ENHANCING USERS’ EXPERIENCE WITH SMART MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

The aim of this thesis is to investigate mobile guides for use with smartphones. Mobile guides have been successfully used to provide information, personalisation and navigation for the user. The researcher also wanted to ascertain how and in what ways mobile guides can enhance users' experience. This research involved designing and developing web based applications to run on smartphones. Four studies were conducted, two of which involved testing of the particular application. The applications tested were a museum mobile guide application and a university mobile guide mapping application. Initial testing examined the prototype work for the ‘Chronology of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah’ application. The results were used to assess the potential of using similar mobile guides in Brunei Darussalam’s museums. The second study involved testing of the ‘Kent LiveMap’ application for use at the University of Kent. Students at the university tested this mapping application, which uses crowdsourcing of information to provide live data. The results were promising and indicate that users' experience was enhanced when using the application. Overall results from testing and using the two applications that were developed as part of this thesis show that mobile guides have the potential to be implemented in Brunei Darussalam’s museums and on campus at the University of Kent. However, modifications to both applications are required to fulfil their potential and take them beyond the prototype stage in order to be fully functioning and commercially viable

Integrating ICT in a didactic unit: lights, camera, action!

In Spain, the educational system is focused on traditional teacher-centred methods. Nevertheless, this traditional approach does not engage students anymore. Prensky (2001) claims that students have changed and our educational system was not designed to teach today's students. Today's students are digital natives, they were born into the digital world and they have spent their entire lives using technology. Therefore, taking this into account is paramount to capture the students’ interest in class. This work has been designed to integrate the use of ICT in a Spanish high school where traditional approach is the predominant methodology amongst teachers. The didactic unit designed and described in this paper has been implemented in a third year of Compulsory Secondary Education with the objective of combining a traditional approach with a task-based approach. This didactic unit includes the use of ICT in a wide variety of activities in order to deal with diversity awareness and to cope with the different learning styles students may have. Results indicate that the use of ICT is highly motivating for the students, that students perform better on the tasks which imply the use of computers opposed to the use of traditional materials and that they are willing to work in collaborative groups

Games for Learning: Which Template Generates Social Construction of Knowledge

The purpose of this study was to discover how three person teams use game templates (trivia, role-play, or scavenger hunt) to socially construct knowledge. The researcher designed an experimental Internet-based database to facilitate teams creating each game. Teams consisted of teachers, students, hobbyist, and business owners who shared similar interests and goals of creating knowledge to share with others. Four main questions guided the research. The first question and its sub questions seek a quantifiable measure of how social construction of knowledge occurs during the game creation process. The Interaction Analysis Model (IAM) (Gunawardena et al., 1997) was used to measure the lower and higher levels of knowledge created by each team. The first question asked which game template (trivia, role-play, or scavenger hunt) generates social construction of knowledge (SCK) with sub-questions that studied the lower and higher SCK phases of the IAM. Questions two and three captured qualitative aspects of the participants experience creating knowledge games. Question four adds additional quantifiable analysis based on system usage data. The study deployed a quasi-experimental mixed methods research method. The broad framework of this study — communities of practice, knowledge creation and measurement, and experimental constructivist learning — called for quantitative and qualitative data to understand how SCK occurs online through games. The researcher was at the center of data collection by recruiting participants, designing the system, and collecting research data. Data collection lasted for a span of nine months. Demographic surveys, coding and ANOVA testing of computer messages for SCK using the IAM Model, a thematic review and content analysis of interviews, observations, analysis of game completion surveys, and a report of system usage data encompass the data analysis for this study. All templates generated SCK according to the IAM Model\u27s definition of social construction of knowledge even though there was no statistical significance in terms of which game template was superior in generating SCK coding. Teams initially struggled with the format of the system and messaging system, but gained familiarity by the second and third games. The majority of the games created in this study were rated by the researcher as containing relevant and well written content. The researcher found that familiarity of teammates with one another, complexity of the system, collaboration, contributions, and communication tendencies within each template, and limitations of the technology as factors that influence how SCK occurs. All three game templates generated SCK as supported by findings from mixed methods research. Participants preferred to construct knowledge using the trivia template because of its ease-of-use and straight-forwardness. Role-play offered engaging complexity; even though it was short and simple, discussion and disagreements were needed to construct the activity. Scavenger hunt was found to be an intriguing template for teams to create in-depth activities and share with others, despite taking the most amount of time and writing to complete. Overall, participants expressed optimism for using the system to create knowledge games in order to share with others. Future researchers must employ mixed-methods research when studying custom-built SCK systems. Other suggestions include recruiting larger pools of participants, diversifying the types of teams in the study, providing better incentives, allowing flexible team sizes, and incorporating suggested improvements of the system\u27s design and message board

Using transmedia storytelling and marketing to increase engagement with the David Owsley Museum of Art

This creative project is designed to explore how multi-platform storytelling can help the David Owsley Museum of Art (DOMA) increase audience engagement, as well as generate awareness and attract potential visitors. This creative project has three goals: 1) identify and understand the demographics of the DOMA audience through ethnographic research; 2) evaluate DOMA’s existing programs, events, and offerings through surveys of attendees; 3) develop a transmedia marketing campaign that includes digital and physical platforms to increase audience engagement. Ideally, after the completion of the creative project, there will be an increase in DOMA visitors, as well as greater diversity among audience members who participate in DOMA’s events.Thesis (M.A.)Department of Journalis

Online toll payment system using android application

Now a day’s android application are emerging popular day by day.Online toll payment system will be very useful for the passengers and also the payment can be done in online. The toll payment system consists of an application that generates QR-Scanner code that will be displayed on the mobile device after the payment is done. The application also gives notification to the passenger before 2km or 3km before reaching the toll booth. The generated QR code will be scanned through a camera mobile device which is connected to the mySql server. The code generated is compared with server data and will be verified

Designing a Visual Programming Language for the Creation of Multiplayer Embodied Games

Games as a means of education have been starting to become more of an everyday reality. Not only are games used in classrooms, but they are used in industry to train soldiers, medical staff, and even surgeons. This thesis focuses on physically active (i.e. embodied) multiplayer games as a means of education; not only by having students play, but also by having students create games. The embodied multiplayer aspect allows for a more interactive experience between players and their environment, making the game immersive and collaborative. In order to create these games, students must exercise their computational thinking abilities. The Wearable Learning Cloud Platform has been developed to enable students to design, create, and play multiplayer games for STEM. This platform allows users to create, edit and manage the behavior of mobile technologies that act as support to players of these games, specified as finite-state machines. The platform provides a means of testing created games, as well as executing (running) these games wirelessly by serving them to smartphones (or smart watches) so that students can play them with other students, in teams, or as individual players. The platform features a full drag and drop game editor with a sophisticated validation engine that prevents users from making syntax errors. Visually programmed games transpile to JavaScript for execution on the game server and provide two separate levels of programming abstraction. This platform has been successfully tested with 18 participants and they have shown significant improvements in their understanding of Finite State Machines and have shown an increase in their Computational Thinking abilities

Using Offline Activities to Enhance Online Cybersecurity Education

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the United States has experienced the impact of a technological revolution. One effect of this technological revolution is the creation of entirely new careers related to the field of technology, including cybersecurity. Continued growth in the cybersecurity industry means a greater number of jobs will be created, adding to the existing number of jobs that are challenging an under-educated and under-trained workforce. The goal of this thesis is to increase the effectiveness of cybersecurity education. This thesis studies whether an online course in cybersecurity can be enhanced by offline, in-person activities that mirror traditional classroom methods. To validate the research, two groups of high school students participated in an online course with only one group participating in offline activities. The results showed that the group that participated in both the online and offline portions of the course had a higher percentage of student retention, a more positive mindset towards cybersecurity, and an improved performance in the course

Wearable Internet of Things Badge Device

Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a device that is wearable by a user and responsive to beacon devices or other Internet of Things (IoT) devices. In particular, aspects of the present disclosure are directed to the application of beacon devices and corresponding portable (e.g., wearable) badge devices to create an IoT system that can be used to enhance user interactions with other users and the environment in which they are present

Integrating ICT in a Didactic Unit: Lights, Camera, Action!

In Spain, the educational system is focused on traditional teacher-centred methods. Nevertheless, this traditional approach does not engage students anymore. Prensky (2001) claims that students have changed and our educational system was not designed to teach today's students. Today's students are digital natives, they were born into the digital world and they have spent their entire lives using technology. Therefore, taking this into account is paramount to capture the students’ interest in class. This work has been designed to integrate the use of ICT in a Spanish high school where traditional approach is the predominant methodology amongst teachers. The didactic unit designed and described in this paper has been implemented in a third year of Compulsory Secondary Education with the objective of combining a traditional approach with a task-based approach. This didactic unit includes the use of ICT in a wide variety of activities in order to deal with diversity awareness and to cope with the different learning styles students may have. Results indicate that the use of ICT is highly motivating for the students, that students perform better on the tasks which imply the use of computers opposed to the use of traditional materials and that they are willing to work in collaborative groups.Treball Final de Màster Universitari en Professor/a d'Educació Secundària Obligatòria i Batxillerat, Formació Professional i Ensenyaments d'Idiomes. Codi: SAP419. Curs acadèmic 2014-201