This paper seeks to inform our understanding of the role played by gender in the process of educational technology adoption in a business school in Jamaica. Gender difference studies in educational research are becoming popular but there are few studies in this domain in higher education, especially with respect to faculty. The research examines the expertise of faculty in educational technologies, as well as their adoption and non-adoption in using these technologies in teaching and learning. The study found that males accounted for 62% of faculty exhibiting high levels of expertise in educational technologies in comparison to 38% for the females. The level of adoption for males was statistically higher than females. In addition, the main enhancer was found to be “educational technologies have the potential to enhance teaching and learning” and the main barriers, “there is no reward from administration for using educational technologies in teaching”. The study reinforces the need for further research to assist with the formulation and implementation of the national policy on using educational technologies to enhance teaching and learning in Jamaica.

Studies have demonstrated that most information systems projects fail due to people problems. Agile software development methods were introduced in an effort to resolve this problem. It relies on people and their creativity during system development rather than processes and the maturity of firms. Research has found that the adoption of agile methods in software development is becoming very popular. However, there is an appeal in the literature for more empirical studies of agile software development. This study examined the adoption and benefits of agile methods in Jamaican software development firms. The results showed that 53% of the firms surveyed are using agile methods, with SCRUM being the main method, and the top benefits being improved customer satisfaction, improved productivity of teams and speeding up the developmental process. The average uptake of agile methods in Jamaican firms would support the claim for a longitudinal study to track the adoption trend.