Modelling and visualising traces for reflexivity in synchronous collaborative systems

Lauréat du Best Paper AwardInternational audienceThis article addresses issues related to traces modelling and visualisation in synchronous collaborative learning. The objective is to propose models and tools for representing, transforming, sharing and visualizing traces of users' experiences. The traces here represent the users' activities in their interactions with the learning platform. Our proposition is based on reflexive learning defined as the ability to interact with the situation, in order to meet one's own limitations. This work takes place in the ITHACA project which aims at developing an online learning platform that uses interaction traces as knowledge sources on, and for, the learners' learning as individuals or groups. In this paper, we propose a general framework for trace management and sharing, a generic model of synchronous collaborative activity based on the notion of interaction modes, which we specialized for whiteboard sharing and text chatting. We modelled an IRC client and developed a first implementation

Phrasing Bimanual Interaction for Visual Design

Architects and other visual thinkers create external representations of their ideas to support early-stage design. They compose visual imagery with sketching to form abstract diagrams as representations. When working with digital media, they apply various visual operations to transform representations, often engaging in complex sequences. This research investigates how to build interactive capabilities to support designers in putting together, that is phrasing, sequences of operations using both hands. In particular, we examine how phrasing interactions with pen and multi-touch input can support modal switching among different visual operations that in many commercial design tools require using menus and tool palettes—techniques originally designed for the mouse, not pen and touch. We develop an interactive bimanual pen+touch diagramming environment and study its use in landscape architecture design studio education. We observe interesting forms of interaction that emerge, and how our bimanual interaction techniques support visual design processes. Based on the needs of architects, we develop LayerFish, a new bimanual technique for layering overlapping content. We conduct a controlled experiment to evaluate its efficacy. We explore the use of wearables to identify which user, and distinguish what hand, is touching to support phrasing together direct-touch interactions on large displays. From design and development of the environment and both field and controlled studies, we derive a set methods, based upon human bimanual specialization theory, for phrasing modal operations through bimanual interactions without menus or tool palettes

EPOS : evolving personal to organizational knowledge spaces

EPOS will leverage the user´s personal workspace with its manyfold native information structures to his personal knowledge space and in cooperation with other personal workspaces contribute to the organizational knowledge space which is represented in the organizational memory. This first milestone presents results from the project´s first year in the areas of the personal informational model, user observation for context elicitation, collaborative information retrieval and information visualization

TechNews digests: Jan - Mar 2010

TechNews is a technology, news and analysis service aimed at anyone in the education sector keen to stay informed about technology developments, trends and issues. TechNews focuses on emerging technologies and other technology news. TechNews service : digests september 2004 till May 2010 Analysis pieces and News combined publish every 2 to 3 month

A Comparison of Display Techniques for Large Graphs

Visualizing information focuses on the display of data in order to provide the user a representation that provides understanding of the data. Information visualization systems typically couple interaction mechanisms for providing overviews of the data with more detailed information through a zooming interface. This thesis compares three different techniques for displaying graphs provided by the prefuse visualization system: force-directed node positioning, radial node positioning, and a tree view of graphs. Using a large, real world data set from the South Texas College’s Distance Education department, the three visualization techniques are compared for a set of tasks that users routinely need to perform using standard data access techniques. Though the tree view visualization is the most limited in generality of the three techniques, it is found to best provide support for the tasks, in part because of its ability to provide the abstractions that best match the tasks

Visualisation of semantic relations between nodes in hypertext-based learning systems

The research described in this thesis is concerned with the design of hypertext-based learning systems. More specifically, it is concerned with investigating the effects of visualising semantic relations between nodes on learning in hypertext-based learning systems.One of the most commonly cited problems with hypertext is the distraction that stems from the high level of learner control in hypertext systems. This might partly be responsible for the fact that there are few evaluations of hypertext in education which have shown the strength of hypertext over other media in terms of learning outcomes. In order to ease the problem of distraction so as to improve the application of hypertext in education, an approach employing visible link-types is proposed. It is hypothesised that labelling links explicitly with semantic relations between nodes can lower the learner's cognitive overheads in making navigational decisions so as to improve learning. It is also hypothesised that this kind of labelling can make the conceptual model of the knowledge domain intuitively clearer to the learner and thus facilitate learning.A set of three empirical studies has been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in different situations, using different methodologies. The results found from these studies demonstrate that visualisation of semantic relations between nodes has potential for improving the use of hypertext for learning

Electronic Environments for Reading: An Annotated Bibliography of Pertinent Hardware and Software

In the development of new research environments, hardware has often been neglected. E-readers have (reasonably) successfully been developed for leisurely reading, but reading with the goal of writing demands a different approach. This bibliography has been written to inform the INKE research group on physical aspects of digital scholarly reading. It consists of two parts: a hardware section, including a description of commercial e-readers as well as an overview of academically developed digital reading devices and a software section, also including commercially available packages next to academically developed reading environments which allow for flexible manipulation of text and other modalities; as well as reflections on digital scholarly reading. Combined, the two sections inform an integrated approach in the development of new research environments