Department of Information Technology

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://erepository.kibu.ac.ke/handle/123456789/230

Browse

Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 11 of 11
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Mobile learning technology acceptance model for public universities in Kenya
    (KIBU, 2018-11) Chekulesi, Andrew Wanjala
    M-learning involves the use of mobile technology, either alone or in combination with other Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to enable learning take place anytime and anywhere. Learning can unfold in a variety of ways: people can use mobile devices to access educational resources, connect with others, or create content, both inside and outside classrooms. Despite the high penetration levels of mobile devices which stands at 80.5 per cent, the latest sector statistics report by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) shows that Kenyan public universities have not yet fully embraced the use of m-learning as a teaching and learning model. The purpose of this study was to develop an m-learning technology acceptance model that can be used in public universities in Kenya in developing and disseminating educational content via available mobile technologies so as to improve educational access, equity and quality. The objectives of this study were to; determine factors affecting m-learning technology acceptance in public Universities in Kenya, asses existing ICT policy guidelines for m-learning in Kenya and to develop an m-learning technology acceptance model for public universities in Kenya. This study adopted the descriptive survey design. The target population were students and lecturers from six public universities in Kenya. A sample size of 190 students and 67 lecturers provided the sample for the study. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling were used to obtain the number of respondents. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. A pilot study was done to ascertain reliability and validity of the research instruments. In data analysis, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used. The privacy of the respondents was adhered to and integrity and confidentiality of collected data upheld. The findings showed that existing m-learning technology has usability, cost and Learning factors that affects its acceptance as a mode of teaching and learning, other factors included; inappropriate content for mobile learning, poor ICT infrastructure at the universities, slow internet connectivity and lack of ICT policy to support m-learning were registered as major factors hindering m-learning acceptance. The final deliverable of the study developed an m-learning technology acceptance model that will enhance m-learning acceptance as a way of teaching and learning by students and lecturers in public universities in Kenya. The study recommends improvement of institutions’ ICT infrastructure, making policies that promote adoption of m-learning and consideration of student needs, attributes and skills towards mobile learning.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Security threats and vulnerabilities mitigation in information systems security for public universities in Kenya
    (KIBU, 2018-11) Wafula, Edward Wakoli
    The last few years has witnessed increased emergent security threats and vulnerabilities in Universities Information Systems security which include students presenting fake bank slips to be receipted at university accounts, modification of student exams grades in databases using SQL injection, use of memory sticks to propagate viruses, remote login through buffer overflow, phishing attacks among others. There is no well defined framework to mitigate both the insider and outsider threats and vulnerabilities to information systems security for universities. The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for combating security threats and vulnerabilities in information systems security for public universities in Kenya. The objectives of this study were to identify the existing and emerging security threats to information systems in universities, establish existing information system security controls for universities, explore frameworks associated with information system security and develop a secure information system framework for universities. The theory guiding this study was Actor Network Theory which constructs associations within the network and aligns a series of events as a timeline. Survey research design was employed and used stratified and purposive sampling techniques. The target population of this study consisted of System Administrators, Computer Technicians and 4th year Bachelor of Science in Computer Science Students from public universities in Kenya. A total of 306 respondents were used in the study. The tools for data collection consisted of interviews and questionnaires. Data analysis was through use of both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics in which the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (r) and t-test was used to establish the relationship between vulnerabilities and threats to information systems and establish existing information systems security controls and frameworks associated with information system security respectively. The key findings from the research study comprised of emergent threats including ransomware, unpatched client software and poor systems configurations. Vulnerabilities identified encompassed inadequate monitoring and analysis of security logs, poor account monitoring and control and missing patches for applications. The results on existing information systems security controls for universities included transaction authorization, duty segregation and logical access controls. The findings on secure information systems frameworks, and standards comprised of security policies and procedures. The significance of the study was a new conceptual framework for developing secure information systems for universities.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Performance expectancy and cloud risks as determinants for cloud computing acceptance in public universities in Kenya
    (KIBU, 2016-11) Tsinale, Loice Harriet
    Cloud computing main objective is to reduce the cost of Information Technology services while increasing processing throughput, availability, reliability, and flexibility as well as decreasing processing time. Because of the potential benefits of Cloud Computing, it has become popular with educational institutions around the world. A number of them have already adopted and some are on the process of adopting Cloud Computing to improve the education standards while saving on the cost spent on technology. Despite cloud computing services being thought of being useful in advancing the academic research and administrative task, it has not been popular as it anticipated in most university in Kenya as evident with few Kenyan universities having adopted cloud computing. Therefore the purpose of this research was to develop a Cloud Computing acceptance Framework. The objectives of this study will be to determine the effect of Performance Expectancy and the influence of Cloud Risks on the acceptance to use Cloud Computing in public universities in Kenya and to develop a Cloud Computing Acceptance. Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to determine the acceptability of Cloud Computing as a new technology in public universities in Kenya. The Research design used was a mixed method approach. A sample was drawn from four public universities in Kenya. The target population was 340 respondents and will consist of 4 homogeneous stratums comprising of 10 Managers chairman of departments and relevant Deans /Directors), 97 IT (Information Technology) personnel/lecturers, 21 Administration assistants and 212 students taking IT and computer science programmes. Stratified sampling was used to select the sample population and the sample size was 181 respondents which were arrived at by using proportional allocation method. The research instruments that will be used are questionnaires, interviews and focus group. The reliability of the data was arrived at by using the test-retest techniques and the internal consistence of data from the questionnaires was computed by using the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient. Data analysis was done using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The study applied confirmatory factor analysis to reduce the large item set their underlying variable from UTAUT model. The research was expected to develop an acceptance framework for cloud computing adoption in universities in Kenya. This framework is likely to enhance the universities acceptance of cloud computing in a cost effective and efficient manner. The study will reveal factors that affect the acceptance of cloud computing within public universities and hence contribute to world of knowledge. The respondents were of the perception that cloud computing is easier to use, safer, solves problems and easier to learn. Students and ICT personnel perceived increased change in performance by moving the clouds. Most ICT personnel’s felt that there are still unmitigated risks in the use of cloud services. The findings of the study will go a long way into informing policies with regard to cloud computing adoption.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Application lifecycle management activities and tool integration for quality assurance in software development
    (KIBU, 2016-11) Otibine, Tobias Okumu
    Lifecycle Management approaches promise more systematic and efficient ways to support the development and management of complex products. The concept of Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) indicates the coordination of activities and the management of artifacts during the software (SW) product’s lifecycle. Most of the currently available unified ALM solutions are either based on basic version control and other ‘low level’ point-to-point integrations, or advocate the adoption of a new and expensive all –in-one solution form a single vendor without considering the aspect of quality. The problem with these current solution is that the first does not go far enough to really provide the previously described benefits of applying an ALM solution while considering quality, while the second one is often associated with high costs in tools, infrastructure and personnel. Thus the purpose of the research was to develop an ALM framework that would improve on quality of software by effectively managing Application Lifecycle Management activities and tools involved in software development, to determine the level of integration of the Application Lifecycle Management tools in providing Application Lifestyle Management solutions and to develop an Application Lifecycle Management framework for quality assurance in software development. The research employed multiple case study design. The target population for the study was the various specialists involved with ALM activities in software development industries consisting of 200 respondents and included 6 homogenous strata comprising of 10 managers, 60 Developers, 60 Testers, 30 Analysts, 20 Directors and 20 Architects. The data collection tools included Questionnaire, Observation and Interviews. In order to test the validity and reliability of the instruments, first the questionnaires were scrutinized and approved by the university supervisor and a group of experts before issuing them. Then a test-retest of the instruments was done by piloting in two companies which were not part of the study and the internal consistence of data from the questionnaire’s computed by sing the Cronhach’s alpha coefficient. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential analysis. ALM activities and tool integration were found to be a direct predictor of Software quality assurance in software development. This research found out that ALM elements and their relations together with food documentation were very key in coming up with a efficient ALM solution for SME’s. The study found that with improved process support and better knowledge and experience on ALM, application lifecycle management activities and tool integration greatly affected the quality of software’s developed thus improving on quality assurance in software development and hence contributing to the world of knowledge.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Requirement elicitation framework for re-engineering diagnostic health care information systems in Kenya
    (KIBU, 2017-11) Okwemba, Rose Khamusali
    Requirements elicitation is concerned with the extraction of users’ requirements, which involves cognitive, social, communication and technical issues. This process has been affected by legacy systems which are outdated computer systems, programming languages, application software and processes that are no longer applicable to current context but are being used instead of available upgraded versions. The purpose of the study was to investigate Requirement Elicitation process in the Re-engineering of Diagnostic Health care information Systems and develop a Frame Work. Re-engineering legacy systems to modern environment will play an important role in the decision making process, especially in the way the data is collected and presented through a computing platform. The study was to establish appropriateness of existing Elicitation Techniques for re-engineering diagnostic health care information system, determine Attributes for re-engineering legacy systems and design a Frame work to be used during elicitation process. The study was conducted in Uasin-Gishu Count in Eldoret District Hospital. Mixed method design involving experimental and case study was used. The target population was 250 respondents. Through the use of stratified random sampling technique, sample size of 152 respondents was calculated by use of Krejcie and Morgan table 1970. Data was collected by use of questionnaires and interviews. The research instruments were tested for validity through serious scrutiny by experts and academic supervisors while reliability was tested through test and re-test. Descriptive, Correlation and Regression statistics were used in the analysis of data. The analyzed data was presented by use of tables and graphs. The findings of the study revealed that correlation between Elicitation Techniques and Re-engineering was significant at r= .936** and also correlation between Attributes and Re-engineering was significant at 0.936** respectively where P<0.01. The outcome of this research is a Systematic Management Analytic Requirement Frame work (SMARF). The frame work reliability and validity was tested by twelve experts to ensure usability and acceptability by users. Evaluating tool for the frame work has been suggested for further research.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Adoption of mobile computing for ubiquitous data management within sugar companies in Kenya
    (KIBU, 2016-11) Ndukuyu, Arnold C
    Mobile Computing provide users with greater opportunity to manage data and access information and services stored on the Internet and central repositories, regardless of users’ physical locations and movement behaviours. Field officers in sugar companies spend more than 50% of their time in the field, have their appropriateness of mobile computing in their working. However, field operations and services often experience extensive delays or rework due to information that is unavailable, inaccurate or out dated as a result of manual processes thus leading to production inefficiencies. This study proposed to explore the extend of adoption of mobile technologies for ubiquitous Data Management within Sugar companies in Kenya. This was achieved through determining usability of mobile computing technologies, establishment of utilization of mobile data management, assessing challenges affecting adoption of mobile computing for ubiquitous data management and eventually proposing an optimum strategy for use of mobile computing for ubiquitous data management within sugar companies in Kenya. The study employed largely descriptive survey design. The target population consisted of ten strategy managers, 1179 extension officers, 30 ICT business systems managers and 500 active system users. The Study sample of 325 workers from the sugar companies in Kenya comprising of 240 extension officer, 2 strategy managers, 6 business system managers and 40 system active users. Extension officers and system active users were selected using simple random sampling technique, strategy managers and business system managers were selected using saturated sampling technique. To ensure face and content validity of the research instruments ICT experts in software development firms, Oracle, Amity and EIM were consulted. Pilot study was conducted on 15 workers from the sugar companies who did not participate in the study and Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaires at alpha level of signifance of 0.05 both qualitative and quantitative data was collected and analysed. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis while qualitative data was analysed thematically. The study found out that; network capability, security, data and service portability and policy formulation ranked top as critical elements in an enterprise mobility framework. The study established that through a majority of workers at 76.92% agree that mobile technology is being used for data management, 56.98% indicated that they do not rely on mobile technology for data management. The study also found out that though 74.18% of workers agree that business operations in sugar companies depend on mobile technologies for data management, 87.36% of the workers undertake transactions using desktop computers and not mobile devices. However, 93.41% of the workers appreciate mobile computing as effective for data management. It was also found out that management support for mobile computing was not significant. The study further established that mobile computing adoption was hindered in the sugar industry by inadequate technological infrastructure and concerns about security of information. The study developed a framework for adoption of mobile computing for ubiquitous data management in sugar companies in Kenya. developed framework if used can help companies improve on their operational and production efficiency. The findings of the study are also critical for policy makers on enterprise mobility and integration with IT governance. The study concludes that adoption of mobile computing strategies affected profitability of companies positively.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Human computer interaction framework for visually challenged students in Kenyan public universities
    (KIBU, 2016-11) Savatia, Edward Mahanga
    Kenyan public universities have been admitting students with visual challenge for a long time, yet there has been no time during the period that a study has been undertaken to determine the challenges faced by visually challenged student while using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) services provided in these universities. There is growing interest in developing effective strategies for supporting ICT adoption and implementation in Kenya, particularly in educational sector. The visually challenged students in the Kenya public universities face various difficulties in accessing the most needed literature in their area of interest in academics. However the nature of these challenges has neither been investigated fully nor addressed. Visually challenged students in Kenyan public universities are struggling with the problem of accessing information needed for their studies and believe that developing a human computer interaction framework for their use will provide a solution. The study aimed at developing a human computer interaction framework for the visually challenged students in Kenya public universities. To achieve the fore mentioned goal, the study sought to identify specialized ICT application services for use by visually challenged students, establish specialized ICT tools for use by visually challenged student in Kenya public universities, determine the challenges faced by visually challenged students while using ICT application services provided in Kenyan public universities and design a human computer interaction framework for visually challenged students in Kenyan public universities. Descriptive multi-case study was employed. Purposive sampling technique was used where two public universities were selected to provide population size for the respondents and was dependent on the judgment and knowledge of the researcher. The targeted population in the research involved visually challenged students at Kenyatta and Maseno Universities who numbered 48 and 6 respectively. Key informants were 4 ICT experts; 4 guides of the visually challenged students; 2 senior administrators and 10 lecturers from both universities. Simple random sampling was used to obtain the respondents to form the sample. Data was collected using interview schedules, questionnaire and observation. A pilot study was carried out at Kibos High School for the Blind, to ascertain the reliability and validity of the research instrument. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the data analysis. The study was able to come up with human computer interaction framework for accessibility and usability by the visually challenged students at universities to enable them access and use ICT services in their studies. The developed framework will also be able to guide universities management in implementing policies that will help in solving the many challenges faced by visually challenged students in these universities. The output of the research led to the following recommendations; Restructuring of institutional organs serving the visually challenged students. (VCS), effective ICT application services for VCS, acquisition of suitable ICT equipment for use by VCS. Findings for further revealed VCS had many challenges not known the universities management.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Designers’ ontologies and applications usability evaluation framework for unified virtual market platform
    (KIBU, 2016-11) Khaoya, Muyobo Daniel
    Virtual product and process development is viewed as one of the most promising business strategies, which can address global competition. Consumers around the world are now able to establish and maintain connection, regardless of their locations, through virtual market applications. This has generated new dimensions through which, consumers access content. In recent years, the development of ontologies has been moving from the Artificial-Intelligence Laboratories to the desktops and smart phones of domain experts. The designs and usability aspects need to be considered in order to facilitate a unified virtual market platform. The purpose of this study was to investigate designers’ ontologies and usability of Virtual Market applications and develop a framework that realizes a Unified Virtual Market Platform. The objectives of the study were; to examine existing designer ontologies for designing virtual Market applications, investigate the levels of users’ competencies against various designers’ ontologies on virtual market applications, and establish the relationships between ontologies and user characteristics across different virtual market platforms in Kenya. The study adopted a mixed research design, involving case study and experimental designs. The study collected both descriptive and inferential data. The study Targeted designers, consumers and virtual market applications. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting designers, consumers and virtual market applications from the sample frame. The sample population size for this study was obtained using Cochran formula n=z2pq/e2. Which was estimated to be 196 consumers, and 7 popularly used applications to represent the population. The data was collected through content analysis, questionnaires, questioning protocol, focus group discussion and think-aloud protocol. Face validity and content validity validation was done to ascertain the validity of the research instruments. Reliability of the instruments was tested via a pilot study. The researcher acquired a research permit from relevant bodies before proceeding to data collection. During data collection, 200 questionnaires were administered out of which 125 were completed and returned for analysis. The researcher also collected a complementary result via a focused group discussion which comprised 18 members. Privacy of the respondents’ data was protected during and after the study. The primary analysis of the collected data was done using descriptive statistics. Confirmatory analysis was done using inferential statistics. The major findings were as follows; that though many applications are designed to make virtual market platform a reality, design factors such as payment modes, security and ontology mapping, user characteristic factors and usability factors are not adequately addressing the needs of the market. The user characteristics were evaluated through usability heuristics factor and usability directed by user competence on task completion. The study came up with a unified Virtual market platform framework for virtual market platform. The framework was presented to thirteen (13) experts to test its reliability, validity and acceptance. This was to simplify the access to products and usability of various virtual market applications. The researcher concludes that; the virtual market applications are not popularly used in most parts of Kenya since most people fear that they do not guarantee security of the product quality, delivery and are subject to frauds. Other than perception, competence and attitude towards design and usability of virtual market application, especially understanding the consumer’s attitude; further researches to be carried on factors affecting consumer access to products on virtual market may be of great value to the virtual market platforms.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Investigation of determinants of ict electronic waste management in Kenyan public universities
    (KIBU, 2018-11) Kapukha, Rose Nakhanu
    Information Communication Technology (ICT) Electronic waste is one of the fastest growing solid waste streams around the world today due to the intensive utilization of ICT in various sectors of the economy. The amount of e-waste generated by Kenyan Universities is increasing at a very high rate per annum due to the continued increase in the use of computers and other related devices. However, about 40% of the e-waste generated remains in stores for years despite various efforts to curb it hence the focus of the study. Therefore the study endevoured to develop a framework for management of Electronic Waste in Kenyan Public Universities. The study sought to determine the factors that contribute to ICT electronic waste in Kenyan Public Universities; evaluate how Universities are managing their electronic waste; and develop an enhanced framework for its management in Kenyan Public Universities. Survey research design was used in the study. The target population for the study were the ICT staff, Administrative staff, Procurement and Management officers in two chartered Public Universities and one University Constituent College. The total population for the study was 370. Purposive and simple random sampling was used to select 110 respondents. Questionnaires and content analysis were the instruments used for data collection. Research instruments were tested for validity using content and face validity while test-retest was used to test for reliability upon carrying out a pilot study at Kibabii University. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, namely Pearson moment product correlation and multiple regression analysis. The results of the study gave valuable insight on the management of electronic waste hence development of a framework that can improve the management of electronic waste in Kenyan Public Universities. The study revealed that there is quite a number of obsolete devices in stores due to lack of proper disposal mechanisms, lack of adequate and/or enforcement of policies and poor infrastructure in handling of these waste. The study also revealed that awareness, procurement, donation and disposal influenced management of electronic waste. Findings of the study also revealed that 82% variance in average management of electronic can be predicted by awareness, procurement, disposal and donation. It was found that awareness, procurement and disposal had a positive and significant relationship with management of electronic waste, while donation had an inverse relationship with management of electronic waste. Based on the finding, a framework was developed including the four variables which are awareness, procurement, donation and disposal. The study recommended that there is need to set up awareness and trading centres to help create awareness. There is also need to formulate, implement and enforce policies with regards to management of electronic waste. Procurement entities should embrace the current technology such as cloud computing and virtualisation to cut down on the purchase of the electronic devices.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Cost-effectiness of using thin-client technology in enhancing service delivery in school computer laboratories in Kenya
    (KIBU, 2018-11) Asenahabi, Bostley Muyembe
    Computer literacy is essential for a workforce to compete favorably in this increasingly computerized environment. Most organizations and institutions require a workforce that is computer literate. This calls for schools to equip more students with computer skills. Schools should be adequately equipped to offer hands-on experience and nurture rapid learning, yet be intuitive and interesting to students. Setting up and maintaining a computer laboratory goes with a cost which most schools cannot keep pace with thus the need to embrace other cost-effective computer architectures. This research modeled the cost-effectiveness of using thin-client computing technology on service delivery in school computer laboratories. It aimed at establishing constraints encountered by schools while teaching computer studies, determining the computer architectures deployed in school computer laboratories and analyzing the cost-effectiveness of thin client computing technology on service delivery in school computer laboratories. This is a descriptive research. It adopted a mixed method research design which involved survey and experimental research designs. Probability sampling technique which involved stratified and random sampling techniques was used to arrive at a sample size of 16 of the 52 secondary schools within Bungoma County which offer computer studies. Primary data was collected using questionnaire, observation and discussion. To ensure quality of the research data and to ascertain the instruments’ reliability, a pilot study was performed, face and content validity were also performed on the data collection instruments. Quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics and presented in form of frequency tables, percentages, bar graphs, line graphs and pie charts. Qualitative data was presented in narrative form. The research findings revealed that many secondary schools shy away from offering computer studies due to financial constraints to equip their computer laboratories, the main computer architectural configuration deployed by secondary schools for computer studies is stand-alone computer architecture. The break even power consumption point is when two thin clients are in ON state, consuming ninety five watts compared to two stand-alone computers consuming one hundred and thirty two watts. Thin-client computer architecture is more cost-effective compared to stand-alone computer architecture which if deployed in computer laboratories, schools will be able to offer computer studies to more students thus making more people computer literate.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Green information technology framework in a virtualized environment in public universities in Kenya
    (KIBU, 2018-11) Gichuki, Dennis Karugu
    The activities of public universities in Kenya today are heavily dependent on software and hence, the systems hosting them. This has resulted in an increased hardware acquisition which has led to increased implementation and maintenance costs as well as increased technical difficulties. This threatens the very sustainability of IT implementation in public universities. The purpose of this study was to formulate a system virtualization framework for green IT deployment in public universities in Kenya. The study sought to evaluate how virtualization technologies impact green IT deployment, analyze system virtualization performance and ultimately develop a virtualization framework for enhancing green IT deployment in public universities in Kenya. The study used mixed method research design. A survey and quasi experiment was conducted in four public universities and one University College. Probabilistic sampling technique was used to arrive at a sample size of 88 respondents from four public universities out of 31 and one public university college out of five in Kenya. Questionnaires, observation guide and experiment guide were the data collection tools used. The instruments validity was tested using content and face validity while test-retest was used to test the reliability after carrying out a pilot study at Kaimosi University College. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics specifically, Pearson’s moment product correlation and multiple regression analysis. The findings showed that system virtualization encourages hardware reduction, improved software reuse and improved security through the use of system virtualization. These findings imply that system virtualization reduces IT deployment costs as well as reduce amount of hardware components to be disposed. Challenges related to green ICT implementation in universities and university colleges including uncertainty in return on investment, limited financial support and limited collaboration. The study recommends that public universities and university colleges in Kenya should focus on a green IT framework in deploying ICT systems to ensure sustainability of the same.