Multimedia Authoring for CoPs

9 pagesInternational audienceOne way of providing technological support for CoPs is to help participants to produce, structure and share information. As this information becomes more and more multimedia in nature, the challenge is to build multimedia authoring and publishing tools that meets CoPs requirements. In this paper we analyze these requirements and propose a multimedia authoring model and a generic platform on which specific CoPs-oriented authoring tools can be realized. The main idea is to provide template-based authoring tools while keeping rich composition capabilities and smooth adaptability. It is based on a component-oriented approach integrating homogeneously logical, time and spatial structures. Templates are defined as constraints on these structures

UNFOLD Deliverable D6.1. Half yearly report 1

Half yearly management report, covering the work carried out during the months of January - June 200

Nonlinear digital storytelling through multiple perspectives.

There lies a big distinction between gaming and films in terms of interactivity, however the gap is being bridged with experimental pieces. The advances have been made on the gaming side with stories being incorporated into games through the usage of video clips. The web, due to its vastness of interactivity, has also begun to use video in experimental ways. My thesis will apply the interactive principles of gaming to digital video to create a unique user experience, where the users choose various perspectives to investigate through the film. The user will have to watch most of the perspectives to understand the story. With research into DVD authoring, I also intend to have the DVD randomly making choices to create a linear format of the movie. This ensures that the user sees the same movie but through different perspectives and paths every time they watch the movie. When someone buys a DVD they tend to watch it several times. If there are a variety of options for viewing provided for them, they will spend more time with the DVD and get a different experience of the story upon every watch. This makes the entertainment value of the product higher thus increasing its marketing potential

Computer Aided Teaching Packages

Having recognized the importance of education and the teaching methodology, which plays a vital role, in the teaching-learning process in the modern electronic age, an attempt has been made in this paper to explore some of the important electronic resources, which aid in the teaching-learning process

An exploration of online information spaces that support instructional design and teacher professional development

Members in online communities of practice (CoPs) take advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to exchange practical or work-related knowledge in asynchronous online environments. Practical knowledge represents individuals' mental models allowing them to interact with the environment and perform tasks. With ICTs, practical knowledge accumulates over time and becomes an integral part of online CoPs. Due to ease of implementation, content management systems (CMSs) and social media platforms, primarily Facebook, have enabled the emergence of large online CoPs. However, research has shown that online CoPs are not conducive information spaces for seeking solutions independently, and hashtags used for topic organization are not representative of the wealth of practical knowledge. This three-article dissertation describes design recommendations for supporting the information needs of community members by analyzing the practical knowledge in instructional design and technology (IDT) that rely on a CMS and the Facebook platform and conducting usability testing to improve an existing teacher professional development CoP. By applying natural language processing (NLP) and usability testing, quantitative and qualitative approaches were implemented to examine the practical knowledge and help guide the design of information spaces that enable members to search for solutions through better topic representations or categories. The results of the first study showed that the e-learning development CoP emphasized producing online articles related to educational technology and the lack of transparency in evaluating such materials. The results of the second study showed that the four IDT CoPs on the Facebook platform were characterized by the lack of effective topic structures representative of the accumulated knowledge and the lack of community protocols for curating knowledge and taking corrective actions toward misinformation. The third study relied on usability testing to design an information space to support educators' ability to align materials with Missouri teacher standards. This three-article dissertation suggests five design features that online CoPs can implement in addressing the shortcomings of asynchronous online environments, including (1) improving topic organization, (2) establishing community protocols, (3) increasing transparency, (4) improving search functions, and (5) leveraging NLP in future web technologies. Lastly, the dissertation discussed the results of the three published studies, offered recommendations for improving online CoPs as conducive information spaces, and provided future directions.Includes bibliographical references