Personal Smart Assistant for Digital Media and Advertisement

The expansion of the cyberspace and the enormous process in computing and software applications enabled technology to cover every aspect of our life, therefore, many of our goals are now technology driven. Consequently, the need of intelligent assistance to achieve these goals has increased. However, for this assistance to be beneficial for users, it should be targeted to them based on their needs and preferences. Intelligent software agents have been recognized as a promising approach for the development of user-centric, personalized, applications. In this thesis a generic personal smart assistant agent is proposed that provides relevant assistance to the user based on modeling his/her interests and behaviours. The main focus of this work is on developing a user behaviour model that captures the deliberative and reactive behaviours of the user in open environments. Furthermore, a prototype is built to utilize the personal assistant for personalized advertisement applications, where this assistant attempts to recommend the right advertisement to the right person at the right time

Mobile group blogging in learning: a case study of supporting cultural transition

A mobile group blog is an example of a Web 2.0 social space, as well as a tool for the instant collection of contextual information, the immediate sharing of information and later reflection. Records in the form of multimedia created through mobile blogging can assist people to keep a versatile representation of artefacts they encounter on the move in everyday life. Overseas students are an example of a large group of people whose cultural learning could be supported by this technology. They could share contextual information and their own stories with other people currently experiencing the host culture, as well as people who do not have the opportunity to experience the host culture first-hand. To examine and evaluate how the mobile group blog could be applied in learning, a case study was conducted on involving overseas students. This research explored the suitability, appropriateness and benefits of a mobile group blog in assisting overseas students to manage their culture shock. It illustrates how the mobility of mobile devices assists the capture of contextual information on the move when overseas students start adapting to the new environment. The group blog site provided a platform to share and exchange their experiences and thoughts, as well as a resource of information on authentic cultural transition for future students. Four sub-studies were conducted around this theme. The first two studies investigated the demands and needs of a mobile group blog application in cultural transition. The third study investigated real and practical mobile blogging activities with a group of twelve Chinese overseas students who had newly arrived in Nottingham. The fourth study was conducted in China. In this study, a number of Chinese students who intended to study abroad were asked to evaluate the contents of the mobile group blog created by the twelve Chinese mobloggers in Study three. Findings from the four studies reveal the possibilities, suitability, strengths and weaknesses of the mobile group blog in assisting cultural transition. The thesis also presents positive feedback from participants as well as feedback on the limitations of this application. Then as added value to this research, it also suggests future educational applications of the mobile group blog

Mobile group blogging in learning: a case study of supporting cultural transition

A mobile group blog is an example of a Web 2.0 social space, as well as a tool for the instant collection of contextual information, the immediate sharing of information and later reflection. Records in the form of multimedia created through mobile blogging can assist people to keep a versatile representation of artefacts they encounter on the move in everyday life. Overseas students are an example of a large group of people whose cultural learning could be supported by this technology. They could share contextual information and their own stories with other people currently experiencing the host culture, as well as people who do not have the opportunity to experience the host culture first-hand. To examine and evaluate how the mobile group blog could be applied in learning, a case study was conducted on involving overseas students. This research explored the suitability, appropriateness and benefits of a mobile group blog in assisting overseas students to manage their culture shock. It illustrates how the mobility of mobile devices assists the capture of contextual information on the move when overseas students start adapting to the new environment. The group blog site provided a platform to share and exchange their experiences and thoughts, as well as a resource of information on authentic cultural transition for future students. Four sub-studies were conducted around this theme. The first two studies investigated the demands and needs of a mobile group blog application in cultural transition. The third study investigated real and practical mobile blogging activities with a group of twelve Chinese overseas students who had newly arrived in Nottingham. The fourth study was conducted in China. In this study, a number of Chinese students who intended to study abroad were asked to evaluate the contents of the mobile group blog created by the twelve Chinese mobloggers in Study three. Findings from the four studies reveal the possibilities, suitability, strengths and weaknesses of the mobile group blog in assisting cultural transition. The thesis also presents positive feedback from participants as well as feedback on the limitations of this application. Then as added value to this research, it also suggests future educational applications of the mobile group blog

Book of Abstracts

Conference Organising CommitteeMartin Banse Thünen Institute, GermanyFloor Brouwer Wageningen University and Research, NetherlandsKatharina Brüser Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, GermanyNandor Fodor University of Leeds, UKChristine Foyer University of Leeds, UKRichard Kipling Aberystwyth University, UKMartin Köchy Thünen Institute, GermanyClaas Nendel Institute of Landscape Systems Analysis, GermanyDaniel Sandars Cranfield University, UKNigel Scollan Queen's University, UKFranz Sinabell Austrian Institute of Economic Research, AustriaKairsty Topp Scotland's Rural College, UK

Options for a new integrated natural resources monitoring framework for Wales. Phase 1 project report

Healthy natural resources underpin significant economic sectors in Wales including agriculture, fisheries, tourism and forestry, they also make a significant contribution across Cabinet policies including the health and well-being agenda. In order to develop policies that build social, economic and environmental resilience and to evaluate policy implementation, a robust natural resources monitoring framework is required. Current monitoring activities are of varying quality, not sufficiently aligned to the new legislative and policy landscape, disjointed and when considered as a whole, potentially not as cost-effective as they could be. This project was tasked with identifying options and developing recommendations for an integrated natural resources monitoring framework for Wales reflecting the ambitions and integrating principles of the Environment Act and Well Being of Future Generations Act. The monitoring community, the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales Core Evidence Group, the project team, stakeholders and partners, have agreed on a set of recommendations