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Background: The banking industry globally provides Internet banking to offer their customers easy access to banking services. The banks in South Africa, like their counterparts in other parts of the world, offer Internet banking to customers. However, the majority of South Africans in rural areas do not adopt and use Internet banking despite its convenience, the availability of Internet banking infrastructure, the effort of banks in promoting Internet banking awareness and Internet security.Objectives: This research investigated factors which influence the adoption and use of Internet banking in the context of South African rural areas.Method: In this study, a quantitative research approach was used. Data were collected through questionnaires and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) tool.Results: The perceived compatibility, trialability and external variables such as awareness and security were found to have significant influence in the adoption of Internet banking in South African rural areas, whereas relative advantage was found not to be a significant factor. Security and the complexity of Internet banking were also revealed as some of the factors hampering the intention to adopt Internet banking in South African rural areas.Conclusion: The lack of awareness on Internet banking services and its benefits such as its convenience and the possibility to conduct banking transactions from any location with Internet is found to be the reason for South African rural area retail bank consumers’ reluctance to adopt Internet banking. The majority of retail bank customers in South African rural areas do not use Internet banking because of the lack of resources, such as computers with Internet access. The security of transactions conducted over the Internet is the main concern and significant element that customers consider before adopting Internet banking in South African rural areas as they perceive it as being easily exposed to fraud. As a result, this perception erodes retail bank customers’ confidence to adopt Internet banking. The majority of retail bank customers in South African rural areas will be willing to adopt Internet banking if their lifestyle, values and specific need are met. Retail bank customers in South African rural areas will adopt Internet banking if the Internet banking processes are simplified and user-friendly.

Background: The retail industry globally provides online shopping services to offer consumers easy access to a variety of shopping services. Like retailers in other countries, the retail industry in South Africa offers online shopping services to its consumers. South African consumers in Limpopo province are still reliant on the traditional shopping method, despite the convenience, ease of access and the elimination of physical boundaries offered by online shopping.Objectives: This article investigated and discussed the factors which affect the acceptance and use of online shopping by consumers in Limpopo province.Method: A quantitative research approach was used in this research. Data were gathered using a paper-based questionnaire and were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software.Results: The perceived trialability was found to have significant influence on the acceptance and use of online shopping, whereas relative advantage, compatibility, complexity and external variables such as security and awareness were found not to be significant factors in the acceptance and use of online shopping in Limpopo province.Conclusion: The research revealed that the effectiveness of trialability increased the intention to accept and use online shopping. Retail consumers in Limpopo province did not accept and use online shopping because of the lack of experience and trust. Trialability will make it easy for retail consumers in Limpopo province to build confidence in online s hopping, thus consumers may in the future be willing to accept and use online shopping. Retail consumers were found to be willing to accept and use online shopping.

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.

Background: Big data analytics in education is a new concept that has the potential to change the decision-making landscape in South African Colleges. Higher institutions of learning, including Technical and Vocation Education Training (TVET) colleges like all other organisations, rely on data for their decision-making. These decisions affect the way pedagogy and student management is administered. Colleges collect huge quantities of data in different formats from students, staff and stakeholders for different reasons and occasions.Objectives: The goal of this study was to investigate how Big Data analytics and their tools may improve decision making in TVET colleges in South Africa through the lens of actor-network theory (ANT).Method: A qualitative, interpretive inquiry was undertaken. A case study using focus group was conducted. The data collected through interviews were arranged into themes and a thematic approach was employed to analyse these themes using QDA Miner Lite software.Results: The results from focus group interviews revealed that TVET colleges collect an enormous amount of data. These data are extracted for different reasons, yet there are no Analytics used for decision-making. Decisions are made by the highest-paid individuals (HiPPO) in colleges.Conclusion: This dissertation recommends that the TVET colleges invest in data science skills for their staff, and Big Data infrastructure. Big Data technologies such as Mongo DB and Hadoop are recommended as the most commonly and advanced tools that can be used for Big Data analytics.