4,979 research outputs found
Mediators of Inequity: Online Literate Activity in Two Eighth Grade English Language Arts Classes
This comparative case study, framed by Cultural Historical Activity Theory and sociocultural understandings of literacy, investigated studentsâ online literate activity in two eighth grade English Language Arts classes taught by the same teacher - one with a scripted literacy curriculum and the other without. During a year-long research project, we used ethnographic methods to explore the nature of middle school studentsâ literate activity in each of these classes, with particular attention to the mediators evident as students engaged in online literate activity. Specifically, this article addresses the following research question: What mediators were evident within and across each of the classes and how did these mediators influence studentsâ online literate activity? In addressing this question, we illustrate how particular configurations of mediators â even those operating within the context of the same school and same teacher â significantly influenced the nature of studentsâ online literate activity and the literate identities available to students. This study reinforces the importance of attending to the influence of offline mediators in school settings. Without such attention, studentsâ formal education is likely to be transferred online rather than transformed online
Machine Analysis of Facial Expressions
No abstract
Easy to Read as Multimode Accessibility Service
Media accessibility is becoming mainstream. While it cannot compete for popularity with the two original fields âarchitecture and design accessibilityâ it is slowly gaining acknowledgment. Subtitling was and still is the most popular media access service. In recent years, more services have been joining the alternative possibilities to access information. New technologies have also increased the number of services, and Easy to Read is proposed in this article as a new candidate to join the list of services. This article will start by describing Easy to Read, and understand its approach as: a translation modality, a linguistic variation or as a service. The second part of the article presents many accessibility services and Easy to Read features. In the third part, new hybrid services are proposed. These are the result of adding to existing access services a layer of Easy to Read creating a higher degree of accessibility. Any accessibility service aiming to facilitate comprehension will improve and optimize its function by leaning on Easy to Read. The article finishes offering many examples to secure a rapid uptake of the service across the different accessibility fields, from design to web accessibility or transport.La accesibilidad a los medios audiovisuales estĂĄ alcanzado el mercado de masas. Su reconocimiento es cada vez mayor, aunque dista aĂșn de ser tan notoria como en las disciplinas clĂĄsicas en este ĂĄmbito: la arquitectura y el diseño accesible. El servicio de accesibilidad mĂĄs conocido ha sido y continĂșa siendo el subtitulado. En los Ășltimos años, el nĂșmero de servicios destinados a ofrecer vĂas alternativas de acceso a la informaciĂłn ha aumentado considerablemente. Con las nuevas tecnologĂas, la lista de servicios seguirĂĄ creciendo. El presente artĂculo persigue proponer a la Lectura FĂĄcil como un nuevo candidato a dicha lista. Primero se describe la lectura fĂĄcil y se observa como modalidad de traducciĂłn, variedad lingĂŒĂstica y servicio. A continuaciĂłn, se presentan diferentes servicios de accesibilidad y se describe la lectura fĂĄcil. Seguidamente se proponen servicios hĂbridos resultantes de añadir una capa de lectura fĂĄcil para aumentar la accesibilidad. Cualquier servicio de accesibilidad enfocado a mejorar la comprensiĂłn puede aumentar su eficacia a travĂ©s de la lectura fĂĄcil. Por Ășltimo, se ofrecen numerosos ejemplos para facilitar la introducciĂłn de este nuevo servicio en los diferentes ĂĄmbitos de la accesibilidad, ya sea el diseño, la accesibilidad web o el transporte
The Search as Learning Spaceship: Toward a Comprehensive Model of Psychological and Technological Facets of Search as Learning
Using a Web search engine is one of todayâs most frequent activities. Exploratory search activities which are carried out in order to gain knowledge are conceptualized and denoted as Search as Learning (SAL). In this paper, we introduce a novel framework model which incorporates the perspective of both psychology and computer science to describe the search as learning process by reviewing recent literature. The main entities of the model are the learner who is surrounded by a specific learning context, the interface that mediates between the learner and the information environment, the information retrieval (IR) backend which manages the processes between the interface and the set of Web resources, that is, the collective Web knowledge represented in resources of different modalities. At first, we provide an overview of the current state of the art with regard to the five main entities of our model, before we outline areas of future research to improve our understanding of search as learning processes
The Search as Learning Spaceship: Toward a Comprehensive Model of Psychological and Technological Facets of Search as Learning
Using a Web search engine is one of todayâs most frequent activities. Exploratory search activities which are carried out in order to gain knowledge are conceptualized and denoted as Search as Learning (SAL). In this paper, we introduce a novel framework model which incorporates the perspective of both psychology and computer science to describe the search as learning process by reviewing recent literature. The main entities of the model are the learner who is surrounded by a specific learning context, the interface that mediates between the learner and the information environment, the information retrieval (IR) backend which manages the processes between the interface and the set of Web resources, that is, the collective Web knowledge represented in resources of different modalities. At first, we provide an overview of the current state of the art with regard to the five main entities of our model, before we outline areas of future research to improve our understanding of search as learning processes. Copyright © 2022 von Hoyer, Hoppe, Kammerer, Otto, Pardi, Rokicki, Yu, Dietze, Ewerth and Holtz
Player agency in interactive narrative: audience, actor & author
The question motivating this review paper is, how can
computer-based interactive narrative be used as a constructivist learn-
ing activity? The paper proposes that player agency can be used to
link interactive narrative to learner agency in constructivist theory,
and to classify approaches to interactive narrative. The traditional
question driving research in interactive narrative is, âhow can an in-
teractive narrative deal with a high degree of player agency, while
maintaining a coherent and well-formed narrative?â This question
derives from an Aristotelian approach to interactive narrative that,
as the question shows, is inherently antagonistic to player agency.
Within this approach, player agency must be restricted and manip-
ulated to maintain the narrative. Two alternative approaches based
on Brechtâs Epic Theatre and Boalâs Theatre of the Oppressed are
reviewed. If a Boalian approach to interactive narrative is taken the
conflict between narrative and player agency dissolves. The question
that emerges from this approach is quite different from the traditional
question above, and presents a more useful approach to applying in-
teractive narrative as a constructivist learning activity
SpeechMirror: A Multimodal Visual Analytics System for Personalized Reflection of Online Public Speaking Effectiveness
As communications are increasingly taking place virtually, the ability to
present well online is becoming an indispensable skill. Online speakers are
facing unique challenges in engaging with remote audiences. However, there has
been a lack of evidence-based analytical systems for people to comprehensively
evaluate online speeches and further discover possibilities for improvement.
This paper introduces SpeechMirror, a visual analytics system facilitating
reflection on a speech based on insights from a collection of online speeches.
The system estimates the impact of different speech techniques on effectiveness
and applies them to a speech to give users awareness of the performance of
speech techniques. A similarity recommendation approach based on speech factors
or script content supports guided exploration to expand knowledge of
presentation evidence and accelerate the discovery of speech delivery
possibilities. SpeechMirror provides intuitive visualizations and interactions
for users to understand speech factors. Among them, SpeechTwin, a novel
multimodal visual summary of speech, supports rapid understanding of critical
speech factors and comparison of different speech samples, and SpeechPlayer
augments the speech video by integrating visualization of the speaker's body
language with interaction, for focused analysis. The system utilizes
visualizations suited to the distinct nature of different speech factors for
user comprehension. The proposed system and visualization techniques were
evaluated with domain experts and amateurs, demonstrating usability for users
with low visualization literacy and its efficacy in assisting users to develop
insights for potential improvement.Comment: Main paper (11 pages, 6 figures) and Supplemental document (11 pages,
11 figures). Accepted by VIS 202
L2 Learnersâ Pragmatic Output in a Face-To-Face Vs. a Computer-Guided Role-Play Task: Implications For TBLT
Accomplishing oral interactive workplace tasks requires various language abilities, including pragmatics. While technology-mediated tasks are thought to offer many possibilities for teaching and assessing second language (L2) pragmatics, their effectiveness â especially those facilitated by an AI agent (artificial intelligence agent) â remains to be explored. This study investigated how 47 tertiary-level learners of English as a second language (ESL) performed on an oral interactive task that required them to make requests to their boss in two distinct modalities. Each participant completed the same task with a fully automated AI agent and with a human interlocutor in a face-to-face format. Findings showed that both modalities elicited language use relevant to the pragmatics target. However, fully automated interactions were found to be more transactional, while face-to-face interactions were more functionally oriented (e.g. more frequent/varied supportive moves). Although fully automated interactive tasks may be useful for eliciting requests, replicating human-to-human interactions remains a challenge
Survey of the State of the Art in Natural Language Generation: Core tasks, applications and evaluation
This paper surveys the current state of the art in Natural Language
Generation (NLG), defined as the task of generating text or speech from
non-linguistic input. A survey of NLG is timely in view of the changes that the
field has undergone over the past decade or so, especially in relation to new
(usually data-driven) methods, as well as new applications of NLG technology.
This survey therefore aims to (a) give an up-to-date synthesis of research on
the core tasks in NLG and the architectures adopted in which such tasks are
organised; (b) highlight a number of relatively recent research topics that
have arisen partly as a result of growing synergies between NLG and other areas
of artificial intelligence; (c) draw attention to the challenges in NLG
evaluation, relating them to similar challenges faced in other areas of Natural
Language Processing, with an emphasis on different evaluation methods and the
relationships between them.Comment: Published in Journal of AI Research (JAIR), volume 61, pp 75-170. 118
pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl
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