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Shopbots are the online search tools which help the online customers to collect the information about various products in the online markets. The word "Shopbots" is the short form of "shopping robots". These Shopbots help the customers to make comparison between the products and their features from different websites, it displays price and other features of the product in a single page. Generally, Shopbots are the price comparison tools that help the customers in comparing the prices of products in other sites, so that the customers get the best products at the best prices from different online sites. After making analysis through primary data of certain aspects regarding the Shopbots, it was found that most of the people do not use Shopbots as they are not aware of it. Most of the customers' purchasing decision is based on their brand loyalty and most of them prefer online shopping on traditional shopping. Even though some people are aware of Shopbots they are only using it as a locator from which they can find cheaper products and they are not aware of the Artificial Intelligence associated with it and also it is used only when they make any expensive purchases. Through this study we came to know that most the people are price sensitive and slight variations in the price may lead to a change in their purchasing decision. Shopbots have an Impact on the customers purchase decision but only to a limited extent because of lack of familiarity of Shopbots among the customers. The main benefit that the public received is that they get to know about Shopbots and majority of people are of the opinion that they will be using Shopbots on their future purchases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the dramatic health situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in Italy the emergency remote teaching lasted longer than in other countries. The mandatory teaching modalities have required digital transformation processes in a framework where digital-divide is one of the limitations to school modernization. We believe that the experience can promote a deeper formatting of organizational process. The paper shows results of a multitarget research carried out during the Italian lockdown aiming at animating the debate around school from multi-actors perspectives and at supporting policies. The paper aims at showing the potentiality of a multivariate statistical method as a tool supporting school managers in identifying those challenges they have to face to improve the setting up of internal processes. The main result is a model supporting the decision making process at orienting school managers strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature suggests that the penetration of digital technology may create a digital divide, particularly for groups that lack resources and the capacity to access technology. This study is keen to examine the poverty and digital divide, particularly in urban poor areas. There are two research objectives. Firstly, to examine the digital diffusion and digital literacy within poor urban neighborhoods in the City of Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. Secondly, to understand the variation of digital diffusion and digital literacy across areas (with different levels of poverty), age groups, genders and occupations. The data is collected from surveys focused on measuring the access to information, digital diffusion and the use of technology among the poor. This study found that there is a digital divide problem among people in urban areas, especially among people with low incomes. Moreover, the diffusion is dominated by certain groups such as younger people and females. Furthermore, digital literacy among the poor is low. The policy implication is to improve access for digital diffusion and provide assistance to improve digital literacy skills.

Public service delivery is an essential component of e-governance initiatives but the digital divide limits citizens' access to e-government services, especially in rural communities. The Digital India initiative launched Common Service Centers (CSCs) to mitigate the physical-digital divide issue. The privately operated local kiosks are meant to ensure easy access to digital government services in India's remote pockets. Although the literature indicates that females generally have lower perceptions and adoption rates of digital government, existing studies commonly assume women directly interact with government websites. We know little about gender-specific experiences of digital government through the user assisted and privately operated local kiosks. This survey study utilizes the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to explore the gender-specific acceptance of public service through local kiosks in rural India. This paper argues that user-assisted kiosks help mitigate the gender digital divide by increasing the usefulness and ease of use of e-government, which improves rural women's acceptance and use of digital government services. This field research brings insights from the developing world while recording women's voices from underserved communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Social media comprise technologies that facilitate learning in higher education institutions. However, many first-year students at tertiary education institutions are not taking advantage of social media for their learning because of environmental and personal factors related to the digital divide (DD). Objectives: The objective of this research study was to investigate the impact of the DD factors on first-year students in using social media for learning in tertiary education institutions. Method: A survey method was used to conduct the study. Social cognitive theory was employed as a theory underpinning this research. A questionnaire technique was used to collect data from 600 first-year students of a multi-campus university. Three hundred students came from each of the two campuses. Regression analysis was performed with the purpose of testing the hypotheses of the study. Results: The result of the analysis revealed a low computer access and usage but a high percentage of mobile devices usage by students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Personal factors were found to have an impact on the behaviour of students in adopting social media for their studies. The study also found that the prevalence of social media nullifies the lack of computer resources and connection to the Internet in disadvantaged areas. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the DD was more complex than hitherto envisaged. The study recommends that ownership of computers and devices connected to the Internet needs to be promoted, especially in disadvantaged areas.

The sudden closure of educational institutions in 2020 brought multiple financial and learning challenges for Pakistani female students. In our experience, not only formal and informal learning realms of female students have been affected in the post pandemic educational landscape, but a distinct gender and digital divide (GDD) is also noticeable between technology-equipped and deprived students. Considering the theoretical perspectives of digital divide, this paper will essentially explicate the chasms existing within female students of Mass Communication in Pakistan. Given Pakistan’s conservative and patriarchal culture, it is very important to study how female students of Mass Communication, from both urban and rural areas, responded to the change after the pandemic. Through in-depth interviews of twenty female students, we argue that the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated already existing GDD in Pakistani educational landscape. Especially the first order GDD in education can be seen frequently in Pakistani rural locations. Moreover, economic limitations and socio-cultural norms also play an essential role in exacerbating second order GDD in the Mass Communication education. Thus, in this sense, the pandemic has brought a change that is charged with exclusion and disparity. Moreover, we argue that digital divide is a gendered concept for a periphery country such as Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Social media comprise technologies that facilitate learning in higher education institutions. However, many first-year students at tertiary education institutions are not taking advantage of social media for their learning because of environmental and personal factors related to the digital divide (DD). Objectives: The objective of this research study was to investigate the impact of the DD factors on first-year students in using social media for learning in tertiary education institutions. Method: A survey method was used to conduct the study. Social cognitive theory was employed as a theory underpinning this research. A questionnaire technique was used to collect data from 600 first-year students of a multi-campus university. Three hundred students came from each of the two campuses. Regression analysis was performed with the purpose of testing the hypotheses of the study. Results: The result of the analysis revealed a low computer access and usage but a high percentage of mobile devices usage by students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Personal factors were found to have an impact on the behaviour of students in adopting social media for their studies. The study also found that the prevalence of social media nullifies the lack of computer resources and connection to the Internet in disadvantaged areas. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the DD was more complex than hitherto envisaged. The study recommends that ownership of computers and devices connected to the Internet needs to be promoted, especially in disadvantaged areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizens, including those living in poor and developing countries, need equitable access to information daily to satisfy their diverse and multiple information needs. In this information age and information economy era, easy and instant access to information and knowledge, which are inevitabilities for socio-economic development, cannot be overemphasised. With rolling out of public libraries even in disadvantaged rural communities due to the library conditional grant in South Africa, the study is aimed at investigating factors influencing the Internet access and use in public libraries in Limpopo. The study adopted a qualitative research approach. The twenty four users of three rural, semi-rural and urban public libraries were selected through convenience sampling. A well-placed government official of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture was purposively selected. All informants were interviewed face to face to collect data. The study found that, although public libraries studied have networked computers for the Internet access and use, there are many challenges. The officials of the relevant department need to study the recommendations of this study to ensure that the people have digital access in public libraries to mitigate the diverse socio-economic challenges they are facing to improve their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Research into new ways of reading that employs digital tablet devices is scarce, particularly with regard to one-to-one implementation in schools in low socio-economic populations. This descriptive mixed methods study investigates the digital reading practices of families and their 4-7 year old children located in a socio-economically disadvantaged community in Tasmania, Australia. Families read digital texts (ebooks and iBooks) on school provided iPads and participated in a six-week shared reading initiative. As the project required an in-depth understanding of families' experiences, a mixed methodology approach was adopted. Analysis indicates that families were not always exploiting the unique features of digital texts to support their children's literacy development. Two-way knowledge exchange activities between the home and school may serve to mediate this phenomenon. Thus, the findings of the study suggest that the inclusion of parent training sessions should be an important consideration when implementing home-school digital shared reading initiatives. Leaders in schools and departments of education need data on programme effectiveness such as this and on issues faced by stakeholders when implementing these kinds of programmes to make good decisions about where to invest technology resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The divide between those who have computer and Internet access and those who do not appears to be narrowing, however overall statistics may be misleading. Measures of computer availability in schools often include cases where computers are only available for administration or are available only on a very limited basis (Gootman, 2004). Access to a computer and the Internet outside of school helps to reinforce student learning and emphasize the importance of using technology. Recent U.S. statistics indicate that ethnic background and other demographic characteristics still have substantial impact on the availability and use of computers by students outside of the classroom. This paper examines recent census data to determine the impact of the household on student computer use outside of the classroom. Encouragingly, the findings of this study suggest that use of a computer at school substantially increases the chance that a student will use a computer outside of class. Additionally, this study suggests that computer use outside of the classroom is positively and significantly impacted by being in a household with adults who either use a computer at work or work in an industry where computers are extensively used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The faculty members in our universities are often worried about the amount of time required to learn new computer-based technologies as they face an increasing academic workload in the current financial milieu. Gender becomes a prominent issue in the various discussions related to computer usage. Is there a gender-divide in the willingness of faculty members to embrace the new instructional technologies (IT) and to integrate them into the pedagogy of teaching? Are there gender differences in the proficiency of faculty members in and their level of knowledge of IT? Do academics confront gender-differentiated barriers to using IT in their work? This study is based on a survey of academics which explores whether gender is a critical variable in understanding their attitudes and actions towards learning and adopting instructional technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]