Loay Talib

Ahmed Al-Saffar
email: alsaffar.loay@gmail.com

Learning Styles of Students at the

Keywords: Learning Styles, Felder-Silverman learning style model, Computer Science, Business Informatics, and Didactics

This paper is part of a research to understand the learning style preferences of students at the computer science department -University of Potsdam, to be aware of which changes are necessary to be adopted in the teaching methods, in an attempt to make an impact on reducing the dropout rate among students, and to suggest a better learning environment meeting most of the students' learning style preferences. It will present and discuss initial results of using the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) questionnaire developed by Felder and Soloman, which is a 44-item questionnaire for identifying the learning styles according to Felder-Silverman learning style model FSLSM.

Introduction

It is generally agreed that different learning styles exist and there is a general acceptance that the manner "in which individuals choose to or are inclined to approach a learning situation" has an impact on performance and achievement of learning outcomes [START_REF] Cassidy | Learning Styles: An overview of theories, models, and measures[END_REF]. So incorporating learning styles in teaching plans may make learning easier and leads to better achievement [START_REF] Graf | In-Depth Analysis of the Felder-Silverman Learning Style Dimensions[END_REF]. Researchers have developed many different models for identification of learning styles. In general, a learning style model classifies students according to where they fit on a number of scales pertaining to the ways they receive and process information [START_REF] Alaoutinen | Are Computer Science Students Different Learners?[END_REF].

There are several different learning style models. In this paper, the Felder-Silverman learning style model (FSLSM) is used; most other learning style models classify learners into a few groups, whereas Felder and Silverman describe the learning style of a learner in more detail, distinguishing between preferences in four dimensions. It is based on tendencies, indicating that learners with a high preference for certain behaviour can also act sometimes differently [START_REF] Graf | In-Depth Analysis of the Felder-Silverman Learning Style Dimensions[END_REF].

According to FSLSM, each learner has a preference on four distinct dimensions: active/reflective (ACT/REF), sensing/intuitive (SEN/INT), visual/verbal (VIS/VER), and sequential/global (SEQ/GLO). Active learners learn by trying things out and working together with others, whereas reflective learners learn by thinking things through and reflecting about them, and they prefer to learn alone. Sensing learners like to learn from concrete material like examples, tend to be more practical, and are careful with details, whereas intuitive learners prefer to learn abstract material, like challenges, and are more innovative. Visual learners remember best what they have seen, whereas verbal learners get more out of words, regardless whether they are spoken or written. Sequential learners learn in linear steps, prefer to follow linear, stepwise paths and be guided through the learning process, whereas global learners learn in large leaps and prefer a higher degree of freedom in their learning process [START_REF] Alaoutinen | Are Computer Science Students Different Learners?[END_REF][START_REF] Derntl | Impact of Learning Styles on Student Blogging Behavior[END_REF][START_REF] Felder | Applications, reliability and validity of the Index of Learning Styles[END_REF][START_REF] Soloman | Learning Styles and Strategies[END_REF].

The Index of Learning Styles (ILS), created by Felder and Soloman, is a questionnaire for identifying the learning styles according to FSLSM, where 11 questions are assigned for each dimension. Each question has two answer choices and the respondent should pick the most suitable one. Each choice represents a preference on a dimension. The preference that scores higher is the dominant preference in that dimension and the difference in scores indicates the strength of the preference. When a dimension is in balance, meaning that the score is between -3 and 3, a student can switch between the preferences depending on the teaching style. In practice this means that no matter which preference is used in teaching, such students will manage. The students that need the teacher's attention are those whose preference is moderate or strong (meaning that the score is between -5 and -11 or between 5 and 11). The more students in that category, the more a teacher should adapt the teaching to meet their needs [START_REF] Derntl | Impact of Learning Styles on Student Blogging Behavior[END_REF][START_REF] Felder | Applications, reliability and validity of the Index of Learning Styles[END_REF][START_REF] Soloman | Learning Styles and Strategies[END_REF].

The main goal of this research is to understand the learning style preferences of students at the computer science department -University of Potsdam, and look into the differences between students of different study fields at the department who usually take some joint courses.

Methodology

Participants were a volunteer sample of students of the computer science department at the University of Potsdam, 135 students covering every academic semester with different study specialties (42% Computer Science, 34% Business Informatics, 16% Teaching Computer Science, and 8% other specialties) participated in filling the ILS questionnaire (A multiple choice questionnaire, see [START_REF] Soloman | Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire[END_REF]), 116 students filled the questionnaire electronically while 19 students filled a hard copy. 45 female students (33%) and 90 male students (67%) participated in the research. (Figure 1 shows the number of the students participating in the research according to gender in each specialty and figure 2 shows the number of students from each semester).

Results and Discussion

From figure 3 which shows the preference of all students one can see that students are more active, sensing and visual while more balanced for the sequential/global dimension. The results, for each of the specialties: computer science, business informatics, and teaching computer science and according to gender are discussed below.

Active/Reflective (ACT/REF) Dimension

Figure 4A shows that female business informatics students are more active learners than the computer science female students, and both of them have no moderate or strong preference towards being a reflective learner. Male students (computer science and business informatics) are more divided between being "moderate or strong active learners" and being "balanced".

The male teaching computer science students are balanced, while the female students have tendency towards being more active learners, see figure 5A.

Sensing/Intuitive (SEN/INT) Dimension

Figure 4B shows that female students (computer science and business informatics) are more sensing learners, while male students (computer science and business informatics) are more balanced with none of the business informatics students being moderate or strong intuitive learners. The male teaching computer science students are more balanced, and having tendency of being intuitive learner, while the female students are more sensing, see figure 5B.

Visual/Verbal (VIS/VER) Dimension

Figure 4C and figure 5C show that most students are between balanced and moderate visual learners, with computer science students having a little bit more tendency towards being strong visual learners, especially the male students, and the male teaching computer science students share the same tendency.

Sequential/Global (SEQ/GLO) Dimension

Figure 4D and figure 5D show that most of the students are balanced, but computer science students have a little bit more tendency towards being global learners and the business informatics students have a little bit more tendency towards being sequential learners.

Fig. 3: All four dimensions distribution of the students learning styles

Students Opinion

Students who had provided us with a valid email address were sent the personal learning styles results of the first questionnaire together with a second questionnaire to ask them whether they agree with the results they had received. 19% of them responded, see figure 6. Most of them agreed with the results, but in the sensing/intuitive (SEN/INT) dimension students had the biggest doubts whether the results matched their real learning style! Students who filled a hard copy of the questionnaire (19 students; 9 females and 10 males. 17 of them were business informatics and 2 other computer science students) were asked directly afterwards to give their opinion about their own learning style preferences before giving them the results of the questionnaire. First the students were introduced to each dimension and then they gave their opinion. There were 7 major mismatches for the active/reflective (ACT/REF) dimension (6 male students thought that they are more verbal or balanced while the result of the ILS questionnaire classified them as visual learners), 5 mismatches for the sensing/intuitive (SEN/INT) dimension (4 students predicted to be moderate sensing learners but the result showed them as more balanced), mismatches for the active/reflective (ACT/REF) dimension, and 1 major mismatch for the sequential/global (SEQ/GLO) dimension.

Conclusions

By using the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) questionnaire developed by Felder and Soloman, one can notice differences in the preferences of learning style between male and female students of different study fields at the computer science department, as well as differences between students with different specialties, for example: 'female business informatics students are more active learners than the computer science female students. Computer science students have a little bit more tendency towards being strong visual learners, especially the male students. Male students (computer science and business informatics) are more balanced with none of the business informatics students being moderate or strong intuitive learners, while the male teaching computer science students have tendency of being intuitive learner. And the computer science students have a little bit more tendency towards being global Further research should be conducted in this area to look into these differences in a way that reflects positively on the teaching methods of the subjects that embrace all those students who might differ in the way they learn. More investigation in the ILS questionnaire should also be adopted to overcome some of the problems in distinguishing learning styles, for example the visual/verbal (VIS/VER) dimension.

Fig. 1 :Fig. 2 :

 12 Fig. 1: Number of the students according to gender of each specialty

  Fig. 4A

Fig. 4C Fig 4D Fig.

 4C4D Fig. 4C

Fig. 5A ,

 5A Fig. 5A, B, C and D: All four dimensions distribution of the teaching computer science students, distinguishing between genders

Fig. 6 :

 6 Fig. 6: Students opinion about the results

  learners while the business informatics students have a little bit more tendency towards being sequential learners.'

Acknowledgment. I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Andreas Schwill for his advice, help and support.


Keith Turvey
email: k.turvey@brighton.ac.uk

iPads in Education? A Participatory Design for Professional Learning with Mobile Technologies

Keywords: Pedagogy, narrative methods, didactic analysis, participatory design, mobile technologies

des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

Introduction

The project was designed to test and develop a model of narrative ecology in educators' professional practice with mobile technologies. A prototype infographic for iPad was designed that teachers manipulate through gestures and use as a prompt for articulating their pedagogical narrative concerning their appropriation of mobile technologies into their practice (Figure 1). The resource was developed and introduced through a participatory model of working with school and university partners in teacher education. The overall objective of the project was to find out how effective the narrative ecology model (Turvey, 2013 [START_REF] Turvey | Narrative ecologies: teachers as pedagogical toolmakers[END_REF]) can be in developing educators' critical analysis of the process of appropriating mobile technologies for educational purposes. This is important because I argue there is a need for participatory models of research and partnership in teacher education and development that give teachers agency over the process of professional development with new technologies at a time when there is increasing pressure for educators to respond to the proliferation of mobile technologies and the convergence of social and professional networking practices (Pachler, Bachmair and Cook, 2010 [START_REF] Pachler | Mobile Learning: Structures, Agency, Practices[END_REF]; Turvey, 2012b [START_REF] Turvey | Questioning the character and significance of convergence between social network and professional practices in teacher education[END_REF]). The project was also significant in enabling the partnership schools and the School of Education at the University of Brighton to take advantage of the new relationships that are emerging between HE and schools in response recent teacher education reforms in England. The main aims of the project were:  To form new models for working with partners through participatory research into professional practice, pedagogy and mobile technologies;  To investigate a narrative ecology framework as a model for critical reflection and development in the appropriation of new technologies in educators' professional practice;  To develop a prototype interactive iPad resource (Figure 1) to support educators' professional and critical judgements of the integration of mobile technologies in education through dialogue and narrative.

Teachers from three partnership schools were engaged in the project. Their secondary schools (11-16 year olds) had recently launched 1:1 iPad initiatives to support learning and teaching. Similarly, the School of Education, University of Brighton had embarked on a mobile learning project with a number of lecturers in initial teacher education exploring the use of iPads in their professional practice in response to recent higher education policy reports (HEFCE, 2009 [4]; JISC, 2009 [START_REF]Effective Practice in a Digital Age[END_REF]). Thus, the project was timely and provided an opportunity to work with local partners investigating professional practice in the context of newly acquired mobile technologies (iPads). Initial meetings held with representatives from the schools identified a common need to examine how the iPads can be harnessed to support teachers' professional and pedagogical development, and ultimately enrich the learning experiences of students. Thus, the aims of this project were designed around a participatory model of research that could generate empirical evidence, in the form of narrative cases, of the process of mobile technology (iPads) appropriation in educational contexts.

Discussion and Literature

It is recognised in the literature that mobile technologies have the potential to 'disrupt' established practices in ways that require adaptation if educators are to harness their potential (Jenkins, 2006 [6]; Baron, 2008 [7]; Pachler, 2009 [8]; Traxler, 2007 [9] & 2010 [START_REF] Traxler | Sustaining mobile learning and its institutions[END_REF]). A more detailed depiction of the character of such 'disruption' is emerging with research focusing variously on concepts of convergence, mobile learning, personalisation, connectivity, sustainability and indeed the compatibility of emergent mobile learning practices within established contexts of formal education (Traxler, 2010 [10]; Pachler, Bachmair and Cook, 2010 [START_REF] Pachler | Mobile Learning: Structures, Agency, Practices[END_REF]; Crook, 2012 [START_REF] Crook | The 'digital native' in context: tensions associated with importing Web 2.0 practices into the school setting[END_REF]). The emerging evidence suggests that the process of adaptation is prolonged and complex. Yet in a digital age of rapidly increasing connectivity and converging cultures there is a need for further research into the implications of mobile technologies and how educators can be located as central agents in changing and adapting pedagogical practices. The discourses at the interface of macro-level educational policy and the micro-level contexts of professional practice are fertile ground for understanding the complex and unpredictable process of technological appropriation and its implications for education (Castells, Fernadez-Ardevol, Linchuan Qui and Sey, 2007 [START_REF] Castells | Mobile Communication and Society: A Global Perspective[END_REF]; Pachler et Ranieri, Manca and Cook, 2012 [START_REF] Pachler | Editorial: Social Networking and Mobile Learning[END_REF]; Selwyn, 2012 [START_REF] Selwyn | Ten suggestions for improving academic research in education and technology[END_REF]). Processes of technology appropriation are often far less transformative of pedagogical practice in the short term than techno-centric arguments proclaim (Cuban, 2001 [15]; Selwyn, 2012 [START_REF] Selwyn | Ten suggestions for improving academic research in education and technology[END_REF]; Crook, 2012 [START_REF] Crook | The 'digital native' in context: tensions associated with importing Web 2.0 practices into the school setting[END_REF]). However, Jenkins (2008, p.11 [6]) has argued that we are in a 'period of prolonged transition' with regards the implications for new technologies and the way we learn. Similarly, Laurillard (2012, p. 226 [16]) comments 'the difference that marks out the early years of the twenty-first century from any previous period in education is that digital technologies not only enable a change to treating teaching as a design science, they also require it.' Hence, the narrative ecology framework uses participatory narrative methods to place teachers at the centre of this process of teaching as a process of design. In any such pedagogical design process teachers are conceived as active agents (Somekh, 2007 [17]; Pachler, Cook and Bachmair, 2010 [START_REF] Pachler | Appropriation of mobile cultural resources for learning[END_REF]).

The narrative-ecology model of technological appropriation I will posit for discussion here places the appropriation of mobile technologies within their wider educational and socio-cultural contexts emerging as it does from critique of Activity Theory (Engeström, 1987 [19], 2000 [START_REF] Engeström | Activity theory as a framework for analysing and redesigning work[END_REF], 2001 [START_REF] Engeström | Expansive Learning at Work: Toward an activity theoretical reconceptualisation[END_REF]) that questions the place of intentionality and individual agency within Activity Theory (Nardi, 1996 [22]; Wertsch, 1998 [23]; Ellis, Edwards and Smagorinsky, 2010 [START_REF]Cultural-historical perspectives on teacher education and development: Learning Teaching[END_REF]). That is, in the narrative ecology model, digital technologies are not merely conceived of as educational tools mediated by educational and wider socio-cultural contexts, but also as integral items of the expressive life and intentionality of the individual (Goffman, 1959 [25]; Perkins, 1993 [26]); that is, for effective appropriation to occur I argue that technologies need to be conceived as an anthropomorphic extension of teachers' multiple identities within contemporary society. Technology brings I suggest an added layer of complexity and potential disruption to the established professional and socio-cultural ecology of the classroom and is inherently problematic (Turvey and Pachler, Forthcoming [START_REF] Turvey | Problem spaces': a framework and questions for critical engagement with learning technologies in formal educational contexts[END_REF]). As long as techno-centric arguments dominate this discourse I argue that at best technology will continue to disappoint in terms of realising anything more than a perfunctory role in education and at worst may bring further disruptive unintended consequences.

The narrative ecology framework

The narrative ecology framework offers a process of participatory research into professional practice with new technologies (Turvey, 2012a [3], 2012b [START_REF] Turvey | Constructing narrative ecologies as a site for teachers' professional learning with new technologies and media in primary education[END_REF], and 2013 [START_REF] Turvey | Narrative ecologies: teachers as pedagogical toolmakers[END_REF]). This model is positioned within a significant body of research focusing on teachers' innovation with new technologies (See for example Fisher et al 2006 [START_REF] Fisher | Teachers learning with digital technologies: a 30. review of research and projects[END_REF]; Somekh, 2007 [17]; Loveless, 2003 [30] and 2007 [START_REF] Loveless | The interaction between primary teachers' perceptions of ICT and their pedagogy[END_REF]). As such it places teachers at the centre of the pedagogical design process with new technologies and offers a useful tool for the synthesis and analysis of technological tools and pedagogical processes. It is an attempt to recognise Klafki's (1995Klafki's ( /1958, p.21 [32], p.21 [32]) didactic analysis of pedagogy 'as a selection made in a particular human, historical situation and with specific groups of children in mind' but which can also illuminate the macro-to-micro and micro-to-macro imperatives and constraints at play as teachers appropriate technologies into their practice. It is a theoretical tool for developing more rich, 'stateof-the-actual' descriptions of technology-enhanced learning (Selwyn and Facer, 2013 [33]). As Loveless and Williams state (2013, p.158 [START_REF] Selwyn | The Politics of Education and Technology[END_REF]); 'being ready, willing and able to teach, calls for a reading of the world in which content, context and tools can be orchestrated with skill and purpose.' The German tradition (Klafki, 1995(Klafki, /1958, p.20 [32], p.20 [32]) of didactic analysis requires the teacher not just to understand the what (content) and the how (pedagogy) but also the why 'with its attendant past and the anticipated future'.

From these perspectives I argue that the pedagogical appropriation of new technologies is a complex process, predicated on the interdependency of various contextual and autobiographical factors. In the model, these are arranged in an arch structure supporting the concept of a pedagogical keystone (Figure 2). The variable factors identified are; the affordance of the technological tools; teachers' and learners' subject knowledge; learners' needs and teachers' perceptions of learners' needs; teachers' and learners' prior experience of the e-learning tools available; teachers' and learners' attitudes and values; teachers' capacity to reflect in or on action; wider socio-cultural discourse around policy, education and technology and; intrinsically or extrinsically generated theories of pedagogy and practice. These contextual and autobiographical factors are conceived as an ecology creating both resonance or dissonance in the development of the teacher's pedagogical keystone. A pedagogical keystone is defined here as the synchronic interdependency of the contextual and autobiographical factors at play as the teacher goes about their work of designing contingencies for learning. As Postman notes, (1993, p.18 [START_REF] Loveless | Learning Identities in a Digital Age: Rethinking Creativity, Education and Technology[END_REF]) in an ecological system, change in one variable 'generates total change' to the system as a whole. However, there can be a tendency to regard agents as passive actors settling into new niches as the ecology changes around them. On the contrary, Normak, Pata and Kaipainen (2012, p.264 [START_REF] Postman | Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology[END_REF]) define a niche as a 'learning onto-space' where the 'perceived qualities of persons' such as their past experiences and intentionality (autobiographical) are significant factors in the ecology in which they are operating.

Fig. 2: Narrative ecology theoretical framework

If as discussed earlier, we perceive of the pedagogical process as a design process, the qualities and intentions the teacher brings are vital and live elements within the ecology. A key issue, however, is how such past experiences and intentionality can be captured as they are woven into the teacher's interactions within a dynamic and complex pedagogical ecology incorporating mobile technologies. In the narrative ecology model this complex and dynamic interdependency between the tools, the context and the agent's intentionality and experience is represented through the concept of a pedagogical keystone (Figure 2). Narrative, with its potential to reveal participants' underlying 'organising principles' (Goodson, 2008, p.18 [37]) as they act on the world, is seen as an important methodological device in capturing and characterising the teacher's pedagogical keystone. Narrative methodologies have the potential as Schostak discusses to position subjects as 'expert in their own ways of seeing,' (2006, p.149 [START_REF] Goodson | Investigating the teacher's life and work[END_REF]). Furthermore, as Pata (2011, p.3 [START_REF] Schostak | Interviewing and Representation in Qualitative Research[END_REF]) notes, narratives are useful 'vehicle[s] for meaning making and identity-determination.' That is, narratives can bring deeper meaning to the apparently isolated yet constituent events and activities as they can convey 'what one thinks one did in what settings in what ways and for what felt reasons' (Bruner, 1990, p.119 [40]). Such narrative methods require establishment of trusting and participatory relationships between research participants and researcher so the conduct of the project was important as I discuss now.

Conduct

This project was conducted in two phases (Table 1). In phase 1, a day symposium was held at which secondary school teachers and lecturers in initial teacher education were invited to present to colleagues about how they were incorporating the use of iPads into their professional practice. These presentations were video recorded with the permission of participants. At the symposium, the narrative ecology model was also presented to participants and a group discussion was held which was also recorded. The participants were given access to the recordings of the presentations, group discussion and the editable infographic of the model (Figure 1) on their own iPads for use in phase 2 of the project.

During phase 2 a self-selecting sample of 4 participants 2 secondary school teachers and 2 lecturers in initial teacher education agreed to further participation. An in-depth narrative interview was conducted with these participants in which they were supported in using the framework to narrate and discuss their on-going experiences of incorporating the iPads in their professional practice. These individual narrative interviews together with the participant's presentation, their contribution to the group discussion from the symposium and any further documentary evidence were then analysed using Nvivo. The 8 variable factors identified in the narrative ecology framework (Figure 2) were applied to the qualitative data. As far as possible the raw data was used for analysis as opposed to transcribing the video and audio footage. That is, footage was coded using the variables from the model directly in Nvivo. This enabled more direct engagement with the raw data and was felt to add to the validity of the interpretations being made as important aspects such as tone remained integral to the raw data. Figure illustrates this process showing the coding applied to one of the in-depth narrative interviews.

Fig. 3: Narrative ecology coding applied to in-depth interview using Nvivo When the data had been analysed and coded, an individual narrative summary was constructed. The narrative summary was an attempt to identify from the data, the individual participant's pedagogical keystone or the factors which appeared to take priority and have most influence as they reflected on their appropriation of the mobile technologies into their pedagogical practice. The narrative summary was then shared with the participant for further commentary on the researcher's interpretation and further reflection.

It is acknowledged that this approach does not easily lend itself to broad generalisations about the impact of technologies in education. The aim of the research was to understand and capture in much more depth, the complex qualitative ways in which educators adapt their pedagogical practice when incorporating mobile technologies and what factors appear to guide and influence this. As Crook et al. (2010, p. 53 [START_REF] Bruner | Acts of Meaning[END_REF]) note, the 'impact' of new technologies in education is often defined narrowly in terms of examination results and attainment whereas 'the value added may be more than the value measured'. It is argued here too that any narrowly defined impacts of technologies in education are largely meaningless and open to questioning without the rich qualitative factors that characterise dynamic educational contexts and educator experiences. It is beyond the scope of this paper to present and analyse all of the participants' narrative cases. I will therefore focus on the presentation and analysis of one case in depth.

Narrative Case: Sam

Sam is a Science teacher in a large secondary school in England (11-16 year olds). At the time of this research she was in her seventh year as a qualified teacher and as well as her role in the science department she had a role as a 'digital leader', providing support to other colleagues with the integration of digital technologies into their pedagogical practice. The school has recently adopted a 1:1 iPad policy providing all students with iPads through a scheme in which parents can purchase an iPad for their child at various subsidised levels depending on financial circumstances. There are also options provided for those families just above the Free School Meal entitlement threshold who are unable to afford to buy a device. The school looked into various strategies such as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) before adopting their approach and Sam was involved in this process from early on. So as a 'digital leader', significantly involved in the 1:1 iPad project she has already identified herself as open to the aims of this school-wide initiative which were identified as:  Empower students by encouraging creativity, problem-solving and independence in their learning;  Provide an increasingly high degree of personalised feedback to students and their families;  Bring students into closer partnership with teachers in the development of learning pathways and learning materials;  Systematically share learning materials with students and parents in order to empower their support for learning anytime, anywhere;  Place our teachers at the heart of a vibrant local and national innovation partnership where skills, knowledge and learning materials are actively shared and developed. 1In this narrative portrayal of Sam's current position with regards the wider school iPad initiative and her own professional practice I identify three significant themes that emerged from my analysis of Sam's narrative ecology, namely; prior experience, attitudes and values, recognition of learner needs and agency. These themes overlapped throughout the analysis of the data and also appeared to reveal an underlying open yet pragmatic approach to pedagogical adaptation, as Sam continues to reflect on the implications of the 1:1 iPad initiative for her own pedagogical practice. As might be expected when researching the professional practices and perceptions of experienced teachers such as Sam, the variable themes identified within the narrative ecology framework were often densely populated in the data in Sam's case. For example 51.7% (Nvivo) of the source data was coded against the theme of reflection indicating the extent of her capacity to critically reflect on the initiative in question. However, while this capacity to reflect critically was no doubt significant in Sam's case it is the nature of the insights afforded by these reflections that led to the glimpses of Sam's open yet pragmatic approach to pedagogical adaptation in response to the 1:1 iPad initiative in her school. This open yet pragmatic approach revealed itself in the interplay between her prior experiences, her attitudes and values and the ways in which she appeared to adapt her pedagogical practices in ways that were sensitive to learner agency and needs as I will explore now.

Prior experience; attitudes and values; learner agency and needs

These three themes were often present in the data as was apparent from Sam's initial reflections in the interview when I asked her to tell some of her background and route into the teaching profession. She related that as part of her degree in Human Sciences, which she describes as a course that tried 'to bridge the divide between the arts and science,' she had been prompted to reflect on her development and through this process she states that:

'I realised at the end of the degree that I did want to do something to do with education. It had become really obvious to me that what I cared about was how do you get students to really understand and how do they become part of that? How do you make it happen basically?' That is, helping students to 'become part of' the learning process or active agents in the process of learning was identified as being important to her on first thoughts of entry to the profession. Another important factor of her prior experience and route into the profession was her work as a learning mentor supporting children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) which she believes continues to influence her approach now as a teacher. For example she related:

'I would say that influences my teaching quite a lot because I've come from that background of SEN. I wouldn't say that makes me any better than anyone else at dealing with that, but awareness side of things ...... I find that experience helps me when building good relationships with students.' Sam places emphasis on the importance of teachers having 'good relationships' with students here again signposting this aspect of her attitudes and values about teaching and learning in terms of learners' needs but also locating this in her prior experiences as a learning mentor. As Sam began to talk more about her practice, however, she was keen to point out that she was also quite pragmatic in her approach to her pedagogical practice. This was evident when prompted to try and describe what kind of teacher she felt she was as she replied

'I think I kind of go from one extreme to the other from being quite didactic this is what we need to learn about and I can't think of an exciting way to do it or teach it (laughing). I'm just going to tell you (in a teacher voice)… to the more extreme I going to think of something ridiculously creative and I'm going to get you on board.....I guess as a teacher I go from one to the other. I don't always

necessarily get them as tied together...' That is, she sees her teacher identity as a synthesis of these two extremes, the ideal being when she is able to combine aspects of creative teaching which actively engages her students with more authoritative and didactic approaches. Furthermore she offers more evidence that this open yet pragmatic pedagogy she is developing lies in her prior experiences by referring back to her experiences as an Aim Higher learning mentor as she continues:

' The ambiguity in her first sentence is interesting in that Sam is positioning herself as open to innovation and ideals but at pains not to appear naïve. As an experienced practitioner she appears to hold onto certain ideals about the needs of learners and helping them to access knowledge and understanding. The last sentence of this extract clarifies that despite holding such ideals, she recognises them as ideals that are often problematic to realise in practice.

These interview extracts suggest that the way Sam currently positions her professional practice, including her attitudes and values about teaching and learning, together with her perceptions about learners' needs, are located in both her current and prior experiences in becoming a teacher. These themes can be seen as significant nodes within her narrative ecology, which continue to resonate in her on-going narrative of professional identity formation. Furthermore these themes remain significant as Sam relates her on-going experiences of adapting her pedagogy with the introduction of the iPads.

Pedagogical adaptation

The ways in which the 1:1 iPad project had begun to impact upon and become appropriated by Sam, and to some extent some of her colleagues in the science department was evidenced through her presentation and contribution to the mobile learning symposium that was held at the University, but also through the school-based interview and observation. During the symposium, after explaining the background information of her school's 1:1 iPad initiative, she went onto share how as a science department they were exploring the use of the iPads in learning and teaching. There appeared to be an early progression in that initially the focus was very much on finding particular apps for specific science topics in order to illustrate difficult concepts. However, Sam went on to say that 'in science one of the most powerful things has just been the camera.' She described how they had explored a range of uses of the iPads but much of this involved visual aspects such as taking microscopic photographs. Similarly, there had been much experimentation with creating short animations of scientific processes with one teacher using animation to model ionic bonding with the children. On my visit and observation I watched another teacher creating a short time-lapse animation of the process of crystallisation as hot wax slowly cooled on a microscope slide. The iPad was set up on an improvised rig to hold it steady over a period of time. However, it was during the interview with Sam that she offered more of an insight into her own interpretations of these pedagogical science initiatives and how her prior experience of her Human Sciences degree influenced this interpretation. For example when asked to describe her own practice with the iPads she relates:

' ' What is particularly interesting about this response is that Sam appears to be recalling her own experiences of her Human Sciences degree, which she described earlier as trying to bring together the 'arts and science' and using this experience to consider how the affordances of the technology can be exploited more effectively in her teaching and the children's learning. In terms of the learners' needs she recognises that they may not have the visual literacy skills to be able to exploit the tools offered by the iPad to illustrate scientific concepts in new ways and therefore has adapted her practice to suit, limiting the resources she makes available to the children to ensure that they can focus on the scientific processes involved rather than becoming inhibited by their potential lack of visual literacy or being overwhelmed by the creative possibilities. Again it appears her approach can be characterised here as pragmatic openness as she is prepared to explore the potential of the tools but recognises the important role she can play in scaffolding the experience for the learners in order to avoid the students becoming more concerned with what she described as 'style over substance'. Furthermore, despite being pragmatic and thinking about how she can adapt her practice to scaffold the learning she sustains the ideal to which she sees herself working whereby children will be able to become more independent and creative in time as she goes on to express further:

'The idea is where they're doing the creation themselves of what they've learnt and presenting it for you and themselves as a coherent thing that they've worked out...that's when the penny drops and it's a much stronger experience but then that's where we're talking about the highest level skills and that's not necessarily where most students are going to get to in the course of a 100 minute lesson.....but yeh that's what it would be ideally.' That is, she acknowledges that her current approach does not cede as much agency to the learners as it could, due to the constraints of time, the need to remain focused on the scientific subject knowledge and the possible limitation of children's visual literacy, yet she retains the ideal of the learner being able to take greater agency in the process of illustrating and demonstrating their learning and understanding. Again this demonstrates an openness to further pedagogical adaptation but from a pragmatic position. This sense of taking increased responsibility for one's learning is something again that appeared to be echoed in Sam's prior experiences. When prompted to reflect on her own experience of using technologies she recalls her experience growing up around technologies noting that: 'Yeh. attitudes and values regarding agency in learning as expressed in the desire to move closer towards a pedagogy that affords greater agency to learners is a pattern that can be traced in her own prior experience of using technologies in her willingness and capacity to 'figure it out and have a go'. The significance of this seemed also to resonate further. Learners taking responsibility for their learning and the decisions they make is one of the ways that Sam frames and resolves some of the day-to-day tensions that the introduction of iPads into the classroom has brought. Moreover, some of these tensions resonate beyond the classroom as Sam talked about how she assuages parents' concerns that the presence of the iPads might prove to be too much of a distraction from learning for their children, as she says:

'Like when I'm talking to parents I put it in this way ....like I say if we were in a meeting now, I have a choice and say there are lots of people in the room they have a choice...I could look at my emails but I'm not going to because I'm concentrating on what we're talking about.. I have that choice....There are plenty of adults who wouldn't be able to ignore that and think look I've got to do that now. And this technology is going to be there now forever and we need to help students to develop that ability to say "I'm going to ignore that" and help them to see that it's their responsibility.' Hence she draws on her attitudes and values built from her own prior and current experiences that learners need to take responsibility for their own learning and the choices they make. Whilst Sam recognises there is a potential tension and disruption to learning as children could become distracted by the technology she is accepting of this tension recognising it as part of the learning process. Indeed, Sam provides yet further evidence of how she is adapting her pedagogy to the inclusion of iPads, using her attitudes and values about learning and agency as a guiding principle in an incident she related both in her presentation at the university-based symposium and her interview. She continues:

'I caught myself almost about to have a go at a student who.......I had some like finger puppets (laughs) and we were talking about a tapir and I was like is it a tapir or is it an ant eater or is it an aadvark? And I was like hang on ant eaters and aadvarks I get confused (laughing)… which is which? We had a little discussion and no one quite knew so we were carrying on and I was talking about what they were going to do and one of them was on their iPad. I was thinking "oh no I'm going to have to have a go" and then I realised "oh no he's looking up...he's just finding out for me". Ant eaters...aadvarks are they different?.... "Yes they are here we are miss"..... You have to allow a bit more freedom I think...You have to be willing to let go of the reins a little bit.' Interestingly, although Sam is open and willing to 'allow a bit more freedom' in the pedagogical process she also appears to be pragmatic in adapting her pedagogy to accommodate this freedom yet retain control as she goes on to explain that 'I think I have relaxed a bit in that I think they're on their iPad but you know (pauses).....I look for clues.' The clues she now looks for are the gestures that the children are making as they interact with their iPads as she explain further:

' And also of course you can see their notifications come up and you walk past them and they're being good...they're not touching them so they've got however many notification there…. waiting.' What these insights into how Sam is creating the space for this new technology in the children's learning show, is how the technology brings new layers of complexity to the pedagogical process. These new layers of complexity need to be negotiated by the teacher and the learners in ways that allow the affordances of the tools to be exploited appropriately in ways that resonate with the educational goals identified. In negotiating these added complexities that the technology brings, Sam's prior experiences appear significant. For example her prior experiences; as someone able to take responsibility for her own learning with technology; as someone with experience and expertise in understanding the visual in the scientific; as someone who began her career working with SEN children trying to help them 'really understand'; as someone of several years teaching experience, all seem significant in enabling her to adapt her pedagogies remaining open to pedagogical adaptation yet sustaining a pragmatic approach.

Conclusions

The nature of this in-depth qualitative research limits the extent to which one can generalize from this case. However, it is appropriate to indicate how the evidence from this case fits with the general body of evidence emerging about mobile technology appropriation in education, which was discussed in detail in the earlier sections of this paper.

The evidence from Sam's case concurs with the literature discussed regarding the potential of mobile technologies to 'disrupt' established practices both at the micro and meso level. For example, at the micro level of classroom practice there was clear evidence of Sam adapting aspects of her practice in response to the introduction of the technology. A significant aspect of this concerned adjustments to her behaviour management strategies such as tolerating uncertainty regarding appropriate student behaviours with the iPads during lessons. This had also triggered Sam's development of a wider repertoire of behaviour cues to make sense of the various gestures involved in manipulating the technology, in order to gauge the extent to which students appeared to be on task. Also at the micro level of classroom practice, the introduction of the technology had prompted Sam to consider how to utilize the new opportunities offered by the technology but without losing the focus on the science subject content. Thus in working with the animation facilities, she had acted to limit the resources available to the students in order to ensure the scientific content was addressed. These examples represent specific ways in which the technology can 'disrupt' or challenge established professional practices at the micro level. However, similarly, at the meso level Sam faced the challenge of justifying to parents the use of the iPads in their children's education. From this perspective the introduction of the technology had the potential to 'disrupt' the important relationship between the wider community and the school and as such required Sam to act in order to counter the skepticism of parents and maintain their trust.

Using the narrative ecology model as a participatory tool to story the range of variable factors in Sam's case revealed a complex and rich picture highlighting the interdependency of a range of autobiographical and contextual factors involved in the appropriation of technologies in professional practice. Whilst the technological tool and its potential were significant, the exploitation of its educational value was mediated significantly by Sam's past experiences and current intentions. Her experience of her Human Sciences degree with its study of visual representation in science and her experience of working as a mentor to children with SEN gave another layer of nuance to her pedagogical adaptations in response to the introduction of the iPad. That is, the participatory approach to the use of the narrative ecology model helped to uncover tacit levels of critical reflection on Sam's part. Her ambiguity about limiting the children's resources when using the animation app were tempered by her pragmatic understanding of the need to address the scientific content and the level of visual literacy that would be required if the students were given more free rein. This level of critical reflection on practice -past experiences resonating with Sam's awareness of current limitations whilst remaining open to future potential -appeared to be laid bare through the use of a participatory narrative approach. These findings point to the need to place greater importance on making sense of the complex interdependency of factors at play when mobile technologies are appropriated into professional practice. Significantly, however, these findings are also indicative of the importance that educator and teacher perspectives can play in making sense of the complex ecology involved in pedagogical adaptation. From this perspective, the development of participatory methods would seem to be a priority for further research into this field.

Fig. 1 :

 1 Fig. 1: Narrative ecology iPad infographic -blocks are manipulated (resized and moved) to prompt discussion

Table 1 :

 1 Methods and data collection

	Project Phase	Type of data	Quantity
	1	Group Interview	8 Participants
		Presentations
		Field notes
	2	In-depth narrative interviews	4 Participants
		Narrative portrayals
		Participant response and commentary
		on narrative portrayal
		Documentary evidence (e.g. published
		material by schools about their 1:1
		iPad projects)

  Similarly, Sam describes other strategies involving the interpretation of new gestures describing tapping on the iPad as 'a give-away' because: 'That's a game because yes what else would require you to tap like that other than a game...And then moving it (referring back to comment about tilting iPad)...And generally the kind of focus on the iPad. So if the person next to them is kind of interested....it can mean they're not doing something they're supposed to. Or if they've got it like that (demonstrates a stance of taking a sneaky photo of someone).

	but even if it is on paper....are they looking something up and
	referring back to it?...... So you think they're not doing what they're
	supposed to but yeh you have to kind of hold it back a bit until you
	know for sure because otherwise you are going to jump down their
	throats for doing the right thing.'
	So today someone was doing this (gestures and acts like someone
	tilting their iPad) and I said (puts on teacher voice) "I don't think
	anything I've asked you to do today involves you needing to tip your
	iPad like that.." And you know it made them laugh because they knew
	they weren't doing the right thing. But you can sort of tell by gestures
	if they're doing something they are supposed to or not. But it is
	disconcerting because the teacher alarm goes off a lot more in my
	head than it used to. So as you're walking around the classroom, it
	might be that you've asked them to do something but you haven't
	stipulated whether it's on paper or iPad then there is that possibility

Documentary evidence provided by the school in the public domain

Acknowledgements. The author would like to thank the Education Research Centre, School of Education, University of Brighton for the funding of this project. Thanks are also due to colleagues from the local partnership schools and the School of Education who took part in the mobile learning symposium and committed their time to participate in this project.


Tiko Iyamu
email: iyamut@polytechnic.edu.na

Breeding ICT Skills for the Industries: The South African Experience

Keywords: Skill-set, Alignment, Curriculum, Organisational need, Environment trend

Skilled and competent personnel are required in the use of information and communication technology (ICT), for organisations' competitiveness and sustainability. Many organisations rely on institutions of higher learning to produce ICT skilled personnel for them. However, many of the graduates are said to be incompetent in their roles and responsibilities. In an attempt to close that gap of incompetency, some organisations source for postgraduate candidates. Unfortunately, the gap of ICT skill shortage seems to remain, leading to this study. The study was carried out in South Africa, one of African countries to examine and understand the extent, as well as impact of ICT skills in the country. Different approaches and techniques of research methodology, such as qualitative and quantitative, and interpretivism were applied in the study. As found in the empirical study, the underlying factors in the challenges of ICT skill short in South Africa are the gap between the qualification and competency. Other influencing factors include government interference, organisational need, and curriculum development and transformative scheme.

Introduction

Human resources, particularly skill set are fundamental to the development and growth of a country's economy. As such, in order for a country, including South Africa to develop sustainability, skill shortage must receive significant attention. This has never been an easy task by any standard, in any environment, and whether in a developed or developing country. An assessment revealed that different sociotechnical factors are involved in the fulfilment of the quest to bridge the gap of skill shortages [START_REF] Preston | Beyond 'Talented Shortages' lies a cultural Divided[END_REF]. Some of the factors often considered are either societal or governmental. Some studies attributed the challenges of skill gap to factors, such as ageing nature of employees which has impact on their growth; none availability of qualified individuals; cultural orientation; lack of retention strategy; and cost implication for trainings and retraining of workers [START_REF] Savvas | More firms report skill shortages[END_REF], [START_REF] Goodwin | Ageism will hit skills, warn suppliers[END_REF], and [START_REF] Peckman | Technically Speaking[END_REF]. In the zeal to reduce skill shortage, there exist misalignment and of interest and requirements. This results to creating more gaps. Hamer [START_REF] Hamer | University -Industry Alliances: A Foundation for Innovative Business and Science Education in Emerging Professional Graduate Programs[END_REF] argued that the academia and industry expect and produces two very different skills sets, respectively. Harmer therefore proposed that aligning the available skills sets can only result in positive outcomes.

Many organisations in Africa rely on fresh university graduates, and develop them further over time. Some organisations have various development strategies, through which they develop their employees, such as internships and mentorships programs. This is in order for them to gain the necessary skills and experiences as required by the organisation. Hamer [START_REF] Hamer | University -Industry Alliances: A Foundation for Innovative Business and Science Education in Emerging Professional Graduate Programs[END_REF] argued that internships, mentorship, and other cases in organisations can be used at the universities, but it is critical for the organisations to participate. The Mentorship programs would be a good solution to the skills gap as it assists with skill transfer of knowledge, however, companies still do loses skilled employees for various other reasons [START_REF] Klein | How to establish a Mentor Program[END_REF].

Poverty and previous disadvantage steers from political imbalance also contribute to skill shortage in many countries, Africa in particular. Johnston et al. [START_REF] Johnston | A proposed study into why Information Systems graduates struggle to find jobs even though there is a skills shortage in South Africa[END_REF] argued that South Africans that came from previously disadvantage background have poor primary and secondary schooling. In that study, it was argued that such poor background make it difficult for them to succeed in their higher education pursuit, contributing to the skill shortage in the country [START_REF] Johnston | A proposed study into why Information Systems graduates struggle to find jobs even though there is a skills shortage in South Africa[END_REF]. This argument could be considered to be fair, and attributed to the challenges some black South Africans uphold when it comes to finding job.

Skills shortage exists in every country, but worst in developing countries. Natarajan [START_REF] Natarajan | Job shortages or skill shortages[END_REF] presents statistics of global skills shortage: at the time of his study, in the USA there was a skills shortage of 126,000 in the nursing profession; a 615,000 shortfall of IT networking skills in Europe; 40,000 vacancies in the engineering sector also in Europe; and in India there were a shortfall of 500,000 ICT professionals. This could be argued to be relative to the population of the countries. However, the figures are still high, a case of one too many.

Many countries have developed initiatives and emphasis that the universities need to help reduce skills shortage. To skills shortage, the stakeholders from the industries in South Africa argued they notice poor performance by the Universities in the country, which according to them contributes to the high unemployment rate [START_REF] Macgregor | South Africa: Joblessness amid skills shortage[END_REF]. The assessment by Macgregor [START_REF] Macgregor | South Africa: Joblessness amid skills shortage[END_REF] has inspired organisations to invest on numerous strategies, such as short term training courses, internship, and mentorship, in addressing the challenges of skills shortage. After few years of such investment by many organisations in the country, fundamental questions are raised: What has been the return on investment of that front? Did the strategies invigorated brain drain? These are some of the questions that need to be answered with time. According to Haskins [START_REF] Haskins | Industry body proactive in confronting skills deficit[END_REF], the South African Institute of Measurement and Control, aim to contribute to addressing the skills shortage in the country, focusing on process control industry. The institute promote synergy between students and industry, and as such, is expected to help provide some statistics in answering the questions, overtime and in perspectives.

Skills are categorised to be either generic or specialised, and carries the ingredients of competency. They are a necessity in organisations' production and reproduction, for competitive advantage and organisational objectives. Haag, Cummings and Phillips [START_REF] Haag | Management information systems for the information age[END_REF] explained that companies require skilled people in the field of IT in order to be productive and innovative and thus give the company a commercial advantage over its competition. General skills are the same in many countries, including South Africa. Saunders, et al [START_REF] Saunders | Mismatched perceptions and expectations: an exploration of stakeholders' view of key and technical skills in vocational education and training[END_REF] Skills gap focuses on specialized areas such as engineering, medical, nurses, and IT professionals. Leung's [START_REF] Leung | Top 10 skills in demand in 2010[END_REF] list of the Global Knowledge top 10 IT skills in demand as follow: (i) Project management, (ii) Security, (iii) Network administration, (iv) Virtualization -cloud, (v) Business analysis, (vi) Business process improvement, (vii) Web development, (viii) Database management, (ix) Windows administration, and (x) Desktop support.

The paper narrows its focus to ICT which includes software development, network administration and database management. This is primarily because ICT is one the areas where Africans and its organisations are generally challenged in their search for skilled personnel. According to Barker [START_REF] Barker | Demand for Key IT skills remain high[END_REF], 33.7% of organizations are challenged with recruiting or retaining persons with IT business analysis skills.

The Roles of Society and Higher Education

On the other hand, institutions of higher learning, particularly Universities of Technologies pride themselves on having hands on approach in equipping graduates with industries related skills. Universities of Technology are supposed to align their curriculum with Industries' needs. Unfortunately, this is not often the case. This has contributed to unemployment, as some graduates find difficult or impossible to align their skills to job specification. Others are tagged unemployable.

To this extent, some of the organisations sources for skills from institutions of higher learning, for basic and minimum requirements, which are at undergraduate level. Higher skilled personnel, at postgraduate levels, are also sourced from institutions of higher learning, as well as from competitors. However there are still sizeable ICT skill shortages in Africa. This study was carried to understand the factors which causes skill shortages in This study was undertaken based on the rationale above. The study investigated the skill gap between institutions of higher learning and Industries. The objectives include understanding the factors which influence the academic curriculums and the organisation's requirements, and why curriculums of institutions of higher learning are not in alignment with industry's needs and requirements.

Methodology

The approaches and methods that were applied in the study include a mix method of qualitative and quantitative, for data collection; and interpretivism for analysis of the data. The data was collected from the field, of industries which has employed at least 5 fresh graduates in the last 18 months, at the time of this study. Data was also collected from organisations which sought the service of internship students. As shown in Table 1 below, a total of 18 organisations and 117 individuals, at both senior and junior participated in the study. This includes fresh graduates and internship that were also consulted, to get their perspectives on their real-life hand-on experience. The organisations were from 5 different industries. The mixed data of qualitative quantitative were analysed, using the interpretive method, in accordance to the research questions.

Factors Influencing Skill Development

As in other countries, ICT qualifications are obtained from Universities and other formal training facilities in South Africa and outside the geographical boundaries of the country. The qualifications are obtained at different, from certificate, diploma to doctorate levels. Some qualifications are considered to be basic requirement in many organisations. This is sometimes attributed to jobs, roles and responsibilities.

Sufficiently, many candidates hold qualifications from Universities and other formal training facilities, yet statistics revels that there is shortage of ICT skills in the country. Irrespective of the number of persons with formal qualifications, and the levels of qualifications, there exists challenge of competency. Many organisations assess the challenge of competency to be more critical. Such organisations had rather have quality than quantity. This has contributed to the continued search for candidates, from the perspective of the employers. This contributes to the unemployment figure.

Qualification does not automatically manifest into competency. It is an equation of Qualification + Competency = Skill. As depict in Figure 1, the skill development is an iterative process, in order to meet organisational needs. As organisational vision and needs change, employees are trained to have certain competency to achieving the objectives. The influencing factors as depicted in Figure 1 depend on each other in the course of developing skills in the country. The factors above are discussed in the remainder of this section.

Governmental Influence

The government influences are primarily either economic or political or both. The government influence is carried out through policies, rules and regulations. Also, the influence is either direct or indirect.

Some African countries including South Africa who were colonised by the British has based their education system on the Westernization system (Burger, S.a). For example, Australia and South Africa have similar education systems to that of England. African countries kept the colonial education system after their independence, but adapted the system to suit their environmental needs.

Within the context of skill development, South Africa is different to other developing and developed countries primarily because the country has recently had a political shift to a democratic state, which caused the education system to also change and it is still constantly changing. It is taking South Africa years (1994 -2003) to find a schooling system that is equal for all. Few systems including the Outcomes Based Education (OBE) have been employed. Once the schooling system (foundation) has been stabilised, only then could a fair and equal system be realised.

The introduction of the OBE at the secondary school level, as well as the merger of Universities and Technikons (Polytechnics), brought another type of challenge to the education system in the country. The Traditional Universities including the Universities of Technology in South Africa are now faced with challenges of transforming their curriculum to suit the needs of the organisations, and the country at large. What is even more challenging is the fact that old techniques are being used to teach new initiatives. This has impact on both the educators and the learners.

The South African Department of Education divided its formal education into three sectors, namely: General Education and Training, Further Education and Training, and Higher Education and Training. Also, Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) was established by the South African government in 2000 in an attempt to address the skills shortages in the country. The main focus of SETA is on quality of qualifications, they ensure that the learners are appropriately equipped and skilled. Through SETA, training centres with appropriate facilities were established across country.

The centres were aimed to assist organisations to train and prepare individuals for employment, so, the unemployment rate in the country could decrease. Therefore, the creation of FET colleges and the partnership with SETA started to address the skills gap in South Africa. The organisation established leaner-ships programs to help alleviate the unemployment rate in the country and give people the opportunity to start their careers.

Organisational Need

Organisations have their individual goals and objectives, mission and vision for existence. The organisations are in various classified disciplines and industries such as Energy, Financial, Information Technology (IT), Manufacturing, and Transport. The factors which motivate the existence of organisations are enabled, supported and managed by specialized skill sets. The skill sets creates and supports competition and competitive advantage.

It is critical for the organisation and institution of higher learning to have a common understanding of job titles and its roles and responsibilities. For example, business analyst is defined and understood differently by both the organisation and institution of higher learning. As a result, a business analyst is often confused with technical positions such as a systems analyst or IT systems requirement engineer. A business analyst must have some technical experience to be able to translate what the user wants into a technical form that the programmer can understand. A business analyst is defined as an information technology worker who improves the efficiency and productivity of business operations through information systems. According to Evans and Hoole [START_REF] Evans | Promoting business/IT fusion: an OD perspective[END_REF], a business analyst translates requirements, design process, manage skills and knowledge, and analyses system development.

Curriculum Development

Universities, both in developed and developing countries have different timeframes and causes for reviewing their curriculums. This is driven by factors such as societal (organizational need), and sustainability. Programs, whether accredited or not, should be reviewed at least once every five years. For accredited programs, the frequency should coincide with accreditation cycle. This is mainly to respond to rapid changes in the environment.

Industries require specialized skilled people to use the latest technology to give the company a competitive advantage and Institutes of Higher Learning are supposed to be training these specialized skilled people but they are not because Institutes of Higher Learning are not keeping up with Industries changes.

Skill Alignment Framework

Neither the universities nor organisation can achieve the goal to improve skill development alone by itself. Collaboration within a framework is needed. The collaboration should be a consortium, consisting of the primary stakeholders, which includes the university, organisations, and government, as revealed above. The roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders should be defined and reviewed overtime in accordance to the political, economy and social factors at the time.

Skills development could be achieved and supported through experiential training or institutions of higher learning (universities). Itin [START_REF] Itin | Reasserting the Philosophy of experiential Education as Vehicle for change in the 21 st Century[END_REF] defines Experiential training as the transfer of knowledge, skills, experience, between a teacher who is knowledgeable in that environment and a student. Experiential training could take place at any level, and at any facility, other than the Universities. According to Fletcher [START_REF] Fletcher | Meaningful student involvement: Student as partners in school change[END_REF], students should participate in real activities and experience the real consequences. Some Universities have created a module within their curriculum that allows the students to work in organisation (industry) of their choice but related to their field of study, for a set period of time. This is for the students to gain experience and hands-on practices from their learning at the university. The skill alignment framework would require all participants (universities, government and organisations) to work together as one entity, to teach and prepare students for employment. As depicted in Figure 2, some of the factors required to carry out these tasks, and achieve the goal involved: cost, training, retention strategy, curriculum transformation and collaboration. The factors are discussed as follow:

Cost Implication

Cost is essential if the skill development is to succeed. Unfortunately, some candidate takes longer to develop and acquire the necessary skills for employment as required by different organisations. Likewise those that are employed also take longer to develop further. The time and other facilities that are used in the development can be cost prohibitive or scarce. As a result, it becomes a serious challenge for one entity to embark on it alone. Hence collaboration amongst the primary stakeholders is crucial.

On another front, if a limited number of employees is adequately trained for a certain type of job, that company would be facing a high risk of staff turnover. That would mean that companies will have to offer their employees more incentives and rewards, such as salary increase in order to keep the skilled staff. Otherwise, the employees would leave to pursue other more beneficiary and challenging employment elsewhere. This leads to a higher cost of sustainability for the company. Also, this can be attributed to the company's low return on its investment.

Training

Continuous training and mentorship are critical in the pursuit to closing the skill gap. Training at various levels from the schooling to working environment with the aid of government and organisations contributes to the reduction of skills shortage in the country. For example, a mentoring program between the Australian Library and Information Association and the Queensland University of Technology was created to help postgraduate students prepare for their careers [START_REF] Hallam | Mentoring fosters personal growthand membership growth[END_REF]. The mentorship program was a formulated collaboration amongst: a professional association, the educators, practicing professionals, and the potential employees. The aim was to prepare the candidates for employment in various fields for their career. This was done while the students were still at the University, and about to enter the job market.

Training at any level requires many factors, such as time, cost, and interest. The factors are not easy to come by as seen from afar. They require some political will, social influences and economy implication. It is difficult to separate the factors from one another. Time and cost are invested because there is interest, and interests are pursued with resources, such time and finance. Also, finance is used to acquire resource of interest, which is aimed to save time.

Retention strategy

Many companies are reluctant to send their employees for further training, to improve and enhance their skills. This is attributed to the costs involved, as they are sometimes challenged with return on investment. Other organisations are sceptical because they might lose the employees to their competitors. Haskins [START_REF] Haskins | Industry body proactive in confronting skills deficit[END_REF] argued that companies are required to increase their effort to recruit and retain trained workforce, for competitive advantage. According to Saunders et al [START_REF] Saunders | Mismatched perceptions and expectations: an exploration of stakeholders' view of key and technical skills in vocational education and training[END_REF], the importance of training and creation of a learning environment contributes to the success and competitive advantage.

In the process of keeping and holding-on to workforce, many organisations have adopted retention strategies, which involve factors such finance and cost. The retention strategy impacts different levels and area disciplines within the organisation that deploy it. Some of the organisations adopt the mentorship program to identify personnel for retention.

In some organisations, it is argued that the mentorship programs are timely and not a cost effective solution for bridging the skills gap in both short and long terms. Teaching and learning takes and consumes resources and time, which is equated and valued to money. Companies are willing take the responsibility, but the fear of brain drain remains a disturbing factor. It has been of high risk in the last decade. Once the person has gained the necessary knowledge required, they leave the company for better opportunities. If the curriculum in institutions of higher learning is continuously transformed, there little or no need for retention strategy or fear of brain drain.

Curriculum Transformation

Some countries, as well as universities are expected to take the lead in addressing the skills gap at both short and long terms. One way of doing so is for the universities to be transformative in their curriculum. The transformation of curriculum should be imbibed as a culture, only then, the approach and can survive at a longer term. The aim is for the transformative process to evolve and adapt to the constant environmental changes.

Students are more interested in Universities that could assist them find employment. This conclusion is based on curriculum assessment by the students. Maharasoa & Hay [START_REF] Maharasoa | Higher Education and graduate Employment in South Africa[END_REF] argued that students choose a University based on the courses offered, especially if the student is guaranteed a job at the end of the course. Students are more interested in working towards a chance of being employed than having a degree and being unemployed. This notion could be attributed to one of the reasons why students often would prefer a University of Technology (or polytechnics) to traditional university. The University of Technology (or polytechnics) seem to focus more on what industry needs. For example, some Universities of Technology constitute an advisory board, made of academics and professionals (industry personnel). The primary aim of the advisory board is to guide and advise the university on course contents. Based on the guidance and advice of the board, curriculum of courses are frequently reviewed and transformed.

Another approach through which curriculums could be transformed is continued research on curriculum matters. Currently, there seems to be limited research studies on curriculum matters, particularly in the areas of computing and engineering. Curriculum transformation would help mainly because many institutions of higher learning are sadly not up-to-date with factors of changing social needs, intellectual and technology trends, and industries' competitive need.

The concept of cooperative learning at institutions of higher learning is fundamental to curriculum development and transformation. Cooperative learning is the exposure of students to the industry 'real world' and practical environment. The assessment of students during this period is vital for curriculum development and transformation. It assists the institution to shape and reshape its content in preparation of students.

Collaborative

Closing the skill gap in any community or the country at large requires collaboration of the primary stakeholders, which include learners, educators, organisations and government. The collaboration is aimed to solidify the empowerment of institutions of higher learning and organisations towards achieving the same goal. It assures the quality of the products, thus improving the attractiveness for employability of the qualified student (graduates).

The role of the government is critical. The roles could be carried out through different means and methods such as policies and programs. For example, the department of Education in South Africa has imposed on all institutions of higher learning (Traditional University and Universities of Technology) to adapt and improve and transform their curriculums before 2014. This is to ensure that the curriculum aligns with the general needs of the country. This policy requires collaboration of organisations, the government and the focal actor, universities. This is aimed to improve poverty alleviation through fostering sustainability and development.

Conclusion

Specialised skills are needed in organisations for competitive advantage, and in the country for sustainability, development and growth. The basis and foundation for skills and specialisation are the responsibility of institutions of higher learning. The responsibility is shared. Otherwise, quality and appropriation of the skills become a challenge. Hence collaboration is significantly vital.

Industries employ new workforce (both new graduates and experienced personnel) but are challenged by leadership or mentorship programs which has many implications such as costs and time. As a result, they are retrained. Hence the collaboration with other stakeholders such as the government is critical.

Undertaken of roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of the stakeholders as revealed in this paper would help bridge the skills gap in the country. Partnership is vital, collaboration is critical, and monitoring of the forms of bridging the skill gap is of utmost significant.

Figure 1 :

 1 Figure 1: Skill Development There are many factors that influence ICT skills development, from qualification stage to competence level, of individuals and groups. According to Gruba et al [15], there are factors which influence curriculum change. They include industries' viewpoints, competitive advantage (competition amongst the universities), financial pressure, and course accreditation. The factors considered to be most critical include government interference, organisational need, and curriculum development and transformative scheme. These factors are interlinked as depicted in Figure 1 below.

Figure 2 :

 2 Figure 2: Factors Influencing Skill Development

Figure 3 :

 3 Figure 3: Skill Development

Table 1 :

 1 Participants

	Industry	Organisation	Participant	Senior	Junior	Graduate/
			(Individual)	Employees	Employees	Internship
	Financial Institutions	FI-1	11	5	4	2
		FI-2	8	4	1	3
		FI-3	6	3	1	2
		FI-4	5	3	-	2
		FI-5	6	4	2	-
		FI-6	7	3	1	3
	Government	GI-1	9	5	2	2
	Institutions
		GI-2	7	4	1	2
		GI-3	7	4	2	1
		GI-4	7	5	-	2
		GI-5	4	2	1	-
	Energy and Mining	EM-1	5	4	-	1
		EM-2	4	2	1	1
		EM-3	4	-	2	2
	Telecommunications	TELCOM1	7	3	2	2
		TELCOM2	6	2	4	-
	Transport	TP-1	9	4	2	3
		TP-2	5	3	-	2
	Total	18	117	60	26	30