PC-CUBE: A Personal Computer Based Hypercube

PC-CUBE is an ensemble of IBM PCs or close compatibles connected in the hypercube topology with ordinary computer cables. Communication occurs at the rate of 115.2 K-band via the RS-232 serial links. Available for PC-CUBE is the Crystalline Operating System III (CrOS III), Mercury Operating System, CUBIX and PLOTIX which are parallel I/O and graphics libraries. A CrOS performance monitor was developed to facilitate the measurement of communication and computation time of a program and their effects on performance. Also available are CXLISP, a parallel version of the XLISP interpreter; GRAFIX, some graphics routines for the EGA and CGA; and a general execution profiler for determining execution time spent by program subroutines. PC-CUBE provides a programming environment similar to all hypercube systems running CrOS III, Mercury and CUBIX. In addition, every node (personal computer) has its own graphics display monitor and storage devices. These allow data to be displayed or stored at every processor, which has much instructional value and enables easier debugging of applications. Some application programs which are taken from the book Solving Problems on Concurrent Processors (Fox 88) were implemented with graphics enhancement on PC-CUBE. The applications range from solving the Mandelbrot set, Laplace equation, wave equation, long range force interaction, to WaTor, an ecological simulation

Enhancing Spoken Vocabulary Performance in Children with Autism in a Multimedia-supported Context

Adopting a cognitive perspective of information processing theory in multimedia learning, this study attempts to explore how much progress children with autism with limited speech make in their verbal vocabulary acquisition via a tailor-made multimedia software. These children’s speech difference than their typically developed counterparts is assumed an outcome of delayed development in the ability of retrieving appropriate information in their working memory from their long term memory instead of their receptive language capability. This is expected to help these students with the media acting as an external memory to fill the gap and prospective findings may assist professionals in such fields as education, cognitive psychology, information and communication technology, and neuropsychology as well in further investigation in these areas as contributing factors to autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and learning models for ASD students. With an ABA design of single-subject multiple-case with the design experiment approach, five children, whose parents are native Cantonese speakers, from 8 to 14 in their chronological age in a special school have been selected to participate in this investigation of 15-session 35 minutes each. Their performance in the four aspects of language, that is, phonological, semantic, syntactic, and pragmatics, will be examined. In order to obtain a relatively reliable and valid result, a pilot study on preliminary data in three different settings is being conducted. With similar or the same characteristics like those in main study, two kids each with language age of 4 to 5 in these settings, that is, a voluntary association catering for children with learning, another special school than the participating school, and the participating school.published_or_final_versionCentre of Information Technology in Education, University of Hong Kong and Education and Manpower Bureau, the Government of the Hong Kong SA

cFS Basecamp: A Flight Software STEM Education Ecosystem

The open-source core Flight System (cFS) Basecamp ecosystem includes several cFS-based STEM educational projects and provides the infrastructure for users to create their own. Basecamp\u27s tool suite and app repositories function much like a smartphone\u27s App Store model. The initial cFS Basecamp installation includes several built-in tutorials that help users learn NASA\u27s cFS application environment and shorten their path to productivity. Online resources describe Basecamp\u27s goal-oriented software/hardware projects. These projects are designed so students understand how to create app-based solutions to meet a particular goal. This approach evolved after years of being engaged with teaching the cFS and learning which teaching methods were most effective. Users began by installing a lightweight Python GUI with minimal external dependencies. This approach helps avoid platform-specific issues so Basecamp can be used in classroom settings where students have diverse computing platforms. With Basecamp\u27s GUI installed, students are ready to work on projects. A preinstalled demonstration app in conjunction with a self-guided tutorital helps users understand an app\u27s command/telemetry interface and the cFS application runtime environment. A built-in app generation tool creates a Hello World app to help students take a first step into cFS app development. From there, they can work through Code-As-You-Go (CAYG) lessons that introduce topics. Each new topic is reinforced with hands-on exercises. These lessons are more suitable for instructor-led classes that can be held virtually or in person. The next level of projects requires Basecamp\u27s github app repositories. Using the GUI, students can select and install Basecamp cFS apps from github with only a few mouse clicks. For example, the General-Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) Demo project requires a cFS Raspberry Pi interface library and an app to control an LED connected to a Raspberry Pi through the GPIO connector. To implement this project, students first connect an LED to a Raspberry Pi, install Basecamp on the Pi, download/install the library/app, and rebuild/run the cFS. A second Basecamp instance installed on a separate computer can remotely control the Raspberry Pi. This is achieved by using Basecamp\u27s MQTT Gateway app. This app utilizes the Internet of Things (IoT) MQTT messaging service that has freely available broker services. Basecamp\u27s modular approach with plug \u27n play cFS apps make it an ideal platform for creating STEM educational projects. These projects will help students learn valuable hardware/software skills while using NASA\u27s award-winning flight software that has a large user base in the aerospace community

What About Inclusive Education and ICT in Italy: a Scoping Study

Strategies and approaches to inclusion in the classroom are important in developing a high quality, inclusive experience for students with Special Education Needs. Generally, strategies are not geared towards specific exceptionalities, but are instead designed to be implemented across exceptionality categories. Pavone (2014) and de Anna, Gaspari, Mura (2015) determined through their systematic literature review and research results that co-operation among staff, commitment and accountability to the teaching of all students, differentiation of instruction, and recognizing “that social interaction is the means through which student knowledge is developed” are key to successful inclusion of students with SEN. This paper looks at the issue of school inclusion by referring to the most recent laws about the inclusive education of students with special educational needs in Italy. Inclusive education means that all students attend and are welcomed by their neighbourhood schools in age-appropriate, regular classes and are supported to learn, contribute and participate in all aspects of the life of the school. Inclusive education is about how we develop and design our schools, classrooms, programs and activities so that all students learn and participate together. So ICT should be considered as a key tool for promoting equity in educational opportunities, that is using ICT to support the learning of learners with disabilities and special educational needs in inclusive settings within compulsory education. The paper also argues how the Italian teachers can realized good practices for inclusion through the use of ICT

FPGA based remote code integrity verification of programs in distributed embedded systems

The explosive growth of networked embedded systems has made ubiquitous and pervasive computing a reality. However, there are still a number of new challenges to its widespread adoption that include scalability, availability, and, especially, security of software. Among the different challenges in software security, the problem of remote-code integrity verification is still waiting for efficient solutions. This paper proposes the use of reconfigurable computing to build a consistent architecture for generation of attestations (proofs) of code integrity for an executing program as well as to deliver them to the designated verification entity. Remote dynamic update of reconfigurable devices is also exploited to increase the complexity of mounting attacks in a real-word environment. The proposed solution perfectly fits embedded devices that are nowadays commonly equipped with reconfigurable hardware components that are exploited to solve different computational problems

Speeding-up the execution of credit risk simulations using desktop grid computing: A case study

This paper describes a case study that was undertaken at a leading European Investment bank in which desktop grid computing was used to speed-up the execution of Monte Carlo credit risk simulations. The credit risk simulations were modelled using commercial-off-the-shelf simulation packages (CSPs). The CSPs did not incorporate built-in support for desktop grids, and therefore the authors implemented a middleware for desktop grid computing, called WinGrid, and interfaced it with the CSP. The performance results show that WinGrid can speed-up the execution of CSP-based Monte Carlo simulations. However, since WinGrid was installed on non-dedicated PCs, the speed-up achieved varied according to users’ PC usage. Finally, the paper presents some lessons learnt from this case study. It is expected that this paper will encourage simulation practitioners and CSP vendors to experiment with desktop grid computing technologies with the objective of speeding-up simulation experimentation

Mathematical Packages for Teaching and Research in Internet – Application and Information Support

The paper considers the use and the information support of the most important mathematical Application Packages (AP), such as Maple, Matlab, Mathcad, Mathematica, Statistica and SPSS – mostly used during Calculus tuition in Universities. The main features of the packages and the information support in the sites of the producers are outlined, as well as their capacity for work in Internet, together with educational sites and literature related to them. The most important resources of the TeX system for preparation of mathematical articles and documents are presented

Practitioner Track Proceedings of the 6th International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference (LAK16)

Practitioners spearhead a significant portion of learning analytics, relying on implementation and experimentation rather than on traditional academic research. Both approaches help to improve the state of the art. The LAK conference has created a practitioner track for submissions, which first ran in 2015 as an alternative to the researcher track. The primary goal of the practitioner track is to share thoughts and findings that stem from learning analytics project implementations. While both large and small implementations are considered, all practitioner track submissions are required to relate to initiatives that are designed for large-scale and/or long-term use (as opposed to research-focused initiatives). Other guidelines include: • Implementation track record The project should have been used by an institution or have been deployed on a learning site. There are no hard guidelines about user numbers or how long the project has been running. • Learning/education related Submissions have to describe work that addresses learning/academic analytics, either at an educational institution or in an area (such as corporate training, health care or informal learning) where the goal is to improve the learning environment or learning outcomes. • Institutional involvement Neither submissions nor presentations have to include a named person from an academic institution. However, all submissions have to include information collected from people who have used the tool or initiative in a learning environment (such as faculty, students, administrators and trainees). • No sales pitches While submissions from commercial suppliers are welcome; reviewers do not accept overt (or covert) sales pitches. Reviewers look for evidence that a presentation will take into account challenges faced, problems that have arisen, and/or user feedback that needs to be addressed. Submissions are limited to 1,200 words, including an abstract, a summary of deployment with end users, and a full description. Most papers in the proceedings are therefore short, and often informal, although some authors chose to extend their papers once they had been accepted. Papers accepted in 2016 fell into two categories. • Practitioner Presentations Presentation sessions are designed to focus on deployment of a single learning analytics tool or initiative. • Technology Showcase The Technology Showcase event enables practitioners to demonstrate new and emerging learning analytics technologies that they are piloting or deploying. Both types of paper are included in these proceedings