On measuring the impact of hyperlinks on reading

We increasingly spend a vast amount of time on the Web and much of that time is spent reading. One of the main differences between reading non-Web based text and reading on the Web is the presence of hyperlinks within the text, linking various related Web content and Web pages together. Some researchers and commentators have claimed that hyperlinks hinder reading because they are a distraction that may have a negative effect on the reader’s ability to process the text. However, very few controlled experiments have been conducted to verify these claims.In the experiments documented here we utilise eye tracking as a new methodology for examining how we read hyperlinked text. An eye tracker was used to observe participant’s behaviour while reading. The results showed that hyperlinked text did not generally have a negative impact upon reading behaviour. However, participants did show a tendency to re-read sentences that contained hyperlinked uncommon (low frequency) words. This suggests that hyperlinks highlight important information to the reader and the hyperlinks add additional content which for more difficult concepts, invites rereading of the preceding text

What would Jaws do? The tyranny of film and the relationship between gaze and higher-level narrative film comprehension

What is the relationship between film viewers’ eye movements and their film comprehension? Typical Hollywood movies induce strong attentional synchrony—most viewers look at the same things at the same time. Thus, we asked whether film viewers’ eye movements would differ based on their understanding—the mental model hypothesis—or whether any such differences would be overwhelmed by viewers’ attentional synchrony—the tyranny of film hypothesis. To investigate this question, we manipulated the presence/absence of prior film context and measured resulting differences in film comprehension and eye movements. Viewers watched a 12-second James Bond movie clip, ending just as a critical predictive inference should be drawn that Bond’s nemesis, “Jaws,” would fall from the sky onto a circus tent. The No-context condition saw only the 12-second clip, but the Context condition also saw the preceding 2.5 minutes of the movie before seeing the critical 12-second portion. Importantly, the Context condition viewers were more likely to draw the critical inference and were more likely to perceive coherence across the entire 6 shot sequence (as shown by event segmentation), indicating greater comprehension. Viewers’ eye movements showed strong attentional synchrony in both conditions as compared to a chance level baseline, but smaller differences between conditions. Specifically, the Context condition viewers showed slightly, but significantly, greater attentional synchrony and lower cognitive load (as shown by fixation probability) during the critical first circus tent shot. Thus, overall, the results were more consistent with the tyranny of film hypothesis than the mental model hypothesis. These results suggest the need for a theory that encompasses processes from the perception to the comprehension of film

Exploring (the poetics of) strange (and fractal) hypertexts

The ACM Hypertext conference has a rich history of challenging the node-link hegemony of the web. At Hypertext 2011 Pisarski [12] suggested that to refocus on nodes in hypertext might unlock a new poetics, and at Hypertext 2001 Bernstein [3] lamented the lack of strange hypertexts: playful tools that experiment with hypertext structure and form. As part of the emerging Strange Hypertexts community project we have been exploring a number of exotic hypertext tools, and in this paper we set out an early experiment with media and creative writing undergraduates to see what effect one particular form – Fractal Narratives, a hypertext where readers drill down into text in a reoccurring pattern – would have on their writing. In this particular trial, we found that most students did not engage in the structure from a storytelling point of view, although they did find value from a planning point of view. Participants conceptually saw the value in non-linear storytelling but few exploited the fractal structure to actually do this. Participant feedback leads us to conclude that while new poetics do emerge from strange hypertexts, this should be viewed as an ongoing process that can be reinforced and encouraged by designing tools that highlight and support those emerging poetics in a series of feedback loops, and by providing writing contexts where they can be highlighted and collaboratively explore

The History of the iPad

The purpose of this paper is to review the history of the iPad and its influence over contemporary computing. Although the iPad is relatively new, the tablet computer is having a long and lasting affect on how we communicate. With this essay, I attempt to review the technologies that emerged and converged to create the tablet computer. Of course, Apple and its iPad are at the center of this new computing movement

Value Shifts: Redefining “Leadership” A Narrative

This article provides a historical narrative documenting the major rifts and shifts in the concept of “value” in the 20th and 21st centuries. It is the author’s contention that these shifts have confused the conceptualization of value, making it a rather broad and meaningless term. Thus, to define “leadership” as “values- or ethically-based,” one must first provide a substantial defense of a particular moral view upon which leadership is want to be situated. This task is made arduous because “value” and “morals” have become confused in the morass of postmodernism and its political correlate, political correctness

The Beacon, January 24, 2005

Vol 17. Issue 33, 8 pageshttps://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/student_newspaper/1055/thumbnail.jp

Is The Television Licence fee fit for Purpose in the Digital Era?

In the context of the UK's ongoing review of the BBC's Royal Charter, this article discusses the future of the television licence fee. As channels proliferate and new ways of watching television take hold, there is increasing pressure on the TV licence system. Drawing on an analysis of the rationale for public service broadcasting, the article considers whether the licence fee can be adapted to reflect this new world or should be replaced by a different funding model. It concludes that while modernising the TV licence fee to close the ‘iPlayer loophole’ would patch up the current system, it would be preferable to replace the licence fee altogether, perhaps with a household levy. Subscription may be a useful top-up for non-essential services where a broad reach is less important. The ban on the carrying of advertising by the BBC should also be reconsidered

Spartan Daily, February 23, 1966

Volume 53, Issue 72https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/4806/thumbnail.jp

Spartan Daily, February 23, 1966

Volume 53, Issue 72https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/4806/thumbnail.jp