6,221 research outputs found

    Mobile Usability in Educational Contexts: What have we learnt?

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    The successful development of mobile learning is dependent on human factors in the use of new mobile and wireless technologies. The majority of mobile learning activity continues to take place on devices that were not designed with educational applications in mind, and usability issues are often reported. The paper reflects on progress in approaches to usability and on recent developments, with particular reference to usability findings reported in studies of mobile learning. The requirements of education are considered as well as the needs of students participating in distance education; discipline-specific perspectives and accessibility issues are also addressed. Usability findings from empirical studies of mobile learning published in the literature are drawn together in the paper, along with an account of issues that emerged in two mobile learning projects based at The Open University, UK, in 2001 and 2005. The main conclusions are: that usability issues are often reported in cases where PDAs have been used; that the future is in scenario-based design which should also take into account the evolution of uses over time and the unpredictability of how devices might be used; and that usability issues should be tracked over a longer period, from initial use through to a state of relative experience with the technology

    Evaluating the development of wearable devices, personal data assistants and the use of other mobile devices in further and higher education institutions

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    This report presents technical evaluation and case studies of the use of wearable and mobile computing mobile devices in further and higher education. The first section provides technical evaluation of the current state of the art in wearable and mobile technologies and reviews several innovative wearable products that have been developed in recent years. The second section examines three scenarios for further and higher education where wearable and mobile devices are currently being used. The three scenarios include: (i) the delivery of lectures over mobile devices, (ii) the augmentation of the physical campus with a virtual and mobile component, and (iii) the use of PDAs and mobile devices in field studies. The first scenario explores the use of web lectures including an evaluation of IBM's Web Lecture Services and 3Com's learning assistant. The second scenario explores models for a campus without walls evaluating the Handsprings to Learning projects at East Carolina University and ActiveCampus at the University of California San Diego . The third scenario explores the use of wearable and mobile devices for field trips examining San Francisco Exploratorium's tool for capturing museum visits and the Cybertracker field computer. The third section of the report explores the uses and purposes for wearable and mobile devices in tertiary education, identifying key trends and issues to be considered when piloting the use of these devices in educational contexts

    Ubiquitous computing and knowledge management

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    MOBIlearn is a large European research project to develop a mobile learning system to facilitate formal, non formal and informal learning. The project has two primary objectives: • Develop a methodology for creating mobile learning scenarios and producing learning objects to implement them. • Develop the technology to deliver the learning objects to users via mobile computing devices. This paper will concentrate the MOBIlearn health care domain. One of this applications main objectives is managing and sharing of tacit knowledge. Using the system participants discuss case studies and alternative approaches to specific problems are evaluated and documented. This is then used and extended in future case studies. In a mobile learning environment, individual health workers can use the system to either advanced their skills, or in a ‘live’ incident, use it for reference and indeed call for backup.</p

    mLearning, development and delivery : creating opportunity and enterprise within the HE in FE context

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    This research project was funded by ESCalate in 2006-7 to support Somerset College in developing the curriculum, as well as widening participation via the use of mobile communications technologies such as mp3 players and mobile phones. The Project represents a highly topical and timely engagement with the opportunities for learning provided by the burgeoning use of mobile computing/ communications devices. Activities bring together colleagues from Teacher Education and Multimedia Computing in an innovative approach to designing for and delivering the curriculum. The Project addresses pedagogic issues and also vitally involves current and future learners, providing them with a new context for skills development and entrepreneurship. Anticipated outcomes include informed development of new HE modules and professional CPD activities which address the skills and context of this emerging approach to delivering the curriculum. The Project also intends to trial and evaluate the use of mobile technologies to support a blended learning approach to programme delivery and the development of a FD module which could be delivered via a mobile computing device. An interim report and a final project report are available as Word and PDF file

    Fast parallel volume visualization on cuda technology

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    In the medical diagnosis and treatment planning, radiologists and surgeons rely heavily on the slices produced by medical imaging scanners. Unfortunately, most of these scanners can only produce two dimensional images because the machines that can produce three dimensional are very expensive. The two dimensional images from these devices are difficult to interpret because they only show cross-sectional views of the human structure. Consequently, such circumstances require highly qualified doctors to use their expertise in the interpretation of the possible location, size or shape of the abnormalities especially for large datasets of enormous amount of slices. Previously, the concept of reconstructing two dimensional images to three dimensional was introduced. However, such reconstruction model requires high performance computation, may either be time-consuming or costly. Furthermore, detecting the internal features of human anatomical structure, such as the imaging of the blood vessels, is still an open topic in the computer-aided diagnosis of disorders and pathologies. This study proposed, designed and implemented a visualization framework named SurLens with high performance computing using Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA), augmenting the widely proven ray casting technique in terms of superior qualities of images but with slow speed. Considering the rapid development of technology in the medical community, our framework is implemented on Microsoft .NET environment for easy interoperability with other emerging revolutionary tools. The Visualization System was evaluated with brain datasets from the department of Surgery, University of North Carolina, United States, containing 109 datasets of MRA, T1-FLASH, T2-Weighted, DTI and T1-MPRAGE. Significantly, at a reasonably cheaper cost, SurLens Visualization System achieves immediate reconstruction and obvious mappings of the internal features of the human brain, reliable enough for instantaneously locate possible blockages in the brain blood vessels without any prior segmentation of the datasets

    The LAB@FUTURE Project - Moving Towards the Future of E-Learning

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    This paper presents Lab@Future, an advanced e-learning platform that uses novel Information and Communication Technologies to support and expand laboratory teaching practices. For this purpose, Lab@Future uses real and computer-generated objects that are interfaced using mechatronic systems, augmented reality, mobile technologies and 3D multi user environments. The main aim is to develop and demonstrate technological support for practical experiments in the following focused subjects namely: Fluid Dynamics - Science subject in Germany, Geometry - Mathematics subject in Austria, History and Environmental Awareness – Arts and Humanities subjects in Greece and Slovenia. In order to pedagogically enhance the design and functional aspects of this e-learning technology, we are investigating the dialogical operationalisation of learning theories so as to leverage our understanding of teaching and learning practices in the targeted context of deployment

    mSpace Mobile: Exploring Support for Mobile Tasks

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    In the following paper we compare two Web application interfaces, mSpace Mobile and Google Local in supporting location discovery tasks on mobile devices while stationary and while on the move. While mSpace Mobile performed well in both stationary and mobile conditions, performance in Google Local dropped significantly. We postulate that mSpace Mobile performed so well because it breaks the paradigm of the page for delivering Web content, thereby enabling new and more powerful interfaces to be used to support mobility

    Informal learning evidence in online communities of mobile device enthusiasts

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    This chapter describes a study that investigated the informal learning practices of enthusiastic mobile device owners. Informal learning is far more widespread than is often realized. Livingston (2000) pointed out that Canadian adults spend an average of fifteen hours per week on informal learning activities, more than they spend on formal learning activities. The motivation for these learning efforts generally comes from the individual, not from some outside force such as a school, university, or workplace. Therefore, in the absence of an externally imposed learning framework, informal learners will use whatever techniques,resources, and tools best suit their learning needs and personal preferences. As ownership of mobile technologies becomes increasingly widespread in the western world, it is likely that learners who have access to this technology will use it to support their informal learning efforts. This chapter presents the findings of a study into the various and innovative ways in which PDA and Smartphone users exploit mobile device functionality in their informal learning activities. The findings suggested that mobile device users deploy the mobile, connective, and collaborative capabilities of their devices in a variety of informal learning contexts, and in quite innovative ways. Trends emerged, such as the increasing importance of podcasting and audio and the use of built-in GPS, which may have implications for future studies. Informal learners identified learning activities that could be enhanced by the involvement of mobile technology, and developed methods and techniques that helped them achieve their learning goals
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