Higher education in India is considered an essential part of nation-building because education is emphasized as the key driver for the development of the country. With the recognition of the importance of education, the Indian government shows a strong desire to develop a system of higher education to match with global competition in producing…

Reliance on volunteer participation for collaborative scientific projects has become extremely popular in the past decade. Cutting across disciplines, locations, and participation practices, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world are now involved in these studies, and are advancing tasks that scientists cannot accomplish alone.…

Technologies have been and are being designed to address varied human needs. Of these, the need for physical and economic well-being is typically considered to trump the need for culture, leisure, fun, and entertainment. Research initiatives in the field of Information and Communication Technology and Development (ICTD) have been in motion to…

A combination of factors including Global Climate Change, population growth, depletion of natural resources, and degradation of the environment have contributed to a general consensus concerning the need for man to amend his relation with the earth in order to perpetuate the survival and well-being of future generations of human beings. An…

This dissertation studies the promise of inclusion in the global information society for marginalized groups in India, a nation that represents a modular case for technology and modernization initiatives in the global South. There has been significant research on the problematic notion of the "digital divide," based on the premise that…

In this study I examine how women in a north Indian city narratively construct their identities in relation to medium of education (MoE)--English only (EME), Hindi only (HME), and a combination of both. I specifically analyze how the participants discursively articulate empowerment or disempowerment while narrating stories connected to their MoEs.…

Research indicates that many factors may impede teachers' ability to develop caring relationships with students such as the school environment (Schaps, 2009), lack of cultural understanding (Thompson, 1998), the teacher's beliefs and attitudes about care (Goldstein, 2002), and personal experience of being cared for (Noddings, 1984). Yet, little…

One result of accelerating globalization is the competition for human capital. On one hand, nations are investing more and more in their educational systems to create their own human resources; on the other hand, these nations are struggling to effectively and efficiently utilize their existing human capital. Additionally, there is a massive wave…