104,757 research outputs found
Pervasive Parallel And Distributed Computing In A Liberal Arts College Curriculum
We present a model for incorporating parallel and distributed computing (PDC) throughout an undergraduate CS curriculum. Our curriculum is designed to introduce students early to parallel and distributed computing topics and to expose students to these topics repeatedly in the context of a wide variety of CS courses. The key to our approach is the development of a required intermediate-level course that serves as a introduction to computer systems and parallel computing. It serves as a requirement for every CS major and minor and is a prerequisite to upper-level courses that expand on parallel and distributed computing topics in different contexts. With the addition of this new course, we are able to easily make room in upper-level courses to add and expand parallel and distributed computing topics. The goal of our curricular design is to ensure that every graduating CS major has exposure to parallel and distributed computing, with both a breadth and depth of coverage. Our curriculum is particularly designed for the constraints of a small liberal arts college, however, much of its ideas and its design are applicable to any undergraduate CS curriculum
Networked Living: a new approach to teaching introductory ICT
The course T175 Networked Living is a 300 hour, multiple media, distance learning course offered by the UK
Open University. The first presentation of the course, in 2005, attracted over 1600 students. T175 introduces
students to general concepts of information and communication technology in a range of contexts, including:
communication and identity; entertainment and information; and health, transport and government. It is an
introductory (level 1) course for a variety of bachelors’ degrees, including the BSc programmes in: Information
and Communication Technology; IT and Computing; and Technology; as well as the BEng engineering
programme. The course was designed with a focus on retention of students and preparing them for further study.
Student workload and pacing was carefully planned and there is a significant study skills component. The course
uses a range of media, including: text, audio, computer animation and other software, and a website. Active
learning is encouraged by means of activities, online quizzes, animations, spreadsheets and a learning journal.
Continuous assessment is carried out via a mix of multiple-choice assignments (to test factual and numerical
skills) and written assignments (which include elementary research into new topics). The course culminates with
a written end-of-course assessment. This includes a major reflective component, as well as more traditional
questions designed to test knowledge and understanding
What did the Romans ever do for us? ‘Next generation’ networks and hybrid learning resources
Networked learning is fundamentally concerned with the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to link people to people and resources, to support the process of learning. This paper explores some current and forthcoming changes in ICT and some potential implications of these developments for networked learning. Whilst we aim to avoid taking a technologically determinist stance, we explore the potential for future practice and how some educational and pedagogic practices are evolving to exploit and shape the digital environment. We argue that we can change both the ways in which connections between people (learners and other learners; learners and tutors) are made and the nature of the resources that learning communities (particularly distributed communities) can engage with. In doing this we draw on two strands of work. Firstly, we draw on the ‘IBZL Education’ a UK Open University initiative to develop new scholarship in the context of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) through which educators are encouraged to think about technological change in the next five to ten years and ways in which we can intervene and shape these developments. We use problem-based learning as an example of a learning experience that can be difficult to implement in a networked learning environment. IBZL identified two broad strands of significant technological development. 'Superfast' broadband networks that are capable of supporting novel applications are being rolled in the UK (and elsewhere). Also, boundaries between the real and virtual worlds are becoming blurred as in the ‘internet of things’ where, for example, RFID tags enable information about the real world to be brought into the virtual one. We use the term ‘artefact’ to describe designed components, whether entirely digital, such as a computer forum, or material, such as a tablet PC. Networked ‘hybrid’ technologies of virtual and material components have may great potential for use in education.
Secondly, we illustrate how these changes may be beginning to happen in distance education using the example of TU100 My Digital Life, a new introductory Open University. . TU100 Students use an electronics board in their own homes to work on a programming problem in collaboration other students through a tutor-led tutorial in a web conferencing system. We also note some of the evident complexity that establishing such resources as part of wider infrastructures of networked learning would be likely to involve
Challenging the Computational Metaphor: Implications for How We Think
This paper explores the role of the traditional computational metaphor in our thinking as computer scientists, its influence on epistemological styles, and its implications for our understanding of cognition. It proposes to replace the conventional metaphor--a sequence of steps--with the notion of a community of interacting entities, and examines the ramifications of such a shift on these various ways in which we think
Environmental activism and the Internet : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology at Massey University
Environmentalism is used as a case study to investigate the value of the Internet for activism, protest and social change. The effectiveness of the Internet for helping environmental groups to achieve their goals and the implications of this medium for the future of the environmental movement are explored. An online (Internet) survey of environmental groups who are currently using the Internet was conducted. Two hundred and forty four requests to take part were emailed to environmental groups, eight of which were returned with invalid email addresses. Over the course of a three month period 79 completed surveys were collected, giving a response rate of 33%. Other methods utilised include face-to-face, telephone and email interviews with environmental group representatives, content analysis of Internet sites and the construction of a database of online environmental groups. Secondary data is also drawn upon extensively. This thesis examines the Internet's role in helping environmentalists achieve more with limited resources, network across wide geographic distances and create new forms of collective action. The changing role of other media and the ways in which the Internet may be influencing the dynamics between environmental groups and their opponents are also explored. Difficulties with this mode of communication must also be acknowledged. The concentration of Internet use in already privileged sectors of society may mean that participants in mainstream environmentalism are likely to have access, but it may also mean that the medium holds less promise for emerging ecojustice groups. It is also true that computers and network infrastructures are major causes of environmental harm, so it may appear contradictory to use these to try to protect the environment. This research suggests that the Internet offers a great deal of opportunity for environmental groups, but it also supports elements of contemporary society that many environmentalists oppose - increased consumerism, unfettered globalisation and direct environmental harm by its very existence. Activists should approach the Internet with optimism but not complacency. Those who seek to preserve aspects of the medium that promote community and democracy should endeavour to advance an alternative construction of the medium to that which is prevalent in the mainstream media
A Data Science Course for Undergraduates: Thinking with Data
Data science is an emerging interdisciplinary field that combines elements of
mathematics, statistics, computer science, and knowledge in a particular
application domain for the purpose of extracting meaningful information from
the increasingly sophisticated array of data available in many settings. These
data tend to be non-traditional, in the sense that they are often live, large,
complex, and/or messy. A first course in statistics at the undergraduate level
typically introduces students with a variety of techniques to analyze small,
neat, and clean data sets. However, whether they pursue more formal training in
statistics or not, many of these students will end up working with data that is
considerably more complex, and will need facility with statistical computing
techniques. More importantly, these students require a framework for thinking
structurally about data. We describe an undergraduate course in a liberal arts
environment that provides students with the tools necessary to apply data
science. The course emphasizes modern, practical, and useful skills that cover
the full data analysis spectrum, from asking an interesting question to
acquiring, managing, manipulating, processing, querying, analyzing, and
visualizing data, as well communicating findings in written, graphical, and
oral forms.Comment: 21 pages total including supplementary material
A short curriculum of the robotics and technology of computer lab
Our research Lab is directed by Prof. Anton Civit. It is an interdisciplinary group of 23
researchers that carry out their teaching and researching labor at the Escuela
Politécnica Superior (Higher Polytechnic School) and the Escuela de Ingeniería
Informática (Computer Engineering School). The main research fields are: a)
Industrial and mobile Robotics, b) Neuro-inspired processing using electronic spikes,
c) Embedded and real-time systems, d) Parallel and massive processing computer
architecture, d) Information Technologies for rehabilitation, handicapped and elder
people, e) Web accessibility and usability
In this paper, the Lab history is presented and its main publications and research
projects over the last few years are summarized.Nuestro grupo de investigación está liderado por el profesor Civit. Somos un grupo
multidisciplinar de 23 investigadores que realizan su labor docente e investigadora
en la Escuela Politécnica Superior y en Escuela de Ingeniería Informática. Las
principales líneas de investigaciones son: a) Robótica industrial y móvil. b)
Procesamiento neuro-inspirado basado en pulsos electrónicos. c) Sistemas
empotrados y de tiempo real. d) Arquitecturas paralelas y de procesamiento masivo.
e) Tecnología de la información aplicada a la discapacidad, rehabilitación y a las
personas mayores. f) Usabilidad y accesibilidad Web.
En este artículo se reseña la historia del grupo y se resumen las principales
publicaciones y proyectos que ha conseguido en los últimos años
Does gender matter in online learning?
It is generally noted that computing is gendered, with women opting out of IT. Will the impact of online learning change this? Some researchers claim that women are disadvantaged in online courses. Others argue that we need a ‘women‐friendly cyber‐classroom’. Yet our experience is that the women achieve better results than the men; it is loner males that are disadvantaged by distance learning. We argue that online courses need to be people‐friendly so that no learners are disadvantaged
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