Decentralized Service Deployment for Collaborative Environments
In this paper we present the design of a system which allows service deployment in a small-sized group of computers distributed through the Internet. These groups are formed by users who share a common interest, and voluntarily yield their own resources for the achievement of the collaborative activities of the group. Having enough resources contributed by the members of the group, our system guarantees service availability and the fact that the deployment and execution of the services is carrie
Internet Scout Project
Created by Sky & Telescope, this website features a plethora of resources about observing space. Users can learn how and when to observe Jupiter, Saturn, comets, the Transit of Venus, and more. The website outlines what observers can expect to see each night at the link titled Week's Sky at a Glance. Visitors can find predictions of the rise and set of the moon and sun, and the visibility of the planets and the International Space Station. Amateur astronomers can find helpful tips about how to o
Supporting Effective and Useful Web-based Distance Learning
Learners interacting in a Web-based distance learning environment produce a variety of information elements during their participation; these information elements usually have a complex structure and semantics, which makes it rather difficult to find out the behavioral attitudes and profiles of the users involved. User modelling in on-line distance learning is an important research field focusing on two important aspects: describing and predicting students actions and intentions as well as ada
Gridifying IBM's Generic Log Adapter to Speed-Up the Processing of Log Data
Problem determination in today's computing environments consumes between 30 and 70% of an organizations IT resources and represents from one third to one half of their total cost of ownership. The first step to cutting down costs in this area and to enable autonomic computing systems is to have all parts of the system report status in a common log data format and semantics in order to be able to exploit the status information of the system as a whole. The Generic Log Adapter (GLA) is a generic
ToxMystery Lesson Plan 2: Case Book: Catch That Hazard!!!
This lesson plan is a follow-up lesson to the introductory ToxMystery activity lesson. It is a paper-based activity that incorporates the character “Toxie” from the computer game activity into a detectives’ “Case Book”. Students will work with the packet “Catch That Hazard!!!”
They will follow the clues provided, and work with the ToxMystery computer game activity to fill in the clues. The chemicals to be investigated are introduced on the cover of the Case Book activity packet.
Contextualizing Discussions in Distance Learning Systems
In distance learning systems, communication tools are rarely integrated into learning activities, which does not encourage their use. The main goal of our work is to mitigate this lack of integration. Our aim is to bring the discussion activities closer to the learning activities, i.e. to situations to which the discussions must ideally relate to in order to promote learning between students. Thus, we suggest two models of forum which are contextual and based on a structuring of discussions resp
Normalising Geometrical Constructions: A Context for the Generation of Meanings for Ratio and Propor
This paper describes aspects of 13 year-olds activity in mathematics as emerged during the implementation of proportional geometric tasks in the classroom. Pupils were working in pairs using a piece of software specially designed for multiple representation (symbolic and graphical) of the variation in parametric procedures with dynamic manipulation of variable. In this paper we discuss childrens use of normalising, an activity in which children correct the geometrical figures while devel
KMsim: A Meta-Modelling Approach and Environment for Creating Process-Oriented Knowledge Management
This paper presents a new approach to modelling process-oriented knowledge management (KM) and describes a simulation environment (called
KMSIM) that embodies the approach. Since the beginning of modelling researchers have been looking for better and novel ways to model systems and to use appropriate software to create simulations. The application of the approach and KMSIM make it possible to create realistic business models (BMs) and simulate the consequences of KM interventions and events. The
Giving teachers a hand(book) to develop ict-enhanced skills
Shared web-based knowledge bases, enriched with the possibilities of discussing about their content and of proposing new one, seem to offer the opportunity to diffuse pedagogical innovation. To this aim, the knowledge base should enable teachers to put their own ideas at colleagues disposal; and moreover, to improve their pedagogical knowledge by availing themselves of colleagues proposals and suggestions. Thus, personal growth evolves in shared knowledge and vice-versa, facilitating the for
Investigating human computer interaction issues in designing efficient virtual learning environments
Today, when an enormous number of computer-based systems exist, the human activities are being computer mediated. Usually, in designing the interface to those systems, the human-computer interaction is left behind without consideration. In this paper, a literature in human-computer interaction is to be reviewed and the technology aspect of human computer interaction is to be analyzed. Also, general design principles are to be reviewed. According to all these issues, recommendations to designing
Making the History of 1989: The Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe
Making the History of 1989 materials were developed because teachers and their students have little access to vivid historical documents in English that convey the epochal events of 1989. Project materials utilize recent advances in our understanding of how historical learning takes place, including complex interaction with sources, recursive reading, and skills used by historians.
The site has three key features: a substantial collection of high quality primary sources; a set of multimedia int
Internet Scout Project
Bernard M. Sklar, M.D., M.S., a psychiatrist in Oakland, Calif., provides this Annotated List of Online Continuing Medical Education (CME). Online CME allows physicians to earn CME credits over the Internet. The instruction might involve reading an online journal article, listening to or viewing a lecture, playing a game, answering quiz questions, enrolling in correspondence courses, or having an opportunity to make choices according to the clinical presentation using a case-based interactive fo
The LEAP Authoring Tool: Supporting complex courseware authoring through reuse, rapid prototyping, a
An important goal of current work in computer-based learning environments is to develop systems that combine the richness and effectiveness of an individually crafted intelligent tutoring system (ITS) with the generality and flexibility of a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) authoring tool. Our effort to achieve this goal is demonstrated in the Learn, Explore and Practice (LEAPsm) ITS shell and its courseware development component, The LEAP Authoring Tool (LAT). The LAT was developed for use b
Toward Computer-Based Support of Meta-Cognitive Skills: a Computational Framework to Coach Self-Expl
We present a computational framework designed to improve learning from examples by supporting self-explanation ö the process of clarifying and making more complete to oneself the solution of an example. The framework is innovative in two ways. First, it represents the first attempt to provide computer support to example studying instead of problem solving. Second, it explicitly coaches a domain-general, meta-cognitive skill that many studies in cognitive science have shown to greatly improve le
Internet Scout Project
In this Daily Lesson Plan from the New York Times Learning Network, students explore a variety of drought-related issues and research possible courses of action as part of a "drought preparedness taskforce." Based on New York Times coverage of drought in Arizona (story link provided), this exercise offers an active, interdisciplinary way to learn about water conservation and the ecological and economic effects of drought. Designed for grades 6-8 or 9-12, this exercise can be completed in one cla
Aspects of Speech Act Categorisation: Towards Generating Teachers' Language
In this paper we examine a possible method for classifying speech acts produced by human teachers, with a view of informing the designs of intelligent natural language tutors and of providing the basis for a formal analysis of the effects that teachers' language has on students' learning. We argue that traditional means as initiated by the Ordinary Language Philosophers such as Austin (1962), Grice (1975) and Searle (1979) are not sufficient to account for all types of linguistic phenomena occur
Internet Scout Project
The New York Times Daily Lesson Plan website regularly features lesson plans for grades for six through twelve on a variety of topics. In this lesson plan, entitled "No Place Like Home: Arguing for the Protection of Endangered Species," students research and present analysis on the impact of the physical environment on an endangered species. Based on their investigations, they also create "a plan for the ideal care of the species" and develop an advertisement that is intended to promote awarenes
LaCOLLA: Middleware for Self-Sufficient Online Collaboration
The LaCOLLA middleware makes it possible for collaborators to interact using their own resources and not depend on a centralized regime. By contributing their own resources, group members can organize and communicate using a federated peer-to-peer model. Utilizing LaCOLLA middleware, the group can function regardless of whether a member removes resources and despite network or node failures or disconnection. This capacity for self-organization, together with location transparency, lets applicati
Narrative Evolution: Learning from Students' Talk about Species Variation
Learners do not always enjoy productive interactions with Multimedia Interactive Learning Environments. Their attention can be distracted away from the educational focus intended by designers and teachers through poor design and operational inadequacy. In this paper we describe a study of groups of learners using a multimedia CD-ROM research tool called Galapagos. This tool was developed to enable us to observe groups of learners interacting with different versions of the same multimedia content
Adaptive and Intelligent Web-based Educational Systems
daptive and intelligent Web-based educational systems (AIWBES) provide an alternative to the traditional just-put-it-on-the-Web approach in the development of Web-based educational courseware (Brusilovsky & Miller, 2001). AIWBES attempt to be more adaptive by building a model of the goals, preferences and knowledge of each individual student and using this model throughout the interaction with the student in order to adapt to the needs of that student. They also attempt to be more intelligen
