The memory space: Exploring future uses of Web 2.0 and mobile internet through design interventions.

The QuVis Quantum Mechanics Visualization project aims to address challenges of quantum mechanics instruction through the development of interactive simulations for the learning and teaching of quantum mechanics. In this article, we describe evaluation of simulations focusing on two-level systems developed as part of the Institute of Physics Quantum Physics resources. Simulations are research-based and have been iteratively refined using student feedback in individual observation sessions and in-class trials. We give evidence that these simulations are helping students learn quantum mechanics concepts at both the introductory and advanced undergraduate level, and that students perceive simulations to be beneficial to their learning.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication in the American Journal of Physic

Collaborative trails in e-learning environments

This deliverable focuses on collaboration within groups of learners, and hence collaborative trails. We begin by reviewing the theoretical background to collaborative learning and looking at the kinds of support that computers can give to groups of learners working collaboratively, and then look more deeply at some of the issues in designing environments to support collaborative learning trails and at tools and techniques, including collaborative filtering, that can be used for analysing collaborative trails. We then review the state-of-the-art in supporting collaborative learning in three different areas – experimental academic systems, systems using mobile technology (which are also generally academic), and commercially available systems. The final part of the deliverable presents three scenarios that show where technology that supports groups working collaboratively and producing collaborative trails may be heading in the near future

Ami - The Chemist's Amanuensis

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are.Abstract The Ami project was a six month Rapid Innovation project sponsored by JISC to explore the Virtual Research Environment space. The project brainstormed with chemists and decided to investigate ways to facilitate monitoring and collection of experimental data. A frequently encountered use-case was identified of how the chemist reaches the end of an experiment, but finds an unexpected result. The ability to replay events can significantly help make sense of how things progressed. The project therefore concentrated on collecting a variety of dimensions of ancillary data - data that would not normally be collected due to practicality constraints. There were three main areas of investigation: 1) Development of a monitoring tool using infrared and ultrasonic sensors; 2) Time-lapse motion video capture (for example, videoing 5 seconds in every 60); and 3) Activity-driven video monitoring of the fume cupboard environs. The Ami client application was developed to control these separate logging functions. The application builds up a timeline of the events in the experiment and around the fume cupboard. The videos and data logs can then be reviewed after the experiment in order to help the chemist determine the exact timings and conditions used. The project experimented with ways in which a Microsoft Kinect could be used in a laboratory setting. Investigations suggest that it would not be an ideal device for controlling a mouse, but it shows promise for usages such as manipulating virtual molecules.Peer Reviewe

Player agency in interactive narrative: audience, actor & author

The question motivating this review paper is, how can computer-based interactive narrative be used as a constructivist learn- ing activity? The paper proposes that player agency can be used to link interactive narrative to learner agency in constructivist theory, and to classify approaches to interactive narrative. The traditional question driving research in interactive narrative is, ‘how can an in- teractive narrative deal with a high degree of player agency, while maintaining a coherent and well-formed narrative?’ This question derives from an Aristotelian approach to interactive narrative that, as the question shows, is inherently antagonistic to player agency. Within this approach, player agency must be restricted and manip- ulated to maintain the narrative. Two alternative approaches based on Brecht’s Epic Theatre and Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed are reviewed. If a Boalian approach to interactive narrative is taken the conflict between narrative and player agency dissolves. The question that emerges from this approach is quite different from the traditional question above, and presents a more useful approach to applying in- teractive narrative as a constructivist learning activity

USA v. Dylan Heatherly

USDC for the Middle District of Pennsylvani

USA v. Dylan Heatherly

USDC for the Middle District of Pennsylvani

Learning and Teaching in the Non-Formal Virtual World: A Multimodal Study of Learning-Teaching Interaction in the Virtual World of Schome Park

Recently, there has been growing interest in the possibility of utilizing three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds, such as Second Life (SL), as a platform for education. This micro-ethnographic investigation based on video-recorded data, and conducted employing participation observation, explores the way in which the processes of guided participation, are negotiated multimodally, while accomplishing problem-solving tasks, in Schome Park (i.e., a teen grid located within SL). The study reveals that the experts structured novices' efforts and participation by employing strategies such as providing directing instruction, subdividing the task, and demonstration. However, it was found that there was a lack of affordances in order to be able to view demonstration. As a result, the significant aspect of learning that occurs through observation and active participation, or through guided or intent participation, has been demoted in the SL environment. Additionally, it was found that the constraints of technology restricted participants use of speech/voice effectively in the process of pedagogic task accomplishment. Therefore, typed-writing and Netspeak (i.e. hybrid language having features of speech, writing and electronic mediated properties), actions and visual images were the most frequently used modes used to enhance the processes of learning and teaching. Finally, the study highlights some issues and challenges encountered while conducting ethnographic study in a 3-D graphical environment, and also presents some advantages, and limitations, of conducting research using Avatars

Towards a biography of Aaron Swartz : selected archives from the FBI File and USA v. Swartz.

Legal and police documents; technological and sociological information