Measuring the Usability and Capability of App Inventor to Create Mobile Applications

MIT App Inventor is a web service that enables users with little to no previous programming experience to create mobile applications using a visual blocks language. We analyze a sample of 5,228 random projects from the corpus of 9.7 million and group projects by functionality. We then use the number of unique blocks in projects as a metric to better understand the usability and realized capability of using App Inventor to implement specific functionalities. We introduce the notion of a usability score and our results indicate that introductory tutorials heavily influence the usability of App Inventor to implement particular functionalities. Our findings suggest that the sequential nature of App Inventor’s learning resources results in users realizing only a portion of App Inventor’s capabilities and propose improvements to these learning resources that are transferable to other programming environments and tools.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Google Research and Innovation Scholarship

MoLE: A web authoring tool for building mobile learning experiences

This paper presents a web authoring tool that allows teachers to build their own mobile learning experiences, so that their students can carry out a learning activity of the teachers authorship. In this work, a learning activity consists of a set of tasks organized through a workflow, which are given to students in relevant places (within a physical space). The workflow defines the way in which students access each of the tasks proposed in the activity. A preliminary case study and two technological implementations are presented. Although the present is a work in progress, it is based on previous works on the subject and proposes an evolution of them, incorporating technological and usability improvements both in the author's web tool and in the mobile learning application that it generates.XVIII Workshop de Tecnología Informática Aplicada en Educación.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

MoLE: A web authoring tool for building mobile learning experiences

This paper presents a web authoring tool that allows teachers to build their own mobile learning experiences, so that their students can carry out a learning activity of the teachers authorship. In this work, a learning activity consists of a set of tasks organized through a workflow, which are given to students in relevant places (within a physical space). The workflow defines the way in which students access each of the tasks proposed in the activity. A preliminary case study and two technological implementations are presented. Although the present is a work in progress, it is based on previous works on the subject and proposes an evolution of them, incorporating technological and usability improvements both in the author's web tool and in the mobile learning application that it generates.XVIII Workshop de Tecnología Informática Aplicada en Educación.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Computational Thinking and User Interfaces: A Systematic Review

Contribution: This document presents a systematic bibliographic review that demonstrates the need to conduct research on how the user experience impacts the development of computational thinking. Background: In the field of computer science, computational thinking is defined as a method that enhances problem-solving skills, system design, and human behavior understanding. Over the last few decades, several tools have been proposed for the development of computational thinking skills; however, there is no area of study that evaluates the implications or the impact that these types of platforms have on users belonging to any knowledge area. Research Question: Do user interfaces influence the development of computational thinking skills? Methodology: To address this issue, a systematic review of the literature was conducted using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) methodology for analyzing and evaluating scientific publications. Findings: The results show that despite the dearth of literature on the subject, the specific design of a user interface has a significant impact on the development of computational thinking. Bearing the above in mind, it is necessary to conduct research that delves more deeply into the effects caused by the technologies that are used to develop computational thinking, this being a line of research that is worthy of consideration

User Authentication in Smartphones for Telehealth

Many functions previously conducted on desktop computers are now performed on smartphones. Smartphones provide convenience, portability, and connectivity.  When smartphones are used in the conduct of telehealth, sensitive data is invariably accessed, rendering the devices in need of user authentication to ensure data protection. User authentication of smartphones can help mitigate potential Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) breaches and keep sensitive patient information protected, while also facilitating the convenience of smartphones within everyday life and healthcare. This paper presents and examines several types of authentication methods available to smartphone users to help ensure security of sensitive data from attackers. The applications of these authentication methods in telehealth are discussed. Keywords: Authentication, Biometrics, HIPAA, Mobile security, Telehealt

Augmented reality mobile app development for all

Lack of programming skills is a barrier to the engagement of teachers in the development and customisation of their own applications. Visual Environment for Designing Interactive Learning Scenarios (VEDILS), a visual tool for designing, customising and deploying learning technologies, provides teachers with a development environment with a low entry threshold. Current mobile devices are equipped with sensors and have sufficient processing power to use augmented reality technologies. Despite the heavy use of mobile devices in students’ lives, the use of augmented reality mobile applications as learning tools is not widespread among teachers. The current work presents a framework comprising the development tool and a method for designing and deploying learning activities. It focuses on the augmented reality components of the authoring tools, which allow users to create their own mobile augmented reality learning apps. It also present the results of the evaluation of the framework with 47 third-level educators, and two case studies of classroom implementations of mobile augmented reality apps developed by these educators. The results illustrate the suitability of the framework and authoring tool for supporting users without programming skills in developing their own apps

Video Modeling Assistance for Autism (VIMAS)

This project is purposely to develop a mobile application prototype on Video Modeling Assistance for Autism (VIMAS) and to evaluate the usability of the prototype. Until today, there is no specific video modeling tools and application to help them to properly act at various categories of locations in the community. Hence, the mobile application on Android for VIMAS will provide an application for autism children aged between 7 until 18 in order for them to live a normal life like other typical children. VIMAS will provide a great Video Modeling (VM) tool that can show and highlight to the autism children on “what to do?” in certain categories of locations. At the moment, there will be only 4 categories of locations; Dentist, Playground, Hairdresser & School. VIMAS will also be integrated with GPS function so that wherever they go, they will know how to adapt with the current location situation. A normal child aged between 7 until 18 will be used as the role player or model in the video. Each location will contain a video of the normal child modeling an appropriate sequence of actions, so that the autism children can imitate the sequence of actions that have been modeled by the normal child in the video. In order to develop the prototype, ADDIE model has been adopted as the generic process flow for the whole project. In summary, we can say that VIMAS is reliable for autism children and with that, it can be used by the autism children for their future betterment in social and communication skills

How a Diverse Research Ecosystem Has Generated New Rehabilitation Technologies: Review of NIDILRR’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers

Over 50 million United States citizens (1 in 6 people in the US) have a developmental, acquired, or degenerative disability. The average US citizen can expect to live 20% of his or her life with a disability. Rehabilitation technologies play a major role in improving the quality of life for people with a disability, yet widespread and highly challenging needs remain. Within the US, a major effort aimed at the creation and evaluation of rehabilitation technology has been the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs) sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. As envisioned at their conception by a panel of the National Academy of Science in 1970, these centers were intended to take a “total approach to rehabilitation”, combining medicine, engineering, and related science, to improve the quality of life of individuals with a disability. Here, we review the scope, achievements, and ongoing projects of an unbiased sample of 19 currently active or recently terminated RERCs. Specifically, for each center, we briefly explain the needs it targets, summarize key historical advances, identify emerging innovations, and consider future directions. Our assessment from this review is that the RERC program indeed involves a multidisciplinary approach, with 36 professional fields involved, although 70% of research and development staff are in engineering fields, 23% in clinical fields, and only 7% in basic science fields; significantly, 11% of the professional staff have a disability related to their research. We observe that the RERC program has substantially diversified the scope of its work since the 1970’s, addressing more types of disabilities using more technologies, and, in particular, often now focusing on information technologies. RERC work also now often views users as integrated into an interdependent society through technologies that both people with and without disabilities co-use (such as the internet, wireless communication, and architecture). In addition, RERC research has evolved to view users as able at improving outcomes through learning, exercise, and plasticity (rather than being static), which can be optimally timed. We provide examples of rehabilitation technology innovation produced by the RERCs that illustrate this increasingly diversifying scope and evolving perspective. We conclude by discussing growth opportunities and possible future directions of the RERC program