The ECOSENSUS Project: Co-Evolving Tools, Practices and Open Content for Participatory Natural Resource Management

ECOSENSUS (Electronic/Ecological Collaborative Sensemaking Support System)[www.ecosensus.info] is an ESRC e-Social Science pilot project, using a Participatory Action Research methodology to evolve tools and work practices for collaborative work in environmental and natural resource management between a European-based team, and stakeholders involved in the region of concern, the North Rupununi District of Guyana. To promote long term capacity building in the region and beyond, the project's outputs will be disseminated as open source learning resources. Given the disparities in knowledge and power in such a project, central to our work are issues of stakeholder empowerment in the geographical modelling, interpretation and decision making practices that constitute environmental management. We argue that in e-Science, such factors have yet to receive much attention. This paper reports work accomplished to date: progress towards an environment which integrates GIS modelling with participatory deliberation about the implications of the models, and reactions from the indigenous Amerindians to this tool

Institutional innovation: synthesis of programme outcomes

Report of the work of the Projects funded by the JISC Institutional change/innovation Programme 2008-2010. Report produced by the Synthesis and Benefits Realisation Team linked to the Programme

Lessons Learned from Teaching Data Analytics in a Fully Online Mode at Postgraduate Level

This paper reports on the experiences of developing and delivering the online MSc. in Business Intelligence and Data Mining between 2010 and 2013. We outline our rationale for the selection of Adobe Connect as a synchronous classroom tool and discuss our use of the moodle virtual learning environment to support asynchronous learning and communication. We also discuss some of the key changes in approaches to teaching and assessment and the challenges that were faced by academics in adapting classroom based courses to an online distance education environment. We conclude by examining student interactions with the synchronous and asynchronous delivery technologies and reflect on feedback provided by staff and students throughout the delivery of the course

Applying data mining to discover common learning routes in Moodle

En este artículo, aplicamos técnicas de minería de datos para descubrir rutas de aprendizaje frecuentes. Hemos utilizado datos de 84 estudiantes universitarios, seguidos en un curso online usando Moodle 2.0. Proponemos agrupar a los estudiantes, en primer lugar, a partir de los datos de una síntesis de uso de Moodle y/o las calificaciones finales de los alumnos en un curso. Luego, usamos los datos de los logs de Moodle sobre cada cluster/grupo de estudiantes separadamente con el fin de poder obtener más específicos y precisos modelos de procesos del comportamiento de los estudiantes.In this paper, we apply techniques data mining to discover common learning routes. We have used data from 84 undergraduate college students who followed an online course using Moodle 2.0. We propose to group students firstly starting from data about Moodle’s usage summary and/or the students’ final marks in the course. Then, we use data from Moodle’s logs about each cluster/group of students separately in order to be able to obtain more specific and accurate process models of students’ behaviour

MoodleMiner: Data Mining Analysis Tool for Moodle Learning Management System

The purpose of this study is to develop a tool through which non-experts can carry out basic data mining analyses on logs they obtained via Moodle Learning Management System. The study also includes the findings obtained by applying the developed tool on a data set from a real course. The developed tool automatically extracts the features regarding student interactions with the learning system by using their click-stream data, and analyzes this data by using the data mining libraries available in the R programming language. The tool has enabled the users who do not have any expertise in data mining or programming to automatically carry out data mining analyses. The information generated by the tool will help researchers and educators alike in grouping students by their interaction levels, determining at-risk students, monitoring students' interaction levels, and identifying important features that impact students’ academic performances. The data processed by the tool can also be exported to be used in various other analyses. In the future versions of the tool, it is planned to add different analyzes such as association rule mining, sequential pattern mining etc

A proposed architecture of big educational data using hadoop at the University of Kufa

Nowadays, educational data have been increased rapidly because of the online services provided for both students and staff. University of Kufa (UoK) generates a massive amount of data annually due to the use of e-learning web-based systems, network servers, Windows applications, and Students Information System (SIS).  This data is wasted as traditional management software are not capable to analysis it. As a result, the Big Educational Data concept rises to help education sectors by providing new e-learning methods, allowing to meet individual demands and reach the learners' goals, and supporting the students and teacher’s interaction. This paper focuses on designing Big Data analysis architecture, based on the Hadoop in the UoK and the same case for other Iraqi universities. The impact of this work, help the students learn, emphasizing the need of academic researchers and data science specialist for learning and practicing Big Data analytics and support the analysis of the e-learning management system and set the first step toward developing data repository and data policy in UoK

Imssap: after-school interactive mobile learning student support application

06.03.2018 tarihli ve 30352 sayılı Resmi Gazetede yayımlanan “Yükseköğretim Kanunu İle Bazı Kanun Ve Kanun Hükmünde Kararnamelerde Değişiklik Yapılması Hakkında Kanun” ile 18.06.2018 tarihli “Lisansüstü Tezlerin Elektronik Ortamda Toplanması, Düzenlenmesi ve Erişime Açılmasına İlişkin Yönerge” gereğince tam metin erişime açılmıştır.Bu araştırmada, dünya çapında m-öğrenme geliştirme sürecine giriyoruz. M-öğrenme aracımızı tasarlarken sosyal ve pedagojik faktörler kullanılmaktadır. Popülerlik odaklı bir kültürde, kullanıcılar arasındaki etkileşim tartışmaları zenginleştirir ve bilgi paylaşımını teşvik eder. Uygulama android yazılım geliştirme seti ve java programlama dili kullanılarak tasarlandı ve oluşturuldu. Google bulut depolama, verileri kaydetmek için gerçek zamanlı bir veritabanı altyapısı kullanıldı. Test ve geribildirim için Sakarya Üniversitesi, Türkiye. Anket tanıtılmadan önce, öğrenme sürecinin kavramı tartışılmıştır. Uygulamayı kullandıktan sonra, öğrenciler anketi cevapladılar. Anket üç ana noktayı yansıtıyordu: performans, kazanç ve mobil öğrenmenin kabulünü etkileyen sosyal faktörler. Popülerlik, öğrencileri mobil öğrenmeyi benimsemeye teşvik eden en önemli faktörlerden biridir. Anahtar Kelimeler: mühendislik, eğitim, etkileşimli yazılım, sınıf gösterimi, lisans eğitimi.In this research, we are engaging in the process of developing m-learning around the world. Social and pedagogical factors are being used while designing our m- learning tool. In a popularity-driven culture, interaction between users enriches discussions and promotes knowledge share. The application was designed and created using android software development kit and java programming language. Google cloud storage a real-time database infrastructure was used to save data. The application was offered to students in different majors in engineering departments in Sakarya University, Turkey, for testing and feedback. Before conducting the questionnaire we introduced mobile learning concept to students and explained its importance in their own learning process. After using the application, students answered the questionnaire. The questionnaire reflected three major points: performance, gain and the social factors effecting mobile learning acceptance. Popularity is one of the top factors that motivated learners to adopt mobile learning. Keywords: Engineering, Education, Interactive Software, classroom Demonstration, Undergraduate Education

USING BLOCKCHAIN TO BUILD DECENTRALIZED ACCESS CONTROL IN A PEER-TO-PEER E-LEARNING PLATFORM

In the context of E-learning platforms, the amount of research focusing on access control is proliferating. However, research related to the decentralized access control in this field is scarce. To improve such area of research, an innovative model of decentralized access control used to protect the collaborative peer-to-peer E-learning platform has been proposed. In this model, the integrity, authenticity, non-repudiation and traceability of E-learning resources are ensured by using Blockchain platform. Also, RESTful web service and Go/Java programming language will be used as tools to implement this model. A key metric is measured to evaluate the proposed model: average response time. To increase the accuracy, some experiments (144) have been carried out. The same experiment is conducted in two comparatively different network environment: Local Area Network (LAN) and Cloud Web Service (such as Amazon Web Service). LAN running environment represents the optimal condition while Cloud environment stands for the actual condition in the real world. When the number of clients in my proposed E-learning platform is relatively small (consisting of one to thirty concurrent clients interacting with E-learning resources), the average response time in the LAN environment is much faster (nearly 1.5 times) than that in Cloud environment. Nevertheless, when the number of clients is on a large scale, the difference of average response time between this two environment becomes insignificant. Besides, adding servers in both environments can increase the horizontal scalability. Furthermore, adding servers in Cloud environment can boost the system performance dramatically. However, extending the delay could have an impact on the system performance but negligible

New concepts integration on e-learning platforms

The learning experience has evolved into the virtual world of the Internet, where learners have the possibility to shift from face-to-face learning environments to virtual learning environments supported by technologies. This concept, called e-learning, emerged in the early 1960s where a group of researchers from the Stanford University, USA began experimenting different ways to publish and assign learning content using a computer. These experiments were the beginning that led to the creation of countless learning platforms, initially constructed in standalone environments and later ported to the Internet as Webbased learning platforms. As initial objectives, these learning platforms include a collection of features to support instructors and learners in the learning process. However, some of these platforms continued to be based on an old instructor-centered learning model and created a collection of outdated technologies that, given the current need to a learner-center learning model and the existence of Web 2.0 technologies, become inadequate. As a solution to address and overcome these challenges, a friendly user interface and a correct root incorporation of Web 2.0 services a platform designed to focus the learning experience and environment personalization into the learner is needed to propose. In an operating system (OS) context the graphic user interface (GUI) is guided by a collection of approaches that details how human beings should interact with computers. These are the key ideas to customize, install, and organize virtual desktops. The combination of desktop concepts into a learning platform can be an asset to reduce the learning curve necessary to know how to use the system and also to create a group of flexible learning services. However, due to limitations in hypertext transfer protocol-hypertext markup language (HTTP-HTML) traditional solutions, to shift traditional technologies to a collection of rich Internet application (RIA) technologies and personal learning environments (PLEs) concepts is needed, in order to construct a desktop-like learning platform. RIA technologies will allow the design of powerful Web solutions containing many of the characteristics of desktop-like applications. Additionally, personal learning environments (PLEs) will help learners to manage learning contents. In this dissertation the personal learning environment box (PLEBOX) is presented. The PLEBOX platform is a customizable, desktop-like platform similar to the available operating systems, based on personal learning environments concepts and rich Internet applications technologies that provide a better learning environment for users. PLEBOX developers have a set of tools that allow the creation of learning and management modules that can be installed on the platform. These tools are management learning components and interfaces built as APIs, services, and objects of the software development kit (SDK). A group of prototype modules were build for evaluation of learning and management services, APIs, and SDKs. Furthermore, three case studies were created in order to evaluate and demonstrate the learning service usage in external environments. The PLEBOX deployment and corresponding features confirms that this platform can be seen as a very promising e-learning platform. Exhaustive experiments were driven with success and it is ready for use.A experiência de aprendizagem baseada em tecnologias evoluiu para o mundo virtual da Internet, onde os alunos têm a possibilidade de mudar uma aprendizagem presencial em sala de aula para uma aprendizagem baseada em ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem suportados por tecnologias. O conceito de e-learning surgiu nos anos sessenta (1960) quando um grupo de investigadores da Universidade de Standford, nos Estados Unidos, começaram a experimentar diferentes formas de publicar e atribuir conteúdos de aprendizagem através do computador. Estas experiências marcaram o começo que levou à criação de inúmeras plataformas de aprendizagem, inicialmente construídas em ambientes isolados e depois migradas para a Internet como plataformas de aprendizagem baseadas na Web. Como objectivos inicias, estas plataformas de aprendizagem incluem um conjunto de recursos para apoiar professores e alunos no processo de aprendizagem. No entanto, algumas destas plataformas continuam a ser baseadas em velhos modelos de aprendizagem centrados no professor, criadas com base em tecnologias ultrapassadas que, dadas as necessidades actuais de um modelo de aprendizagem centrado no aluno e da existência de tecnologias baseadas na Web 2.0, se tornaram inadequadas. Como abordagem para enfrentar e superar estes desafios propõem-se uma plataforma focada na personalização do ambiente de aprendizagem do aluno, composta por uma interface amigável e uma correcta incorporação de raiz de serviços da Web 2.0. No contexto dos sistemas operativos (SOs) o graphic user interface (GUI) é desenhado tendo em conta um conjunto de abordagens que detalha como as pessoas devem interagir com os computadores. Estas são as ideias chave para personalizar, instalar e organizar áreas de trabalho virtuais. A combinação do conceito desktop com uma plataforma de aprendizagem pode ser um trunfo para reduzir a curva de aprendizagem necessária para saber como utilizar o sistema e também para criar um grupo de serviços flexíveis de aprendizagem. No entanto, devido as limitações em soluções tradicionais hypertext transfer protocol - hypertext markup language (HTTP - HTML), é necessário migrar estas tecnologias para um grupo de tecnologias rich Internet application (RIA) e conceitos presentes em ambientes personalizados de aprendizagem (personal learning environment - PLE) para construir uma plataforma baseada em ambientes de trabalho virtuais de aprendizagem. As tecnologias RIA irão permitir a criação de soluções Web poderosas que contêm muitas das características disponíveis em aplicações desktop. Adicionalmente, o conceitos de PLE irá ajudar os alunos a gerir os seus próprios conteúdos de aprendizagem. Nesta dissertação, com base nas características apresentadas anteriormente, é apresentada a personal learning environment box (PLEBOX). A plataforma PLEBOX é uma solução de aprendizagem parametrizável com um ambiente de trabalho semelhante aos sistemas operativos actuais, baseando-se em personal learning environments e tecnologias RIA que fornecem um melhor ambiente de aprendizagem para os seus utilizadores. Os programadores da PLEBOX têm ao seu dispor um conjunto de ferramentas que permitem a criação de módulos de aprendizagem e administração que podem ser instalados na plataforma. Estas ferramentas são componentes de aprendizagem e interfaces construídos como APIs, serviços e objectos do software development kit (SDK). Foi construído um conjunto de módulos com o objectivo de avaliar e demonstrar os serviços de aprendizagem, os serviços de gestão, APIs e SDKs. Para além disso, foram criados três casos de estudo para avaliar e demonstrar a utilização dos serviços de aprendizagem em ambientes externos. O desenvolvimento efectuado até ao momento na PLEBOX e respectivos recursos confirma que esta plataforma pode ser vista com uma promissora plataforma de aprendizagem (e-learning), totalmente modular e adaptativa. Realizaram-se experiências exaustivas para testar a plataforma e estas foram realizadas com sucesso num ambiente real, estando assim a plataforma pronta para exploração real