A growing number of firms have cited the lack of technological skills that college graduates entering the accounting profession exhibit, raising concerns about their ability to serve clients effectively. Yet accounting graduates are not exposed to new technologies in the classroom or on the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam. The CPA Evolution initiative aims to restructure the CPA Exam to ensure that graduates have the technological skills to enter the profession and assist educators with transitioning to the new exam through the development of the CPA Evolution Model Curriculum. We argue that although the redesigned CPA exam and the Model Curriculum create meaningful opportunities to narrow the technological skills gap among accounting graduates, a significant disconnect persists between the profession’s technological expectations and the technological competencies accounting students develop in their academic programs. To help close the technological skills gap, we propose that educators adopt an instructional approach that integrates technology throughout the accounting curriculum. This study suggests a framework educators can employ to embed technological competencies in an accounting curriculum. We expect this framework to narrow the technological skills gap and prepare accounting graduates to enter the profession successfully.

A growing body of scholarship suggests that incarcerated individuals who participate in education programs, particularly those grounded in faith, are better positioned for lasting community reintegration and positive long-term outcomes. Using a mixed-methods evaluation design, the author examines two interrelated questions: whether faith-based higher education is associated with enhanced well-being among current participants and whether program graduates carry those well-being gains into post-release life. Drawing on group interviews with 109 incarcerated men and women across six U.S. facilities and surveys from 157 participants in four states, the study found that participation in a prison-based theological education program was associated with higher well-being, healthier thinking patterns, stronger coping skills, and more positive relationships (n = 266).

Integrated e-learning is increasingly essential for enhancing higher education globally, yet its implementation in resource-constrained regions such as Southern Africa remains uneven. This study explores the technological, organizational, and environmental factors influencing the integration of e-learning in higher education institutions, using the Technological, Organizational, and Environmental framework. A qualitative phenomenological approach was employed, involving semi-structured interviews with 24 students (12 males and 12 females) from universities in South Africa and Mozambique. Thematic analysis revealed key barriers, including poor connectivity, limited digital literacy, inadequate institutional support, and socio-economic constraints such as power cuts and data costs. Despite these challenges, several enablers emerged, including mobile-friendly platforms, flexible learning policies, peer support networks, and student self-regulation strategies. These findings suggest that successful e-learning implementation requires more than access to technology. This demands institutional commitment, policy coherence, and attention to students’ lived realities. The study underscores the need for a context-sensitive, ecosystemic model that simultaneously addresses infrastructural limitations and promotes adaptive student practices. Such an approach is vital for creating inclusive, effective, and resilient e-learning systems in the Global South.

This study explored the challenges students face during the transition from primary to secondary school, particularly in their final year of primary and first year of secondary school. Common concerns include bullying, making new friends, increased workload, unfriendly teachers, teasing, new subjects, and adjusting to the secondary school environment. Conducted in Malawi, Mzimba North education district at two secondary schools and one primary school, the research used a qualitative methodology, employing documentary review, interviews, focus group discussions, and observations for data collection. Findings revealed that many of the students’ fears were either confirmed, such as bullying and teacher strictness, proving real upon entry to secondary school, while others, like fears of excessive punishments or social exclusion and drug use, were found to be exaggerated or based on peer rumors. To address these challenges, the study identified strategies for a smoother transition, including fostering supportive home environments, flexible and approachable teachers, strong peer networks, a conducive school environment, and improved financing to CDSS and familiarity with the new setting. These measures aim to facilitate successful adaptation, academic continuation, and identity formation during the transition.

Broadband, as a high-speed Internet connectivity, is an essential enabler for digital preparedness. However, little is known, in the case of Tanzania, about the nexus between broadband diffusion and digital preparedness, particularly in the facilitation of the teaching and learning process. This study, therefore, aimed at investigating the nexus between broadband diffusion and digital preparedness in Tanzania by focusing on the country’s readiness to leverage the same for formal education. The study employed a systematic review, guided by the PRISMA framework, to obtain the empirical evidence from existing literature. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes, analyze, and interpret qualitative data from the reviewed literature. Findings show that, although Tanzania instituted several policies and initiatives regarding broadband diffusion, it still missed a few key policy documents that would help to foster the rollout of broadband. In addition, legal instruments tailored to promote and support broadband diffusion were still lacking. Furthermore, more infrastructural improvements and support for digital literacy were needed. Based on the study’s findings, a conclusion has been made that Tanzania still faces considerable work ahead to effectively leverage digital technologies in formal education. Among other suggestions, the study recommended that relevant policies on broadband diffusion should be established and operationalized throughout the country.

The aim of this paper is to identify specific digital competencies that preschool teachers require, compared with schoolteachers, to extend the Austrian digital competence model for teachers, digi.kompP. Methodologically, the study is based on interviews with Austrian experts in early childhood education, media pedagogy, computer science, and preschool teacher education. The expert interviews addressed the digital competencies required by preschool teachers, differences compared with schoolteachers, the timing and nature of competence development, and the institutions involved. As a result of this study, sixteen new can-do statements were developed for the expansion of the existing digi.kompP model, which maps the specific competencies required by teachers in Austria. The findings of this study also provide valuable insights for the development of training and further education programs, emphasizing the critical need to integrate digital education into the curricula of vocational training and further education programs for preschool teachers. Furthermore, this study presents compelling arguments for the promotion of digital education in early childhood education and demonstrates the necessity for a collaborative strategy for digital education at the preschool level.