SriLanka

Addresses the GOSL’s initiative to enhance humandevelopment in Sri Lanka. Aims to significantlyincrease access to post-secondary education in SriLanka through development of distance educationtechnologies (www.depp.lk)

The Distance Education for Publics Servants(DEPS) program

Adopted blended learning methods using printedmodules, CD ROM, e-mail communication, radioprograms and group learning sessions through atotal of 115 Group Learning Centers for publicservants island-wide

292 T.A. Carte et al.

According to the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL, 2009),

the e-mail and Internet subscriber base in Sri Lanka has seen a growth of 90% from 1996 to 2009.

Figure 2 contains the latest figures. Sri Lanka has a fiber optic network and also wireless solutions

offered by several telecommunication providers. It became the first country in South Asia to

introduce GSM, one of the most efficient technologies for mobile communication. Plans are

underway to obtain a communication satellite as a further expansion of ICT capability.

While Sri Lanka has endeavored to provide distance education and e-learning opportunities

for many years with varying levels of success, the current NII and rapidly improving opportu-

nities to gain access to the Internet suggest the current program may be well timed to produce

the desired learning results (i.e. improved public administration skills within the Ministry) as

well as to really accelerate IT literacy among this group of students who have ICT access like

no group of e-learning students before them.

We provide this background about Sri Lanka more to describe the context within which our

study was conducted than to suggest there is something unique about Sri Lanka precluding

others countries from successfully applying what was learned. Potentially unique about Sri

Lanka is a high literacy and education rate compared with the neighboring countries.

However, we believe the program studied provides a suitable sample for studying the problems

associated with a government rapidly pursuing such a development policy and the knowledge

gained in attempting to solve the problems encountered. In terms of generalizability,

UNESCO classifies Sri Lanka as a lower-middle income country (India is also in this category)

and we believe the usefulness of our findings may be greater for countries with similar levels of

economic development due to corresponding differences in populations’ exposure to technol-

ogy. Further, we believe the high literacy and education rates in Sri Lanka were an advantage

and our findings may be more applicable to countries similar in education.

4. The Postgraduate Diploma Program

The new 18-month Postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration offered by the Postgraduate

Institute of Management (PIM) affiliated to the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Colombo,

Sri Lanka was developed to train 150 newly recruited graduates in the Ministry of Finance &

Planning who are expected to perform various executive level functions within the GOSL.

Figure 2. Email and Internet growth in Sri Lanka.Source: TRCSL (2009).

Information Technology for Development 293

The pilot program studied here was supported by a financial grant from the United Nations

Development Programme, could be extended subsequently to participants recruited from

other government institutions.

This is not a technology program. However, the GOSL recognizes a need to help equip the public

sector with the skills and competencies urgently needed to manage and administer forthcoming e-

government projects. Moreover, IT literacy levels within the GOSL are extremely low, even

though significant investments have been made in IT infrastructure. By employing a hybrid learning

method, including web uploaded textual material, interactive CD’s, group learning sessions, a web

forum and an e-journal, this program is likely to also improve the technology skills of participants.

It was expected that students invest substantial time in the technology-supported environ-

ment working with the course CDs and visiting the course website. The web forum was expected

to stimulate inter-group discussions. The e-journal provided news and information on confer-

ences, government decisions, implementation reports, and international events etc. Group learn-

ing sessions were hosted at PIM twice a month in 2 h durations. Faculty at PIM acted as group

facilitators and helped focus the sessions on group discussion of key concepts. Through multiple

choice quizzes administered monthly and other exercises, participants assessed their absorption

of knowledge. A final noteworthy feature of the program was the use of group leaders. At the end

of the first session, a leader for each group was appointed by the facilitator. Such leaders were

supposed to help lead the group learning sessions, and act as key coordinators linking with the

facilitators and administrators. They were rotated once in 6 months, in order to give leadership

opportunities for more.

5. Study design

Because we were fortunate enough to have full cooperation from the program leadership, we were

able to follow the initial cohort of this program from start to finish. As a result, we attempted to

design a set of research methods to capture both student experiences, as well as program

process effectiveness (highlighted in Figure 3). We began by capturing initial perceptions and

demographic information via a paper and pencil survey (translated into the native language),

we next interviewed key participants a few months into the program to gather information

about key program processes, and finally we surveyed the students again at the conclusion of

the program to try to understand the potential impact the program and its delivery methods had

on student perceptions of technology. Such a combination of qualitative and quantitative data cap-

tured over time provides a rich picture of the students’ experiences in the program.

5.1 Initial survey

Upon commencement of the program, the students completed a questionnaire which captured

demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, education, and Big-5 personality). It also included

Figure 3. Research design.

294 T.A. Carte et al.

items aimed at understanding Internet availability and computer self-efficacy (CSE). Previous

work clearly suggests that access to technology is a key input to digital equality. We included

one item in our survey focused on capturing Internet availability. We asked the participants

to rate on a seven-point Likert scale the following: “I can access the internet anytime I want

to” (Lee, Lee, & Kim, 2007). In addition, self-efficacy is the key to understanding digital

inequity for two reasons. First, it affects future plans to use IT (Eastin & LaRose, 2000).

Second, a lack of confidence, or self-efficacy, likely affects the digitally disadvantaged to a

greater extent than the digitally advantaged (Hsieh et al., 2008). We include a two-item CSE

scale adapted from Lee et al. (2007).

5.2 Interviews

Two months into the program, we convened a meeting of group leaders. They were asked to

come to the meeting prepared to represent the opinions and feelings of their group members.

Interview guide essentially consisted of the key issues they faced in using IT for their

program. Availability of Internet access was one such issue which was subsequently addressed

by the ministry officials.

5.3 Final survey

At the program’s conclusion, a second survey was administered containing the same measures of

Internet availability and CSE. In addition, the participants were asked their overall perception of

the use of IT in the program, their involvement with the program, and perceptions of facilitator

effectiveness.

5.3.1 Overall IT perception

Multiple theories (e.g. Theory of Reasoned Action, Technology Acceptance Model) that seek to

predict future IT usage suggest that attitude toward technology is a significant predictor of future

IT behavior (Azjen & Fishbein, 1980; Davis, 1989). We asked our participants a single question

(developed for this study) about their perceptions of IT at the end of the program to better under-

stand the role this program played in creating positive attitudes about IT.

5.3.2 Extent of use

Digital inequity stems from differences in access to and use of technology. As such, equity is

improved through improvements in access to technology and more frequent or deeper use of

technology. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) argues that an individual’s intention

to use technology is predicated on perceptions that it is useful and easy to use, and those percep-

tions are impacted by actually using the technology (Davis, 1989). We captured this with a set of

questions developed for this study that asked participants to report how often they: reviewed the

online forum report, emailed the members, facilitator and office, and used the CD (anchored at

rarely and very often).

5.3.3 Facilitator effectiveness

Previous studies suggest that management support, the degree to which an individual believes

that the management has committed to the successful implementation and use of a system,

can impact an individual’s perceived usefulness of a system (Venkatesh & Bala, 2008). In

our context, such support would likely come from meeting facilitators. These were the faculty

Information Technology for Development 295

at PIM who were responsible for guiding the students during the face-to-face meetings and also

for maintaining contact and facilitating interaction between meetings. As such, we measured

facilitator effectiveness using an adapted scale (Geisner & van Knippenberg, 2008).

Because this was an educational program, multiple-choice quizzes were given at regularly

scheduled intervals. The content of each quiz was specific to the program material for that

time period. Quiz results were made available by program administrators to be used as a

measure of performance in the program.

6. Data analysis and findings

Given the time-based nature of our methods, we present our analysis and interpretation chrono-

logically (separated into preliminary findings, intermediate findings, and findings at the end of

the program).

6.1 Preliminary findings: role of individual differences among program participants

Out of the 150 program participants, 122 completed our initial survey (for a response rate of

81.3%). Demographics (Table 2) show our sample to be predominantly female, Sinhalese,

over 30-years old, and possessing a bachelor’s degree.

We conducted multiple regression analysis using demographics (age, gender, education

level), Internet availability and personality1 as independent variables and quiz performance as

the dependent measure (performance on two multiple choice quizzes was available, results

reported here used quiz one data; however, results were consistent across both). The resulting

model was significant (F8, 106 ¼ 3.619, p ¼ 0.001); however, the variance explained was

modest (Adj. R2 ¼ 0.155). Significant in this model were age (b ¼ 20.249, t ¼ 22.768,

p ¼ 0.007), Internet availability (b ¼ 0.219, t ¼ 2.48, p ¼ 0.015), and to a lesser extent the

Big-5 personality dimension, openness to experience (b ¼ 20.191, t ¼ 21.906, p ¼ 0.059).

These preliminary results suggest that age is negatively related to course outcomes, Internet

availability is positively related to course outcomes, and the personality dimension, openness

to experience, is negatively related to course outcomes.

These findings early in the program provide some insight into what kind of individual is poten-

tially best suited to a hybrid learning experience. While gender was not a factor, younger students

seemed to be more able to adjust to the new learning environment (or perhaps it was less of an

adjustment for younger students). As expected, distance education requires technology access,

so students with Internet access were more successful than students without. Interestingly, stu-

dents whose personality was higher on the openness to experience were less successful. Openness

to experience has previously been linked to intention to use technologies whether the technology

was perceived to be useful or not suggesting that open people are likely to engage in technology

use to satisfy their curiosity or seek out new adventures rather than due to perceived utility

(Devaraj, Easley, & Crant, 2008). Consistent with this previous work, our participants

Table 2. Demographics (n ¼ 122).

Age (in years) Mean ¼ 35.8, SD ¼ 3.84

Ethnicity Sinhalese ¼ 118, other ¼ 4Gender Male ¼ 41, female ¼ 81Education level Bachelor’s degree ¼ 106

Master’s degree ¼ 12Other ¼ 4

296 T.A. Carte et al.

demonstrating higher openness to experience may have engaged in more exploration rather than

task-focused use of the system potentially resulting in poorer quiz performance.

6.2 Intermediate findings

In interviews, group leaders expressed (on the part of themselves and their teammates) consider-

able concern over a lack of Internet availability – consistent with our findings above. They saw

the Internet as the primary means of communication including: knowledge-sharing among par-

ticipants, follow up between facilitators and participants, and a primary delivery channel for

course content from the program to its participants. Time constraints were further identified

as barriers to success for many participants. While the Ministry endorsed their participation

in this program, and officially provided two hours’ leave from work every two weeks to

attend the group session, often local managers were asking that the time be made up. Finally,

some concerns were raised about the English language medium of instruction. Many students

were struggling; however, improving the English skills of these government employees is

seen as another important byproduct of the program by its administrators.

These leaders also offered several suggestions to address their concerns. For example, it was

suggested perhaps the leave time could be extended from two to four hours so that students could

either arrive at PIM early or stay a little later to use the IT center to work through modules,

engage in the forum, or use the online English tutorials. They also asked that the program admin-

istrators intervene on their behalf with Ministry officials to engender stronger support for their

participation in this program, including more consistent application of the official leave policy.

On a positive note, the students expressed an appreciation for the program, perceived the

content as immediately relevant, and believed developing their English skills important. One

interesting observation made by one leader was his perception that students in his groups

were demonstrating increased motivation to be successful in the program. When pressed for a

reason, he observed that for several members of his group Ministry officials were asking

about the program and its content. This ability to showcase their learning proved motivating.

Figure 4. Participant responses.

Information Technology for Development 297

In response to these suggestions, the program administrators were successful in getting the

students’ leave time extended to four hours so that IT facilities at PIM could be used. Further,

additional English language instruction was provided.

6.3 Findings at program conclusion

Once participants concluded their program of study, we administered another survey. On this,

we reassessed their perceptions of CSE, captured the extent to which participants used the

on-line tools provided, and asked their opinions of the faculty facilitators. We also asked for

their overall perceptions of the use of IT in this program. We specifically focused on participant

involvement and facilitator effectiveness because these were perceived to be factors over which

program administrators had some control; as such any significant findings would yield opportu-

nities for administrative actions that might add to the program’s overall success. In all, 75 usable

responses were received. Of these 75, only 65 had also responded to the initial survey. When

combined with responses to the first survey, 65 matched pairs were collected, resulting in an

overall response rate of 43.3%.

The students responded very favorably to the use of IT in this program (Figure 4). Further,

their perceptions of Internet availability improved over the course of the program, perhaps due to

the increase in leave time. The students’ responses to this question at the beginning and end of

the program are shown in Figure 5. As shown, the percentage of students who strongly agreed

with the statement “During the program I was able to access the Internet anytime I wanted”

increased from about 20% to almost 40% over the course of the program with way more than

half the students either strongly agreeing or agreeing. Further, less than 5% of the students dis-

agreed or strongly disagreed with this statement in the end, compared with close to 30% at the

beginning.

6.3.1 Measurement assessment

Given, we had a number of multi-item perceptual scales, we next turn our attention to construct

validity and reliability. Factor analysis using principal components analysis and a varimax

rotation results and reliability calculations are provided in Table 3. Some items cross-loaded

Figure 5. Perceptions of Internet availability (% of respondents).

298 T.A. Carte et al.

and were dropped (dropped items are noted). The final measures exhibited reasonable validity (i.e.

all factor loadings exceeded 0.7) and reliability (all Cronbach’s alpha scores exceeded 0.8). Using

these validated measures, we conducted analysis to identify changes in CSE over time.

Table 3. Psychometric properties of measures.

Mean SDFactorloading Alpha

Involvement 0.827While studying in the PDP program, how often did you (1 ¼ rarely, 7 ¼ very often):Review the online forum report? 4.50 1.826 0.817E-mail your group members? 4.49 1.977 0.883E-mail your group’s facilitator? 4.32 1.855 0.793E-mail the PDPA program office? DroppedRead the PDPA newsletter? 4.71 1.765 0.715Contribute to the PDPA newsletter? DroppedFacilitator effectiveness 0.983

Please answer the following about your perceptions of your team’s facilitator (1 ¼ strongly agree, 7 ¼strongly disagree):

This group facilitator was a goodfacilitator

1.74 1.524 0.948

This group facilitator was veryeffective

1.94 1.600 0.956

This group facilitator led the group in away which motivated the groupmembers’

1.88 1.452 0.931

I liked working together with this groupfacilitator

1.71 1.558 0.965

How successful was your groupfacilitator?

Dropped

How successful will your groupfacilitator be in future tasks?

Dropped

Computer self-efficacy Time1/Time2 Time1/Time2 Time1 0.886/0.994

For the following questions please circle the answer that most closely reflects your attitude about usingtechnology to support your learning experience in this program (1 ¼ strongly agree, 7 ¼ stronglydisagree)

I am able to (at the end of the program Iwas able to) figure out how to use theInternet and CD for this programwithout spending much effort

2.4/1.98 1.39/1.363 0.774

I am able to (at the end of the program Iwas able to) figure out how to use theInternet and CD for this programwithout help from others

1.98/1.78 1.364/1.327 0.825

Table 4. t-Test results.

Paired samples statistics

Mean SD t-Value Sig. (one-tailed)

CSE1 11.67188 2.588465 21.1868 0.119881CSE2 12.23438 2.617051

Information Technology for Development 299

6.3.2 Analysis

Matched-sample t-test analysis revealed no differences between the CSE perceptions at the

beginning and end of the program (Table 4).

However, previous work on CSE suggests that gender plays an important role in our perceptions

(Harrison, Rainer Jr., & Hochwarter, 1997). Given such previous findings, we next conducted a

repeated-measures ANOVA, using CSE in time 1 and time 2 as a within-subjects factor, gender as

the between-subjects factor, and involvement and facilitator performance as covariates. The results

reveal a significant time X gender interaction (F1, 29.063 ¼ 4.331,2 p ¼ 0.042). Further, between-

subject results were significant for facilitator effectiveness (F1, 59 ¼ 4.129, p ¼ 0.047) and involve-

ment (F1, 59 ¼ 6.428, p ¼ 0.014). These results (depicted graphically in Figure 6) suggest that

experience (or time) mattered for the women in our study; their perceptions of CSE increased over

time as they experienced the technology. Further, time invariant effects were found for facilitator

performance and student involvement. Participant perceptions of CSE were higher when they

were more involved and when they had positive perceptions of their facilitator’s effectiveness.

7. Discussion

It has been argued that the Internet’s effect on digital inequity will depend on the social organ-

ization of its use – in terms of government programs, industry structure and pricing policies, and

approaches to the provision and organization of content (DiMaggio et al., 2004). In this paper,

we follow participants through a distance education or blended learning program resulting from

a government/university partnership – a new and potentially interesting component of the social

organization of Internet use in Sri Lanka. While the efforts of this program were not focused on

improving digital equity, we believe that hybrid learning environments supported by the Internet

offer a potential to level the digital playing field by combining learning a particular topic (public

administration in our case) with learning technology by using the Internet – i.e. “learning by

doing” as indicated in our title. Our participants developed IT awareness and improved IT

skills; an often cited critical driver of digital equity (Hsieh et al., 2008). Our findings might

be best understood in terms of inputs, processes, and outputs. We discuss them as such and

provide a summarizing model (Figure 7).

Figure 6. Computer self-efficacy.

300 T.A. Carte et al.

7.1 Inputs: student demographics and instruction methods

Early findings from our study identify individual traits that may lead to improved program out-

comes. According to Storey (1995), the key beliefs and assumptions in a human resource man-

agement model are that it is the human resource that gives competitive edge, the aim is not mere

compliance with rules, but to build employee commitment, and therefore employees should be

very carefully selected and developed. The success of our program certainly had some depen-

dence on who was selected to participate. Given our focus on reducing digital inequity, we

would not advocate selecting out students who may struggle a bit more with the learning

context, but we certainly recommend greater awareness of who might find such a program

more difficult. Our initial findings suggest older students struggled more in the beginning of

the program than younger ones. As such, others who are interested in developing a program

such as the one studied here may want to make arrangements for targeted early training in tech-

nology for older members of a cohort.

Further, we found individuals in our program who were higher on openness to experience

were less successful early on perhaps due to greater technology exploration (Devaraj et al.,

2008). A deeper investigation into our relationship between openness to experience and

program performance revealed a more U-shaped relationship (i.e. lower openness to experience

led to poorer performance and high openness to experience led to poorer performance, but indi-

viduals reporting openness to experiences levels around 3:5 on a five-point scale were the

highest performing). Such findings suggest the capture of personality data from individuals

applying for hybrid learning programs may be beneficial in helping to tailor the learning experi-

ence. For example, previous meta-analytic results demonstrated that openness is consistently

associated with training proficiency and engaging in learning experiences (Barrick & Mount,

1991), suggesting that the open individuals in our study may be fully engaged in the program,

but potentially saw technology as the more interesting learning experience. As such, highly

open individuals may be useful sources of knowledge transfer about the technology to their

less open colleagues. While modestly open individuals (i.e. scores around 3.5) may serve as

Figure 7. Resulting research model.

Information Technology for Development 301

brokers in a group – recognizing the usefulness of technology, but maintaining focus on

assigned tasks. Armed with such knowledge, program administrators may be able to create

small groups within a program that include a sort of requisite variety in openness.

7.2 The process: student involvement, facilitator effectiveness, and time

As with foreign-language instruction, we argued that technology skills might be improved not

via the direct technology training process, but rather by using a CBI process (i.e. using technol-

ogy to teach something else). Significant in our findings were the relationships between partici-

pant involvement, facilitator effectiveness and CSE improvements. Participants who were more

involved and who perceived their facilitators to be effective showed greater improvements in

CSE over the course of the program. These findings suggest the success of any efforts to

develop ICT competencies, using CBI would need to develop effective practices among facili-

tators which likely in turn would promote involvement. The well-used Hersey and Blanchard

(1988) Situational Leadership Model could be used for developing facilitators. The leadership

style of the facilitator would be imperative in order to give a high tech/ high touch interface,

incorporating coaching, supporting, mentoring and counseling in order to keep the participants’

attention and loyalty to connect with the hybrid-learning program.

Further, we would argue three essential strategies used by a facilitator in a traditional learn-

ing program that needs to be replicated in an on-line context: kinesics, paralanguage and seman-

tics. The scope for kinesics which refers to the use of body language in the on-line program in

this study included the twice monthly face-to-face session with the facilitator, and the DVD

course material. The face-to-face sessions could be used to build intimacy between the partici-

pants and the facilitator and more chat sessions and on-line forums could be used to further

develop relationships between face-to-face meetings. The language used in the program was

English. This had a dual purpose: for learning the language, as well as introducing business

semantics, the precise choice of words to be used in a situation. However, considering the neces-

sity to build a rapport with participants, paralanguage such as the introduction of essential

English words through interspersed Sinhala or Tamil dialect could be a conscious effort

toward complete English communication.

7.3 Outputs: IT skills and awareness

Finally, we argued that by using technology, the participant’s CSE – beliefs about one’s capa-

bilities to use technology – would be positively impacted over the course of the program. Our

participants were taught key management concepts, and that learning was delivered via the Inter-

net, CDs, and classroom instruction, and their CSE perceptions improved over the course of the

program – for women significantly so. Positively impacting CSE is important because improved

CSE can result in more positive future decisions to use technology (Compeau & Higgins, 1995).

Men typically demonstrate higher CSE perceptions than women (Harrison et al., 1997), and

this was true in our study as well. Initial CSE perceptions were higher among men than women;

however, at the conclusion of our program CSE perceptions among women were higher than

among men. One possible explanation for this finding is women are more responsive to the infor-

mation and feedback received from others and view such situations as potential opportunities to

learn more about their abilities (Roberts, 1991). Men, on the contrary, tend to adopt a competi-

tive attitude and thus, a self-confident (and potentially, overconfident) approach (see Lundeberg,

Fox, & Puncochar, 1994). These patterns of behavior impact the perceptions men and women

have about technology (Venkatesh, Morris, & Ackerman, 2000). As such, it is possible that

the women in our program responded more positively to the program administrators’ and

302 T.A. Carte et al.

facilitators’ positive endorsement of the use of technology in the program while the men did not.

This has implications for other programs; how can positive perceptions be built among both men

and women. For both, current experience with technology is a significant predictor of future

usage (Venkatesh et al., 2000); as such, providing early positive interactions with technology

may be helpful.

8. Conclusions

We set out to engage in an action research effort following the 18-month progress of students in a

postgraduate diploma program. Our thesis was IT skills and awareness may be improved not via

the direct instruction in technology but instead via a “learning by doing” approach. Such an

approach is supported by research on CBI (albeit this research focuses on foreign language

instruction). Our results are consistent with the educational rationale viewpoint among ICT

researchers – ICT instruction that takes the form of content-related ICT use can have the sec-

ondary benefit of ICT literacy. Further, we provide insight into how the infusion of technology

with the learning task may benefit students in such programs – especially women.

As governments worldwide increasingly implement e-government services, concerns about

the potential impacts of the digital divide continue to grow. The digital divide refers to the dis-

tinction between the information haves and have-nots; the gap between the computer literate and

the computer illiterate. More specifically, it can be argued that two major divides exist: an access

divide and a skills divide. The focus of our study was the latter of these. Our results suggest

taking a CBI approach to ICT education may be beneficial by improving CSE beliefs and

encouraging greater IT exploration and use among citizens. Further, we found significant

concerns among the participants of our study about ICT access. The latest Computer Literacy

Survey 2009, by the Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka, shows that access to

computers is still enjoyed predominantly by urban populations and the increase in computer

ownership has also been painfully slow. Even among the privileged urban households, only a

quarter (26.3%) owned a desktop or laptop in 2009 – among rural populations, only 9.8%

owned either a desktop or a laptop. Conditions are worst in the plantation sector with only

3.3% owning a laptop or desktop in 2009 (Samaraweera, 2010). Given these conditions, we

believe our findings have some general applicability, but they are likely most directly translated

into use in countries with similar levels of economic development and computer access issues.

Further, generalizations from our findings should consider the interaction of the culture of

the host country and delivery of hybrid learning programs. Hofstede and Hofstede (2005)

described culture as the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the

members of one group or category of people from another. While the educational profile of

the participants in the program studied is indeed impressive, all of them having bachelor’s

degrees, some with merit and some students having masters’ degrees as well, one would say

that this alone would bode well for the success of the program. However, the growth of the

high literacy in Sri Lanka (UN Common Database (UNESCO) rates it at 97% in 2004 for

youth between 15 and 24) is mainly due to the policies of successive governments being directed

towards welfare initiatives such as free education, free medical services, and in some periods

free food as well. This may account for a culture of dependency among a population thus edu-

cated. The assumption that the teacher leads in an educational process and the belief that help is

always at hand to prevent one failing is prevalent in such cultures. Such beliefs and assumptions

may work at cross-purposes when one needs to take a moderate initiative while learning in an

on-line program, particularly in relation to planning one’s own time for learning and walking

into an Internet cafe to access the program. There could be short-term as well as long-term

strategy in moving out of this culture of dependency. Short-term measures would include the

Information Technology for Development 303

selection of leaders of groups who are more achievement-oriented and would influence the group

to move from dependence to independence and then to interdependence. The long-term strategy

would involve socialization through agents such as home, school and workplace directed

towards a new work ethic-oriented towards learning in a hybrid environment.

Notes

1. Ethnicity, while potentially an important antecedent, was excluded from our analysis because oursample lacked variance on this measure.

2. The Huynh–Feldt correction was applied because the sphericity assumption was not met.

Notes on contributors

Traci A. Carte is an Associate Professor of MIS in the Michael F. Price College of Business at the Univer-sity of Oklahoma. She received her Ph.D. in MIS from the University of Georgia. Currently, her researchinterests include IT support for diverse teams, politics and IT, and research methods. Her research has beenpublished in such journals as MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Group Decision & Nego-tiation, Decision Support Systems, and Journal of the AIS. She previously served on the editorial boardof MIS Quarterly and currently serves on the editorial board at the Journal of the AIS. In 2008 sheserved as a senior Fulbright Fellow in Sri Lanka.

Dr. Ajantha Dharmasiri is a Senior Faculty attached to the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM),University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He is also an adjunct professor in International HRM at the PriceCollege of Business, University of Oklahoma, USA. He has over two decades of private and public sectorworking experience, including work for multinationals. He has engaged in consultancies in more than tencountries. He is a Commonwealth AMDISA Doctoral Fellow and a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow. He holdsa Ph.D. and an MBA from the PIM and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Moratuwa.

Dr. Travis Perera is Senior Consultant at the Postgraduate Institute of Management, and specializes inEntrepreneurship, Organizational Behavior, and Operations Management. A Designs Engineer by pro-fession, he has worked as Engineer, Project Manager, Business Development Manager and GeneralManager in industry. He earned a Doctorate in Business Administration specializing in Organizational Be-havior and an MBA specializing in Entrepreneurship. He consults in management development programslocally and internationally, particularly in Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Maldives.

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