For courses in Computer Concepts. Focusing throughout is on essential information, clearly explained and rooted in a practical context, this text helps students become well versed in all the main computer concepts-hardware, software, communication, and issues-that affect every area of life today, and a knowledge of which is mandatory for success in today's job market.

Focusing on gender equality by exploring the interrelations between gender, education and poverty, this work demonstrates a range of methodological frameworks for analysing gender and education with a development context.

What shapes the role of Information and Communication Technologies in our everyday life? Despite the speed with which information and communication technologies such as the PC, mobile telephone and internet have found their way into society, there remains a good deal of debate surrounding their adoption and use. Through empirical studies covering a broad range of everyday life and work settings, this volume provides grounded insights into the social dynamics influencing how ICTs are both shaped and experienced. Specifically, the book examines the contributions of diverse disciplines to our understanding of these processes, the symbolic nature of technologies, the influence of design on the experience of ICTs, the role of users in influencing that design, the social constraints affecting the use of those technologies, and strategies for evaluating the social consequences of ICT innovations.