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An approach to evaluate large-scale ICT training interventions

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Abstract

Despite advances in the quality and availability of information and communication technologies (ICT), the level of access and skill in using these resources remains unequal. This is particularly evident in developing countries. To reduce the gap between these levels of ICT use, organizations (both public and private) invest in the expansion of infrastructure by providing ICT access and ICT training. In this study, we demonstrate that there is a gap in current approaches to monitor and evaluate large-scale ICT training interventions. Thus, we propose an approach based on social network analysis and data mining techniques, and apply it to an online training program conducted in different regions of Brazil. The results allow us to examine different aspects of the program, such as the region of participants, the institutions driving the intervention, local indicators of telecommunications infrastructure, and local socioeconomic conditions.

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Acknowledgments

Our sincere thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their careful revision and motivating comments on the early version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal Rural University of Amazônia (UFRA), Belém, Pará, Brazil

    Silvana Rossy de Brito & Aleksandra do Socorro da Silva

  2. Federal University of Pará (UFPA), Pará, Brazil

    Eulália Carvalho da Mata, Maurílio de Abreu Monteiro, João Crisóstomo Weyl Albuquerque Costa & Carlos Renato Lisboa Francês

  3. National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São Paulo, Brazil

    Nandamudi Lankalapalli Vijaykumar

  4. Science and Technology of Pará (IFPA), Federal Institute of Education, Pará,, Brazil

    Cláudio Alex Jorge da Rocha

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  1. Silvana Rossy de Brito
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Correspondence to Aleksandra do Socorro da Silva.

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de Brito, S.R., do Socorro da Silva, A., da Mata, E.C. et al. An approach to evaluate large-scale ICT training interventions. Inf Syst Front 20, 883–899 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-016-9705-3

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