Designing and Developing a Mobile-Cloud E-Learning Application

The mobile-cloud E-Learning application is an application software which can be downloaded into a mobile phone or a smart phone. This application software functions with the presence of a network, which is the Internet. The objectives of this project are to study on how the contents of the current existing E-Learning can be adapted to the mobile phones/smart phones which will then lead to designing and developing the contents of the mobile E-Learning application to suit the small screens of the mobile phones/smart phones using the cloud computing concept. This objective was made due to the problems identified during the research of the limitations of the current E-Learning system which are usability and accessibility problems. The scope of this study is to design and develop a mobile-cloud E-Learning application for the specifications of the BlackBerry OS 6 with the functions of viewing and posting announcements as well as downloading and uploading lecture notes by students, lecturers and management staffs respectively. The methodology used for the research are distributing online questionnaire and conducting interviews. On the other hand, the project methodology chosen is the prototyping method which requires users’ participation. Finally, up to date, the distributed online showed positive response from the responders whereby they support the mobile version of the E-Learning system

Network-based autonomous and cooperative learning : self-organised learning environments in a junior high school in China

PhD ThesisResearch in the field of Self Organised Learning Environments (SOLEs) has investigated a wide range of aspects of this approach to learning and teaching, including its application in vocational education and training, and the implications for educational strategies, metacognition, and child development. However, there has been relatively little research into how SOLEs can be used to improve learning outcomes within a traditional and exam-oriented teaching environment in China, and for a range of school subjects. This study seeks to address this gap by investigating how a SOLE can be integrated into the curricula for history and maths in a Chinese junior high school. The study was conducted in Xining, a North-western Chinese city with limited educational resources and management systems. The study involved a class in the Eighth-grade with 58 students as the SOLE group, and another two classes which were taught by same history and maths teachers as a control group. Twenty history and twenty maths SOLE classes were conducted over nine months in two semesters. Data was gathered from students and students’ guardians using questionnaires, and from students and teachers by means of semi-structured interviews, after-class diary forms, and homework assessments. Other data included classroom observation notes, and the results of three examinations. Results suggest that most students enjoyed developing their knowledge of history in the SOLEs, and made progress in history scores. In addition, students enjoyed doing geometrical tasks much more than algebraic tasks in the SOLEs, but they were not able to improve their maths scores in the exams after using the SOLE in comparison with the non-SOLE classes. In order to make effective use of the Internet-based learning environments, participants in this SOLE study had to take on new roles, and the results suggest that both teachers and students adapted well to this requirement. There was also evidence that students can learn effectively with teacher support in a task-oriented interaction in a SOLE. The effectiveness of this approach varied between history and maths classes. This was partly linked to the existence of, iv and the ability to locate, suitable online resources, though it may also have been linked to the greater dependence on scaffolding for particular subjects. These findings suggest the need for further research in larger scale studies over a broader range of school subjects, and in other educational contexts

Improving the methodology for development and use of collaboration systems

I pored postojanja velikog broja kolaboracionih sistema i alata oni se često koriste bez skupa pravila ili metodologije koja bi opravdala i omogućila način njihovog korišćenja. Predmet istraživanja je moguće unapređenje metodologije razvoja i korišćenja kolaboracionih sistema. Rad se bavi medotologijom razvoja, ali i definisanjem modela podrške putem obrazaca za različite slučajeve korišćenja. U istraživanju se polazi od pretpostavke da učesnici u procesu kolaboracije treba da koriste raspoložive tehnologije, sisteme i alate na način koji je stvarno primenljiv u određenom kontekstu, a ne na unapred definisan način koji često nije u saglasnosti sa ograničenjima koje nameće okruženje. Unapređenjem metodologije razvoja i korišćenja pomenutih sistema povećala bi se efikasnost i ostvario bolji efekat razmene ideja, informacija i dokumenata u kolaboracionom okruženju. Korišćenjem generičke metodologije predloženo je rešenje koje može uspešno da integriše različite servise i alate koji se koriste za kolaboraciju...Even with the existence of a large number of collaboration systems and tools they are often used without a set of rules or methodology that could justify and enable the means of their use. Subject of the research is improvement of the methodology for development and use of collaboration systems. Thesis defines the methodology as well as defining the models of support by providing templates for different use cases. Research is based on assumption that the participants in the collaborating process should use available resources, technologies, systems and tools in a way which should be applied to a particular context and not in a predefined way that most of the time is not practical or sustainable in the real environment. By improving methodology of development and use of mentioned systems direct consequence would be enhancement of efficiency and better effect of the exchange of ideas, information and documents in the collaborating environment. Using a generic methodology we suggest a solution that can successfully integrate different services and tools that are used for collaboration..

IT infrastructure model for e-learning

Elektronsko obrazovanje je kompleksan sistem koji uključuje učenje na daljinu, predavanja na daljinu, nastavne materijale u raznim elektronskim formama, individualni i grupni proces učenja, tutorski i interaktivni rad. Ogroman i brzi rast broja korisnika, usluga, obrazovnih sadržaja i potrebnih resursa, suočavaju obrazovne ustanove i njihove sisteme elektronskog obrazovanja sa izazovima optimizacije izdvajanja resursa, zahtevima dinamičke konkurentnosti i sa kontrolom troškova ovakvih sistema. Sve ovo dovodi do toga da su zahtevi za projektovanje i implementaciju IT infrastrukture sistema za elektronsko obrazovanje sve kompleksniji. Primenom savremenih informaciono-komunikacionih tehnologija moguće je doprineti povećanju efikasnosti, fleksibilnosti i ekonomičnosti sistema za elektronsko obrazovanje. Uvođenjem modela IT infrastrukture za elektronsko obrazovanje, zasnovanog na savremenom IT konceptu Cloud Computing-a, mogu se unaprediti obrazovni procesi sa stanovišta pouzdanosti, skalabilnosti i ekonomičnosti sistema. Nedovoljno razvijena naučna podrška primene koncepta Cloud Computing-a u modelovanju IT infrastrukture u visokoškolskom obrazovanju Republike Srbije i strateška važnost ovog koncepta, ukazuje na potrebu postavljanja teorijske podrške njegovog efikasnijeg razvoja i primene. U tom smislu je i predstavljen predmet istraživanja disertacije, koji se bazira na definisanju i razvijanju planova i aktivnosti visokoškolskih ustanova, vezanih za razvoj modela IT infrastrukture za elektronsko obrazovanje pomoću Cloud Computing koncepta. Preispitujući postojeće i tražeći nove načine pružanja usluga studentima i naučno-istraživačkom osoblju, visokoškolske ustanove se suočavaju sa velikim brojem izazova uglavnom oko digitalnog identiteta i upravljanja pristupom. Prvi i možda najveći izazov je kako da se podstakne usvajanje i implementacija sistema za upravljanje digitalnim identitetom. Uspešna IT infrastruktura za upravljanje digitalnim identitetom zahteva celovito razmišljanje o identitetima i međuzavisnostima koje između njih postoje. Drugi izazov je izgradnja podrške za sistem koji će moći da iskoristi sve prednosti saveza sistema za upravljanje digitalnim identitetima. Stvaranjem ovakvih saveza između obrazovnih ustanova obezbeđuje se mobilnost korisnika, sadržaja i usluga. Glavna hipoteza koja je razvijena i dokazana u okviru doktorske disertacije je da se primenom razvijenog modela IT infrastrukture može uticati na efikasnost i ekonomičnost sistema za elektronsko obrazovanje. U eksperimentalnom delu doktorske disertacije realizovano je istraživanje usmereno ka validaciji predloženog modela IT infrastrukture za elektronsko obrazovanje...E-learning is a complex system which includes distance learning, lectures, and classroom materials in various electronic forms; both individual and group learning process, tutor and interactive work. A significant and rapid increase in the number of users, services, educational content and resources required, face educational institutions and their e-learning systems with new challenges of optimization of singling resources out, with the demands of dynamic competitiveness and with the control of expenses of such systems. All this leads to the fact that the demands for development and implementation of IT infrastructure for e-learning systems are becoming more complex. By applying modern information and communication technologies, it is possible to increase efficiency, flexibility and cost-effectiveness of e-learning systems. Through introducing models of IT infrastructure for e-learning based on a contemporary IT concept of Cloud Computing, the reliability, scalability and cost-effectiveness of a system of educational processes could be improved. Insufficient development of scientific support in the application of the Cloud Computing concept in modeling the IT infrastructure of higher education of the Republic of Serbia and the strategic importance of this concept indicates the need to establish theoretic support for its more efficient development and application. With regards to this, the subject of the dissertation research is presented, based on defining and development of plans and activities of higher education institutions, related to the development of IT infrastructure model for e-learning by means of Cloud Computing concept. Through examining the existing and searching for new ways of providing services to students and scientific research staff, higher education institutions are faced with a significant number of challenges, mainly regarding digital identity and access management. The first and probably the greatest challenge is to prompt adoption and implementation of digital identity management systems. Successful IT infrastructure for digital identity management requires systematic thinking about identities and interdependence which exists between them. The second challenge is to provide support for a system which would be able to use all advantages of federation systems for digital identities management. The development of such federations among educational institutions enables mobility of users, content and services. The main hypothesis devised and proven within the doctoral thesis is that the application of a developed IT infrastructure model can influence the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of e-learning systems. The experimental part of the doctoral thesis is consisted of a research, directed towards the validation of the proposed IT infrastructure model for e-learning..

Electronic Literature as Digital Humanities

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Electronic Literature as Digital Humanities: Contexts, Forms & Practices is a volume of essays that provides a detailed account of born-digital literature by artists and scholars who have contributed to its birth and evolution. Rather than offering a prescriptive definition of electronic literature, this book takes an ontological approach through descriptive exploration, treating electronic literature from the perspective of the digital humanities (DH)––that is, as an area of scholarship and practice that exists at the juncture between the literary and the algorithmic. The domain of DH is typically segmented into the two seemingly disparate strands of criticism and building, with scholars either studying the synthesis between cultural expression and screens or the use of technology to make artifacts in themselves. This book regards electronic literature as fundamentally DH in that it synthesizes these two constituents. Electronic Literature as Digital Humanities provides a context for the development of the field, informed by the forms and practices that have emerged throughout the DH moment, and finally, offers resources for others interested in learning more about electronic literature

The Effects of Cloud Mobile Learning and Creative Environment on Student’s Creative Performances

The Purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of cloud mobile learning and creative environment on college student’s creativity performance. A nonequivalent pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used in this research. The objects were two freshman classes selected from a public university and randomly assigned to the experimental group and the control group. A learning activity named Amphibious Mechanical Beast was conducted in this teaching experiment. The experimental was taught using cloud mobile learning, while the control group was taught using the traditional (usual) way. Participant student’s design performances before and after the experiment were evaluated. Creative Environment Scale was used to collect data of student’s perception of creative environment. Additionally, an open ended questionnaire was used to realize student’s learning processes. The one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and the two-way analysis of covariance were performed in this research. After data coding, relative concepts, themes, and theories were integrated and developed. Finally, the findings were proposed according to result of qualitative data analysis. 　　Those main results of this research were: 1.Cloud mobile learning had a positive effect on student’s creative process. Most participant students thought cloud mobile device using convenient and prompt while learning. Cloud mobile learning improved student active participation, and was student-centered rather than teacher-centered. Participant student’s high order thinking abilities could be improved by receiving information and discussing anytime and anywhere. Those high order thinking included problem solving, critical thinking, and creative thinking. Nevertheless, minor participant students’ learning was influenced by past learning habits and insufficient devices. 2. Cloud mobile learning had positive effects on newness, elaborateness, and total aspect of creative products. 3. Perceptions of creative environment had positive effects on preparation stage and reaction stage of creative process. 4. Perceptions of creative environment which were above a certain level had positive effects on creative products. 5. Cloud mobile learning had positive effects on preparation stage of students’ creative process who had lower perceptions of creative environment. 6. Cloud mobile learning had positive effects on value of students’ creative products who had lower perceptions of creative environment. 7. Cloud mobile learning had positive effects on total aspect of students’ creative products who had higher perceptions of creative environment. Finally, recommendations and suggestions were addressed for implementation of cloud mobile learning and future studies based on results of this research

E-Learning Computational Cloud (eLC2): Web Services Platform to Enhance Task Collaboration

A significant proportion of e-Learning services are delivered through Cloud Computing. These use Web services as an interface integrator to support communication across heterogeneous platforms over internet protocols. Similarly, a high level of task collaboration is needed to form an e-Learning community. Therefore, we propose an e-Learning Computational Cloud (eLC2) based on the Model-View-Controller design patterns paradigm. The reusable task objects collaborate in a Model that is wrapped inside the reconfigurable Controller which transforms the request/response parameters of the end user View to that of the Model. The eLC2 offers software development platform for e-Learning Task Management. The main deliverable of eLC2 is a Task as a Service which is decoupled from View as well as user session maintenance. It is directly exposed to external the e-Learning Cloud for scalability. 1

Electronic Literature as Digital Humanities

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Electronic Literature as Digital Humanities: Contexts, Forms & Practices is a volume of essays that provides a detailed account of born-digital literature by artists and scholars who have contributed to its birth and evolution. Rather than offering a prescriptive definition of electronic literature, this book takes an ontological approach through descriptive exploration, treating electronic literature from the perspective of the digital humanities (DH)––that is, as an area of scholarship and practice that exists at the juncture between the literary and the algorithmic. The domain of DH is typically segmented into the two seemingly disparate strands of criticism and building, with scholars either studying the synthesis between cultural expression and screens or the use of technology to make artifacts in themselves. This book regards electronic literature as fundamentally DH in that it synthesizes these two constituents. Electronic Literature as Digital Humanities provides a context for the development of the field, informed by the forms and practices that have emerged throughout the DH moment, and finally, offers resources for others interested in learning more about electronic literature