Going with the grain: mobile devices in practice

Fifty-seven alumni of a global Masters program participated in research into their use of mobile devices. Drawing on questionnaire and interview data,the paper examines how far the devices were embedded in the personal and professional lives of these alumni, most of whom were aged 35-54. All had experience of online and distance education, and most worked in education or training. The study revealed some innovative uses of mobile devices, a selection of which is reported in this paper. The paper links the findings to wider debates about the changing relationship between learners and educational institutions, and the role of mobile devices in enabling individuals to engage in learning conversations. Data are provided on which devices were used by the alumni and for what purposes, and the paper explores the implications of these findings for educators

Understanding Learning Outcomes through Member Needs, Motivation and Satisfaction: the Development of a Conceptual Model

Social and interactive eLearning environments have the ability to provide learners with a beneficial eLearning experience to achieve specific learning outcomes. ELearning experiences can have a positive experience if they incorporate the learner’s needs, motivational factors to increase participation of the learner and to achieve satisfaction in learning knowledge. The interactive nature of social and interactive eLearning environments incorporates engaging features evident within Social Media and Web 2.0 Technologies to increase interactivity within the eLearning community. Learning Outcomes determines if the learner has achieved their competencies in actual or perceived results. This paper proposes a new conceptual model that focuses on understanding learning outcomes by examining whether learners needs at met before examining their eLearning experience, engage, motivate, achieve satisfaction and learning outcomes. As a research-in-progress the next stage is to validate the conceptual model by testing it through data collected from social and interactive eLearning environments to show accuracy

Persuasive design of a mobile energy conservation game with direct feedback and social cues

Pervasive gaming has the potential of transforming the home into a persuasive environment in which the user can learn about appliances and their electricity consumption. Power Explorer is a mobile game with a special sensing approach that provides real-time electricity measurements and feedback when the user switches on and off devices in the home. The game was developed based on persuasive principles to provide an engaging means to learn about energy with positive and negative feedback and social feedback from peers on real energy actions in the home. We present the design and rationale of this game and discuss how pervasive games can be viewed from a persuasive and learning point of view

A double-edged sword: Use of computer algebra systems in first-year Engineering Mathematics and Mechanics courses

Many secondary-level mathematics students have experience with graphical calculators from high school. For the purposes of this paper we define graphical calculators as those able to perform rudimentary symbolic manipulation and solve complicated equations requiring very modest user knowledge. The use of more advanced computer algebra systems e.g. Maple, Mathematica, Mathcad, Matlab/MuPad is becoming more prevalent in tertiary-level courses. This paper explores our students’ experience using one such system (MuPad) in first-year tertiary Engineering Mathematics and Mechanics courses. The effectiveness of graphical calculators and computer algebra systems in mathematical pedagogy has been investigated by a multitude of educational researchers (e.g. Ravaglia et al. 1998). Most of these studies found very small or no correlation between student use of graphical calculators or exposure to computer algebra systems with future achievement in mathematics courses (Buteau et al. 2010). In this paper we focus instead on students’ attitude towards a more advanced standalone computer algebra system (MuPad), and whether students’ inclination to use the system is indicative of their mathematical understanding. Paper describing some preliminary research into use of computer algebra systems for teaching engineering mathematics

Australian Online Newspapers: A Website Content Analysis Approach to Measuring Interactivity

This paper addresses the growth and development of the concept of interactivity in online newspapers from the perspectives of computer-mediated communication, journalism, advertising, and information system. This paper discusses the concept of interactivity that originated in the work of Heeter. The study maps Heeter’s dimensions (content, availability and choice, communication opportunity, effort of users, responsiveness, and customisation and management of information) in the contemporary setting of the Australian online newspaper industry. The researchers reviewed 12 Australian online newspapers in two snapshots using a website content analysis approach. The results are the basis for discussion as to the level of interactivity in Australian online newspapers. Content availability and choice was found to be the most significant element of interactivity. It is noted that, while the majority of Australian online newspapers offer interactive functionality for expressing opinions, blogging, contests and polls, only one online newspaper provided genuine interactive gaming

The Importance of Personalization in Affecting Consumer Attitudes toward Mobile Advertising in China

Empowered by the Web’s interactive and quick-response capabilities, mobile marketing is a very promising direct marketing channel. The present research investigates consumer attitudes toward mobile advertising in China. The results of a survey indicate that (1) consumers in China generally have slightly negative attitudes toward receiving mobile advertising (2) there is a direct relationship between consumer attitudes and consumer intention in receiving mobile advertising. (3) Personalization plays an important role in affecting consumers’ attitude toward receiving mobile advertising. Thus the designers and marketers should better strategize their advertising designs by considering the personalization factor

Exergame design for elderly users: the case study of SilverBalance

In this paper, we discuss chances and challenges of game design for an elderly audience with a focus on the development of safe and usable exertion games for frail senior citizens. Based on an analysis of theoretical constraints, we conducted a case study which implements different balance tasks for elderly players featuring the Nintendo Wii Balance Board which encourages users to actively engage in game play. Furthermore, we tested the feasibility of the board as input device for our case study SilverBalance. Our results indicate that age-related impairments influence the use of video games among frail elderly in many respects, hence their needs have to be considered during the design process. In this context, our paper provides a foundation for future research regarding digital games for the elderly. © 2010 ACM

INFO2009 Coursework 2 - TeamTT

Resources produced for INFO2009 coursework 2 for TeamTT

'Playing robot': an interactive sound installation in human-robot interaction design for new media art

In this study artistic human-robot interaction design is in- troduced as a means for scientific research and artistic inves- tigations. It serves as a methodology for situated cognition integrating empirical methodology and computational mod- eling, and is exemplified by the installation playing robot. Its artistic purpose is to aid to create and explore robots as a new medium for art and entertainment. We discuss the use of finite state machines to organize robots’ behavioral reac- tions to sensor data, and give a brief outlook on structured observation as a potential method for data collection

Establishing the design knowledge for emerging interaction platforms

While awaiting a variety of innovative interactive products and services to appear in the market in the near future such as interactive tabletops, interactive TVs, public multi-touch walls, and other embedded appliances, this paper calls for preparation for the arrival of such interactive platforms based on their interactivity. We advocate studying, understanding and establishing the foundation for interaction characteristics and affordances and design implications for these platforms which we know will soon emerge and penetrate our everyday lives. We review some of the archetypal interaction platform categories of the future and highlight the current status of the design knowledge-base accumulated to date and the current rate of growth for each of these. We use example designs illustrating design issues and considerations based on the authors’ 12-year experience in pioneering novel applications in various forms and styles