An Experience-Connected e-Learning System with a Personalization Mechanism for Learners’ Situations and Preferences

This paper presents an “experience-connected” e- Learning system that facilitates users to learn practical skills of foreign language by associating knowledge and daily-life experiences. “Experience-Connected” means that the users of this system receive personalized and situation-dependent learning materials automatically. Knowledge associated to users’ daily-life has the following advantages: 1) provides opportunities to learn frequently, and 2) provides clear and practical context information about foreign language usage. The unique feature of this system is a dynamic relevance computation mechanism that retrieves learning materials according to both preference relevance and spatiotemporal relevance. Users of this system obtain appropriate learning materials, without manual and time-consuming search processes. This paper proves the feasibility of the system by showing the actual system implementation that automatically broadcasts the media-data of foreign language learning materials to smart-phones

City2City: Translating Place Representations across Cities

Large mobility datasets collected from various sources have allowed us to observe, analyze, predict and solve a wide range of important urban challenges. In particular, studies have generated place representations (or embeddings) from mobility patterns in a similar manner to word embeddings to better understand the functionality of different places within a city. However, studies have been limited to generating such representations of cities in an individual manner and has lacked an inter-city perspective, which has made it difficult to transfer the insights gained from the place representations across different cities. In this study, we attempt to bridge this research gap by treating \textit{cities} and \textit{languages} analogously. We apply methods developed for unsupervised machine language translation tasks to translate place representations across different cities. Real world mobility data collected from mobile phone users in 2 cities in Japan are used to test our place representation translation methods. Translated place representations are validated using landuse data, and results show that our methods were able to accurately translate place representations from one city to another.Comment: A short 4-page version of this work was accepted in ACM SIGSPATIAL Conference 2019. This is the full version with details. In Proceedings of the 27th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems. AC

Linguistic diversity and inclusion in Abu Dhabi’s linguistic landscape during the COVID-19 period

Abstract In Abu Dhabi, multilingualism amongst its highly diverse population is typical. However, with Arabic as the official language and English as the lingua franca, the population’s other languages are subordinate on public signage. Those proficient in English or Arabic have more access to information than those who are not. While effective communication is important in ordinary times, it is especially vital during a crisis. This study looks at COVID-19 signage in two Abu Dhabi live-work contexts: A beachside community and an industrial site. The study takes an ethnographic approach to linguistic landscaping in which a corpus of 326 top-down and bottom-up signs are investigated in terms of languages used, spacing, prominence and location, as well as intended audience and sociolinguistic implications. Key findings revealed that bottom-up handmade COVID-19 signage was mainly monolingual (English only) and municipality-produced warnings were predominately bilingual (Arabic and English). Despite the multilingual composition of both contexts, only one third language (Korean) appeared on COVID-19 signage. The findings shed light on existing inequalities in linguistically diverse contexts, and the need to ensure access to information for all at a street level. The article concludes with practical suggestions for greater linguistic inclusion in the COVID-19 period and beyond

Chapter 8 Linguistic inclusion and exclusion on Abu Dhabi coronavirus signage

The linguistic ecology of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is characterized by diversity. While effective communication in multilingual contexts is important during ordinary times, it becomes especially vital during a crisis such as the Coronavirus pandemic. This chapter explores linguistic inclusion and exclusion on Abu Dhabi Coronavirus safety signage. An ethnographic approach to linguistic landscaping is taken through the analysis of languages and semiotic resources used on signage in community and leisure spaces. Findings revealed a prevalence of monolingual and bilingual signage which favoured the nation’s official language, Arabic, and the nation’s de facto lingua franca, English. Whereas examples of effective trilingual signage were found, these were the exception rather than the norm. The chapter argues that greater linguistic inclusion of languages other than English and Arabic is needed to reflect Abu Dhabi’s multilingual ecology and ensure safety messages are more accessible. Raising awareness of linguistic diversity in society as well as implementing translation drives are suggested as ways to promote greater inclusion of third languages on signage during the pandemic period and beyond, as well as supporting a greater sense of belonging for linguistic minorities

Detection of barriers to mobility in the smart city using Twitter

We present a system that analyzes data extracted from the microbloging site Twitter to detect the occurrence of events and obstacles that can affect pedestrian mobility, with a special focus on people with impaired mobility. First, the system extracts tweets that match certain prede ned terms. Then, it obtains location information from them by using the location provided by Twitter when available, as well as searching the text of the tweet for locations. Finally, it applies natural language processing techniques to con rm that an actual event that affects mobility is reported and extract its properties (which urban element is affected and how). We also present some empirical results that validate the feasibility of our approach.This work was supported in part by the Analytics Using Sensor Data for FLATCity Project (Ministerio de Ciencia, innovación y Universidades/ERDF, EU) funded by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), under Grant TIN2016-77158-C4-1-R, and in part by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

TriggerCit: Early Flood Alerting using Twitter and Geolocation - A Comparison with Alternative Sources

Rapid impact assessment in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster is essential to provide adequate information to international organisations, local authorities, and first responders. Social media can support emergency response with evidence-based content posted by citizens and organisations during ongoing events. In the paper, we propose TriggerCit: an early flood alerting tool with a multilanguage approach focused on timeliness and geolocation. The paper focuses on assessing the reliability of the approach as a triggering system, comparing it with alternative sources for alerts, and evaluating the quality and amount of complementary information gathered. Geolocated visual evidence extracted from Twitter by TriggerCit was analysed in two case studies on floods in Thailand and Nepal in 2021.Comment: 12 pages Keywords Social Media, Disaster management, Early Alertin

Becoming refugees:Exodus and contemporary mediations of the refugee crisis

During 2015 an unprecedented 1.3 million migrants applied for asylum in Europe. Those entering or seeking entry to Europe in 2015 were largely seeking refuge from wars, conflicts, and political oppression in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea. While some arrived via the Balkan land routes, the vast majority had made treacherous Mediterranean sea-crossings, with an estimated 3771 drowning in 2015. In the summer of 2015 newspapers and news websites were filled with images of drowned children, people desperately paddling towards shore on overloaded dinghies, and the flotsam of crossings discarded on beaches. However, one of the most notable features of the depiction of the refugee crisis has been the mainstreaming of racist political rhetoric, allied with the implementation of racist policies and practices against foreigners. The scale of this campaign of state-racism is unprecedented in Europe since the Nazi propaganda of the Second World War, and has transatlantic echoes in the xenophobic, isolationist language of the US presidential campaign. This article examines the political aesthetics of the current ‘refugee crisis’, and the life-and-death stakes of the struggle over the meaning of foreignness that is taking place, and focuses on emergent forms of political film-making that employ mobile technologies. These include videos made on phones and distributed online or edited into documentary films, all of which are being employed in a struggle over the meaning of refugeeism. The mobile phone has acquired a crucial symbolic significance with regard to the plight of refugees, offering a means of both documenting their experience and distributing these audio-visual records. For instance, the Chinese artist/activist Ai Weiwei, has used smartphones in the project #safepassage in order to record his journeys around refugee camps in Europe and the Middle East. This article examines films made by refugees, which document their journeys to and across Europe; the key case study is Exodus: Our Journey to Europe (2016), a three-part documentary broadcast on the BBC. A participatory project, Exodus assembles footage shot by refugees filming their journeys on mobile phones at huge personal risk. The article ask swhat role film plays in documenting, and intervening in, the refugee crisis, and to what extent documentaries such as Exodus constitute a reconfigured or expanded transnational cinema, a new aesthetic that can offer an alternative perspective that moves beyond the conventional binary categories of foreigners as either powerless, infantilised victims or dangerous invaders

The state of broadband 2015: Broadband as a foundation for sustainable development

Every year, the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Digital Development ‘State of Broadband’ report takes the pulse of the global broadband industry and explores progress in broadband connectivity. This year’s report finds mixed messages about the growth of ICTs and the global state of broadband. Although strong growth rates continue for mobile broadband and Facebook usage, and mobile cellular subscriptions exceeded 7 billion for the first time during 2015, growth in both mobile cellular subscriptions and Internet usage has slowed sharply. The UN Broadband Commission’s 2011 targets have not been achieved by the target date of 2015 and seem unlikely to be achieved before 2020. Likewise, the milestone of four billion Internet users is unlikely to be surpassed before 2020. The growth in Facebook subscribers is now outpacing growth in the Internet. Internet growth By end 2015, some 3.2 billion people will be online, equating to over 43.4% of the total world population, and up from 2.9 billion a year earlier (almost 40.6% of the population). In the developing world, Internet penetration will surpass 35.3% by the end of 2015; penetration will still be under 10% at 9.5% in the UN-designated Least Developed Countries, however. Even though Internet penetration is approaching saturation in the developed world, with 82.2% of the population online, the global target of 60% set by the Broadband Commission in 2011, to be achieved by 2015, is unlikely to be achieved before 2021 at the earliest. Internet user penetration in the developing world is unlikely to achieve the Broadband Commission target of 50% before 2020. By the end of 2015, there will still be 57% of the world’s population – or four billion people – still offline. Household Internet access in developed countries is close to saturation, with more than 81.3% of households connected. The proportion of households in the developing world with Internet access has increased from 31.5% at the end of 2014 to over 34.1% a year later – still well short of the Broadband Commission target of 40% by 2015. Household connectivity figures mask strong disparities – fewer than 7% of households in LDCs have access, while in sub-Saharan Africa only 1 in 9 households is connected. According to Point Topic, Asia has the largest total number of broadband-connected homes, with nearly as many in total as Europe and the Americas combined. The gender gap in Internet users is proving stubbornly persistent, with an estimated 200 million more men online than women as recently as 2013; one major problem is that sex-disaggregated data are not yet widely reported by national governments and statistics agencies. Mobile growth The mobile industry is growing strongly, but unevenly. ITU forecasts that the milestone of seven billion mobile cellular subscriptions will be exceeded by end 2015, equivalent to a global penetration rate of 97 subscriptions per 100 people. ITU also estimates that there will be a total of almost 3.5 billion mobile broadband subscriptions by end 2015. Industry analysts predict 6.5 billion mobile broadband (3G/4G/5G) subscriptions by 2019, making mobile broadband the fastest growing ICT service in history. Asia-Pacific now accounts for half of all mobile broadband subscriptions, up from just under 45% at the end of 2014. In January 2015, China Mobile became the world’s largest mobile operator by number of subscribers. The rapid expansion of Asia-Pacific is squeezing other world regions in terms of their mobile broadband market share – Europe and the Americas saw declining proportional shares of mobile broadband subscriptions from the end of 2014 to the end of 2015, despite absolute increases in subscription numbers. Smartphones now dominate the mobile device market, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Ericsson forecasts that the number of smartphones in service could exceed ‘basic’ phones by 2016. While developed markets become saturated in terms of total mobile penetration, analysts still see plenty of room for growth, with only an estimated one third of all mobile subscriptions currently associated with a smartphone. In hindsight, the year 2014 is likely to prove a tipping point as the year in which growth in ‘3G’ services began to slow, as growth in ‘4G’ services accelerated. Continued in report. &nbsp