noteEd - A web-based lecture capture system

Electronic capture and playback of lectures has long been the aim of many academic projects. Synote is an application developed under MACFoB (Multimedia Annotation and Community Folksonomy Building) project to synchronise the playback of lecture materials. However, Synote provides no functionality to capture such multimedia. This project involves the creation of a system called noteEd, which will capture a range of multimedia from lectures and make them available to Synote. This report describes the evolution of the noteEd project throughout the design and implementation of the proposed system. The performance of the system was checked in a user acceptance test with the customer, which is discussed after screenshots of our solution. Finally, the project management is presented containing a final project evaluation

Reflections on the use of Project Wonderland as a mixed-reality environment for teaching and learning

This paper reflects on the lessons learnt from MiRTLE?a collaborative research project to create a ?mixed reality teaching and learning environment? that enables teachers and students participating in real-time mixed and online classes to interact with avatar representations of each other. The key hypothesis of the project is that avatar representations of teachers and students can help create a sense of shared presence, engendering a greater sense of community and improving student engagement in online lessons. This paper explores the technology that underpins such environments by presenting work on the use of a massively multi-user game server, based on Sun?s Project Darkstar and Project Wonderland tools, to create a shared teaching environment, illustrating the process by describing the creation of a virtual classroom. It is planned that the MiRTLE platform will be used in several trial applications ? which are described in the paper. These example applications are then used to explore some of the research issues arising from the use of virtual environments within an education environment. The research discussion initially focuses on the plans to assess this within the MiRTLE project. This includes some of the issues of designing virtual environments for teaching and learning, and how supporting pedagogical and social theories can inform this process

Distributed collaboration between industry and university partners in HE

Over the past three years the School of Design has been experimenting with an innovative curriculum design and delivery model named ‘the Global Studio’. The Global Studio is a cross-institutional research informed teaching and learning collaboration conducted between Northumbria University and international universities and industry partners based in the UK, USA, Netherlands and Korea. The aims of the Global Studio are directly linked with current and future industry needs that are related to changes in the organisation of product and service development. These changes highlight the importance of equipping design students with skills for working in globally networked organisations particularly the development of skills in intercultural communication and collaboration. In this paper we will focus on the Global Studio conducted in 2008 which included Northumbria University (UK), Hongik University (Korea), Auburn University (USA), Intel (USA), Motorola design studios located in the UK and Korea and Great Southern Wood (USA). These projects will be used to illustrate challenges and benefits of international collaborative industry-based projects undertaken in distributed settings

Using a Cloud Based Collaboration Technology in a Systems Analysis and Design Course

In order to effectively prepare the next generation of IT professionals and systems analysts, it is important to incorporate cloud based online collaboration tools into the coursework for developing the students' cooperative skills as well as for storing and sharing content. For these pedagogical and practical reasons, Google Drive has been used at a medium-sized institution of higher education in New Zealand during the Systems Analysis and Design course. Ongoing and successful use of any learning technology requires gathering meaningful feedback from students, and acting as a mentor during their learning journey. This study has been developed and implemented to help students enjoy the collaborative technology and to help increase their satisfaction and commitment. In order to overcome the obstacles that may prevent students from using Google Drive optimally, an initial survey has been conducted to better understand the influential factors and issues. Furthermore, this study aims at promoting various types of collaboration and sharing: seeing and learning from other students' work, receiving direct suggestions from others, and allowing others to edit documents that belong to them. Following the results of the first quantitative survey, numerous teaching strategies were formulated and implemented. A final qualitative survey was done at the end of the course for students to evaluate their project work. The results of this study also provide original practical and theoretical implications that may be of interest to other researchers, course designers, and teachers

Managing evolution and change in web-based teaching and learning environments

The state of the art in information technology and educational technologies is evolving constantly. Courses taught are subject to constant change from organisational and subject-specific reasons. Evolution and change affect educators and developers of computer-based teaching and learning environments alike – both often being unprepared to respond effectively. A large number of educational systems are designed and developed without change and evolution in mind. We will present our approach to the design and maintenance of these systems in rapidly evolving environments and illustrate the consequences of evolution and change for these systems and for the educators and developers responsible for their implementation and deployment. We discuss various factors of change, illustrated by a Web-based virtual course, with the objective of raising an awareness of this issue of evolution and change in computer-supported teaching and learning environments. This discussion leads towards the establishment of a development and management framework for teaching and learning systems

Examining the Potential for Tablet Use in a Higher Education Context

Tablet devices are rapidly being adopted by consumers and organizations, but few universities have embraced them so far, since the feasibility of tablet use in higher education is still unclear. As an exploratory study, we examined the potential for tablet use in universities regarding three use cases that cover typical scholastic tasks. The study is based on focus group interviews and a longitudinal test user group study conducted over five months at a North American university. The analysis, grounded in the task-technology fit framework for mobile information systems, shows that tablets are a useful addition to laptops for the consumption of learning materials as well as for collaborative and social activities, but need further improvements to be useful for the production of content. We will conduct a confirmatory follow-up study in the form of a pilot rollout in a German higher education institution to confirm – or rebut – our initial finding

Lessons learned in effective community-university-industry collaboration models for smart and connected communities research

In 2017, the Boston University Hariri Institute for Computing and the Initiative on Cities co-hosted two workshops on “Effective Community-University-Industry Collaboration Models for Smart and Connected Communities Research,” with the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF). These efforts brought together over one hundred principal investigators and research directors from universities across the country, as well as city officials, community partners, NSF program managers and other federal agency representatives, MetroLab Network representatives and industry experts. The focus was on transdisciplinary “smart city” projects that bring technical fields such as engineering and computer science together with social scientists and community stakeholders to tackle community-sourced problems. Presentations, panel discussions, working sessions and participant white papers surfaced operational models as well as barriers and levers to enabling effective research partnerships. To capture the perspectives and beliefs of all participants, in addition to the presenters, attendees were asked to synthesize lessons on each panel topic. This white paper summarizes the opportunities and recommendations that emerged from these sessions, and provides guidance to communities and researchers interested in engaging in these types of partnerships as well as universities and funders that endeavor to nurture them. It draws on the collective wisdom of the assembled participants and the authors. While many of the examples noted are drawn from medium and large cities, the lessons may still be applicable to communities of various sizes.National Science Foundatio