A GRID-BASED E-LEARNING MODEL FOR OPEN UNIVERSITIES

E-learning has grown to become a widely accepted method of learning all over the world. As a result, many e-learning platforms which have been developed based on varying technologies were faced with some limitations ranging from storage capability, computing power, to availability or access to the learning support infrastructures. This has brought about the need to develop ways to effectively manage and share the limited resources available in the e-learning platform. Grid computing technology has the capability to enhance the quality of pedagogy on the e-learning platform. In this paper we propose a Grid-based e-learning model for Open Universities. An attribute of such universities is the setting up of multiple remotely located campuses within a country. The grid-based e-learning model presented in this work possesses the attributes of an elegant architectural framework that will facilitate efficient use of available e-learning resources and cost reduction, leading to general improvement of the overall quality of the operations of open universities

Web Service Testing and Usability for Mobile Learning

Based on the summary of recent renowned publications, Mobile Learning (ML) has become an emerging technology, as well as a new technique that can enhance the quality of learning. Due to the increasing importance of ML, the investigation of such impacts on the e-Science community is amongst the hot topics, which also relate to part of these research areas: Grid Infrastructure, Wireless Communication, Virtual Research Organization and Semantic Web. The above examples contribute to the demonstrations of how Mobile Learning can be applied into e-Science applications, including usability. However, there are few papers addressing testing and quality engineering issues – the core component for software engineering. Therefore, the major purpose of this paper is to present how Web Service Testing for Mobile Learning can be carried out, in addition to re-investigating the influences of the usability issue with both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Out of many mobile technologies available, the Pocket PC and Tablet PC have been chosen as the equipment; and the OMII Web Service, the 64-bit .NET e-portal and the GPS-PDA are the software tools to be used for Web Service testing

A perspective on the Healthgrid initiative

This paper presents a perspective on the Healthgrid initiative which involves European projects deploying pioneering applications of grid technology in the health sector. In the last couple of years, several grid projects have been funded on health related issues at national and European levels. A crucial issue is to maximize their cross fertilization in the context of an environment where data of medical interest can be stored and made easily available to the different actors in healthcare, physicians, healthcare centres and administrations, and of course the citizens. The Healthgrid initiative, represented by the Healthgrid association (http://www.healthgrid.org), was initiated to bring the necessary long term continuity, to reinforce and promote awareness of the possibilities and advantages linked to the deployment of GRID technologies in health. Technologies to address the specific requirements for medical applications are under development. Results from the DataGrid and other projects are given as examples of early applications.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure. Accepted by the Second International Workshop on Biomedical Computations on the Grid, at the 4th IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Cluster Computing and the Grid (CCGrid 2004). Chicago USA, April 200

Survey and Analysis of Production Distributed Computing Infrastructures

This report has two objectives. First, we describe a set of the production distributed infrastructures currently available, so that the reader has a basic understanding of them. This includes explaining why each infrastructure was created and made available and how it has succeeded and failed. The set is not complete, but we believe it is representative. Second, we describe the infrastructures in terms of their use, which is a combination of how they were designed to be used and how users have found ways to use them. Applications are often designed and created with specific infrastructures in mind, with both an appreciation of the existing capabilities provided by those infrastructures and an anticipation of their future capabilities. Here, the infrastructures we discuss were often designed and created with specific applications in mind, or at least specific types of applications. The reader should understand how the interplay between the infrastructure providers and the users leads to such usages, which we call usage modalities. These usage modalities are really abstractions that exist between the infrastructures and the applications; they influence the infrastructures by representing the applications, and they influence the ap- plications by representing the infrastructures

DRIVER Technology Watch Report

This report is part of the Discovery Workpackage (WP4) and is the third report out of four deliverables. The objective of this report is to give an overview of the latest technical developments in the world of digital repositories, digital libraries and beyond, in order to serve as theoretical and practical input for the technical DRIVER developments, especially those focused on enhanced publications. This report consists of two main parts, one part focuses on interoperability standards for enhanced publications, the other part consists of three subchapters, which give a landscape picture of current and surfacing technologies and communities crucial to DRIVER. These three subchapters contain the GRID, CRIS and LTP communities and technologies. Every chapter contains a theoretical explanation, followed by case studies and the outcomes and opportunities for DRIVER in this field

Horizon Report 2009

El informe anual Horizon investiga, identifica y clasifica las tecnologías emergentes que los expertos que lo elaboran prevén tendrán un impacto en la enseñanza aprendizaje, la investigación y la producción creativa en el contexto educativo de la enseñanza superior. También estudia las tendencias clave que permiten prever el uso que se hará de las mismas y los retos que ellos suponen para las aulas. Cada edición identifica seis tecnologías o prácticas. Dos cuyo uso se prevé emergerá en un futuro inmediato (un año o menos) dos que emergerán a medio plazo (en dos o tres años) y dos previstas a más largo plazo (5 años)

The GLASS project: supporting secure shibboleth-based single sign-on to campus resources

Higher and Further education institutions in the UK are in the process of migrating their IT infrastructures to exploit Shibboleth technologies for federated access management. Ease of use and secure access are paramount to the successful uptake of these technologies, both from the end user and system administrator perspective. The JISC-funded GLASS project is a one-year project investigating the use of Shibboleth to support single sign-on to a variety of campus resources at the University of Glasgow including browser-based email access; the Moodle online virtual learning environment; the WebSURF online student records facility, and a network filestore browser. This paper describes the implementation issues and experiences gained in rolling out the Shibboleth technologies to support federated access management