Authentication of Students and Students’ Work in E-Learning : Report for the Development Bid of Academic Year 2010/11

Global e-learning market is projected to reach $107.3 billion by 2015 according to a new report by The Global Industry Analyst (Analyst 2010). The popularity and growth of the online programmes within the School of Computer Science obviously is in line with this projection. However, also on the rise are students’ dishonesty and cheating in the open and virtual environment of e-learning courses (Shepherd 2008). Institutions offering e-learning programmes are facing the challenges of deterring and detecting these misbehaviours by introducing security mechanisms to the current e-learning platforms. In particular, authenticating that a registered student indeed takes an online assessment, e.g., an exam or a coursework, is essential for the institutions to give the credit to the correct candidate. Authenticating a student is to ensure that a student is indeed who he says he is. Authenticating a student’s work goes one step further to ensure that an authenticated student indeed does the submitted work himself. This report is to investigate and compare current possible techniques and solutions for authenticating distance learning student and/or their work remotely for the elearning programmes. The report also aims to recommend some solutions that fit with UH StudyNet platform.Submitted Versio

Moulding student emotions through computational psychology: affective learning technologies and algorithmic governance

Recently psychology has begun to amalgamate with computer science approaches to big data analysis as a new field of ‘computational psychology’ or ‘psycho-informatics,’ as well as with new ‘psycho-policy’ approaches associated with behaviour change science, in ways that propose new ways of measuring, administering and managing individuals and populations. In particular, ‘social-emotional learning’ has become a new focus within education. Supporters of social-emotional learning foresee technical systems being employed to quantify and govern learners’ affective lives, and to modify their behaviours in the direction of ‘positive’ feelings. In this article I identify the core aspirations of computational psychology in education, along with the technical systems it proposes to enact its vision, and argue that a new form of ‘psycho-informatic power’ is emerging as a source of authority and control over education