Developing and Applying Smartphone Apps in Online Courses

Online courses provide students flexible access to class at anytime and anywhere. Most online courses currently rely on computer-based delivery. However, computers still burden instructors and students with limited mobility and flexibility. To provide more convenient access to online courses, smartphones have been increasingly adopted as a mobile method to access online courses. In this paper, we share our practical experience in designing and developing a smartphone platform for accessing online courses. The main contributions of this paper include: 1) we present the main technical issues of applying smartphones to online courses; 2) we discuss several key factors of designing, developing and delivering online courses that support smartphone access

Blended Learning Concept and its Applications to Engineering Education

Abstract. The technical educational act means theory and practice, individual study, group-based projects or experimental work that involves equipment, simulation/emulation software packages and laboratory applications. In order to develop advanced e-learning tools and integrate them within online platforms for higher and postgraduate engineering education, new methodologies should be taken into consideration: project-and problem based learning, virtual laboratory (remote access to laboratory infrastructure and task evaluation) or remote assistance for diploma projects and mobility grants. This paper presents new blended learning concepts and approaches and the manner they can be adopted in engineering education, by using the symbiotic computing paradigms adapted to blended learning, especially blended learning gap and blended learning bridge

Blended Learning Concept and its Applications to Engineering Education

Abstract. The technical educational act means theory and practice, individual study, group-based projects or experimental work that involves equipment, simulation/emulation software packages and laboratory applications. In order to develop advanced e-learning tools and integrate them within online platforms for higher and postgraduate engineering education, new methodologies should be taken into consideration: project-and problem based learning, virtual laboratory (remote access to laboratory infrastructure and task evaluation) or remote assistance for diploma projects and mobility grants. This paper presents new blended learning concepts and approaches and the manner they can be adopted in engineering education, by using the symbiotic computing paradigms adapted to blended learning, especially blended learning gap and blended learning bridge

Modeling, Designing, and Implementing an Ad-hoc M-Learning Platform that Integrates Sensory Data to Support Ubiquitous Learning

Learning at any-time, at anywhere, using any mobile computing platform learning (which we refer to as “education in your palm”) empowers informal and formal education. It supports the continued creation of knowledge outside a classroom, after-school programs, community-based organizations, museums, libraries, and shopping malls with under-resourced settings. In doing so, it fosters the continued creation of a cumulative body of knowledge in informal and formal education. Anytime, anywhere, using any device computing platform learning means that students are not required to attend traditional classroom settings in order to learn. Instead, students will be able to access and share learning resources from any mobile computing platform, such as smart phones, tablets using highly dynamic mobile and wireless ad-hoc networks. There has been little research on how to facilitate the integrated use of the service description, discovery and integration resources available in mobile and wireless ad-hoc networks including description schemas and mobile learning objects, and in particular as it relates to the consistency, availability, security and privacy of spatio-temporal and trajectory information. Another challenge is finding, combining and creating suitable learning modules to handle the inherent constraints of mobile learning, resource-poor mobile devices and ad-hoc networks. The aim of this research is to design, develop and implement the cutting edge context-aware and ubiquitous self-directed learning methodologies using ad-hoc and sensor networks. The emphasis of our work is on defining an appropriate mobile learning object and the service adaptation descriptions as well as providing mechanisms for ad-hoc service discovery and developing concepts for the seamless integration of the learning objects and their contents with a particular focus on preserving data and privacy. The research involves a combination of modeling, designing, and developing a mobile learning system in the absence of a networking infrastructure that integrates sensory data to support ubiquitous learning. The system includes mechanisms to allow content exchange among the mobile ad-hoc nodes to ensure consistency and availability of information. It also provides an on-the-fly content service discovery, query request, and retrieving data from mobile nodes and sensors

Perspectives and approaches for the internet of things

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de ComputadoresThis thesis was developed based on a scenario in which a CEO of a certain company asked the author to conduct an exploratory work evaluating the potential opportunities and limitations of this emerging area described as the future of the Internet, the Internet of Things (IoT). The objective is thus to provide the reader with a wide view of the vital points for the implementation and exploitation of the IoT, a technology that promises to deliver a new and wider range of applications to the society. In this subject there is a need to gather and organize information produced by several researchers and contributors. Due to the fact of being a new area and researchers work independently of each other, the work is scattered and inconsistencies can be found among different projects and publications. As such, in a first stage some definitions are provided and an attempt to clarify concepts is made. To support and emphasize the exponential growth of IoT, a brief historical overview is provided to the reader. This overview is based on the new trends and expectations that arise every day through news, potential businesses and also in important tools such as Google Trends. Several examples of applications in the context of the IoT, illustrate the benefits, not only in terms of society, but also for business opportunities, safety, and well-being. The main areas of interest to achieve the IoT such as: hardware, software, modeling, methods of connection, security and integration are studied in this work, in order to provide some insight into current strong and weak points. As the Internet of Things become a matter of large interest, various research groups are active in exploring and organizing projects in this area. Some of these projects, namely the ones considered the most important, are also presented in this thesis. Taking into account the facts surrounding this new technology, it becomes quite important to bring them together, clarifying them and trying to open new perspectives for further studies and improvements. Finally, in order to allow a practical evaluation of the technology, a prototype is developed around the connection of an intelligent object – a small mobile robot – to the Internet. A set of conclusions and future work directions are then presented which take into account the findings of the bibliographic analysis as well as the acquired experience with the implementation of the prototype

Education 4.0 and Computer Science: A European perspective

This systematic literature review aimed at identifying the pedagogical approaches, aligned with Education 4.0, used to support teaching computer science courses with undergraduate and graduate students in Europe. A three-step coding process was conducted to identify and analyse 20 papers. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the selected papers revealed a three-cluster solution with common characteristics that could be used to describe those pedagogical approaches. The review also showed that the term Education 4.0 is still relatively new and has not been conceptualised in terms of computer science courses, although the characteristics of Education 4.0 are visible throughout the pedagogical approaches

Benefits and challenges of cloud computing adoption and usage in higher education

The aim of this article was to provide evidence pertaining to cloud computing (CC) adoption in education, namely higher education institutions (HEIs) or Universities. A systematic literature review (SLR) of empirical studies exploring the current CC adoption levels in HEIs and the benefits and challenges for using CC in HEIs was performed. A total of 20 papers were included in the SLR. It was discovered that a number of universities have a keen interest in using CC in their institution, and the evidence indicates a high level of successful CC adoption in the HEIs reviewed in the SLR. In conclusion, the SLR identified a clear literature gap in this research area: there exists limited empirical studies focusing on CC utilisation in HEIs

E-Learning

E-learning enables students to pace their studies according to their needs, making learning accessible to (1) people who do not have enough free time for studying - they can program their lessons according to their available schedule; (2) those far from a school (geographical issues), or the ones unable to attend classes due to some physical or medical restriction. Therefore, cultural, geographical and physical obstructions can be removed, making it possible for students to select their path and time for the learning course. Students are then allowed to choose the main objectives they are suitable to fulfill. This book regards E-learning challenges, opening a way to understand and discuss questions related to long-distance and lifelong learning, E-learning for people with special needs and, lastly, presenting case study about the relationship between the quality of interaction and the quality of learning achieved in experiences of E-learning formation