Interplay of Desktop and Mobile Apps with Web Services in an Introductory Programming Course

This paper describes a case study of a second-semester introductory programming course for information systems (IS) students that combined desktop and mobile application development and consumption of existing web services. Our aim was to provide students with a holistic view of how different types of applications can be developed and combined to solve real-world problems, as the students learned the basics of programming. Students progressively built a desktop Java application with a graphical user interface for a local public transit system. It combined the use of basic algorithms, existing web services for geo-coding and mapping to illustrate a recommended route on the system. Students then ported this application to the Android platform re-using most of the code they had already developed. Along with fulfilling the traditional objectives of an introductory course, this course also demonstrated the possible interplay of stand-alone components and web services in desktop and mobile applications and kept the students motivated and engaged throughout the semester

Mobile App Development to Increase Student Engagement and Problem Solving Skills

This paper describes a project designed to promote problem solving and critical thinking skills in a general education, computing course at an open access institution. A visual programming tool, GameSalad, was used to enable students to create educational apps for mobile platforms. The students worked on a game development project for the entire semester, incorporating various skills learned throughout the semester. Pre and post quiz analysis showed a significant improvement in students’ ability to design comprehensive solutions to a given problem. Survey results also showed increased student engagement, high interest in computing and a “better” understanding of information technology

Hour of Code”: Can It Change Students’ Attitudes Toward Programming?

The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science organized by Code.org, a non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science. This study investigated the impact of the Hour of Code on students’ attitudes towards computer programming and their knowledge of programming. A sample of undergraduate students from two universities was selected to participate. Participants completed an Hour of Code tutorial as part of an undergraduate course. An electronic questionnaire was implemented in a pre-survey and post-survey format to gauge the change in student attitudes toward programming and their programming ability. The findings indicated the positive impact of the Hour of Code tutorial on students’ attitude toward programming. However, the students’ programming skills did not significantly change. The authors suggest that a deeper alignment of marketing, teaching, and content would help sustain the type of initiative exemplified by the Hour of Code

Ensinando a Computação por meio de Programação com App Inventor

A partir da proximidade de alunos do Ensino Fundamental com smartphones, uma forma cativante de ensinar computação pode ser pela programação de aplicativos móveis. Assim, o objetivo do presente artigo é apresentar o design instrucional de uma oficina para ensinar a programação de aplicativos com a ferramenta App Inventor alinhada ao currículo de referência ACM/CSTA K-12. A unidade instrucional foi aplicada em duas turmas de uma escola pública em Florianópolis/SC e apresentou resultados significativos em termos da aprendizagem, facilidade e experiência de aprendizagem, promovendo um grande efeito instigador e despertando o interesse de alunos a aprender a programação

Towards early hemolysis detection: a smartphone based approach

Os especialistas em diagnóstico in vitro (IVDs) têm confiado maioritariamente na inspeção visual (ótica) manual e, em segundo lugar, em sensores óticos ou câmaras embutidas ou dispositivos médicos incorporados que suportam o exame da qualidade da amostra na fase pré-analítica. Com o aumento dos volumes de amostras para serem processadas e dos respetivos dados complexos gerados por esse processamento, aquelas técnicas tornaram-se cada vez mais difíceis de utilizar, ou os respetivos resultados não ficam imediatamente disponíveis. Para superar as complexidades impostas por tais técnicas tradicionais, o aumento do uso de dispositivos móveis e algoritmos de processamento de imagem no setor de saúde abriu caminho para a constituição de novos casos de uso baseados em análises móveis de amostras, pois fornecem uma interação simples e intuitiva com objetos gráficos familiares que são mostrados no ecrã dos smartphones. As interfaces gráficas e as técnicas de interação suportadas por dispositivos móveis podem pois proporcionar ao especialista em IVD uma série de vantagens e valor agregado devido à maior familiaridade com estes dispositivos e à grande acessibilidade que evidenciam atualmente, tendo o potencial de facilitar as análises de amostras. No entanto, o uso sistemático de dispositivos móveis no setor da saúde encontra-se ainda numa fase muito incipiente, em particular na área de IVD. Nesta tese, propõe-se conceber e discutir a arquitetura, a conceção e a implementação de um protótipo de uma aplicação móvel para smartphone (designada por "HemoDetect") que implementa um conjunto sugerido de algoritmos, interfaces e técnicas de interação que foram desenvolvidos com o objetivo de contribuir para a compreensão de técnicas mais eficientes para ajudar a detetar a hemólise, um processo que designa a rotura de glóbulos vermelhos (eritrócitos) e libertação do respetivo conteúdo (citoplasma) para o fluído circundante (por exemplo, plasma sanguíneo), complementando-as com estatísticas e medições de laboratório, mostrando a utilização de um protótipo durante experiências, permitindo assim chegar-se a um conceito viável que permita apoiar eficazmente a deteção precoce de hemólise.In Vitro Diagnostics (IVDs) specialists have been firstly relying on manual visual (optical) inspection and, secondly, on optical sensors or cameras embedded or built-in medical devices which support the examination of sample quality in pre-analytical phase. With increasing sample processing volumes and their generated complex data, these techniques have become increasingly difficult or results are not readily available. In order to overcome the complexities posed by these traditional techniques, the increased usage of mobile devices and algorithms in the healthcare industry paves the way into shaping new use cases and discovery of mobile analysis of samples, as they provide a user-friendly and familiar interaction with objects displayed on their screens. The interfaces and interaction techniques rendered by mobile devices, bring, to the IVD specialist, a number of advantages and added value due to increased familiarity with the devices or their accessibility, which is made easier. However, they are at the beginning of their journey in the healthcare industry, in particular in the IVD and point-of-care areas. In this thesis, the proposal is to discover and discuss the architecture, design and implementation of a smartphone prototype app (called “HemoDetect”) with its algorithms, interfaces and interaction techniques which was developed to help detect hemolysis which represents the rupture of red blood cells (erythrocytes) and release of their contents (cytoplasm) into surrounding fluid (e.g. blood plasma), and complementing it with from-the-lab statistics and measurements showing its utilization during experiments, which ultimately may be a feasible concept that could support early hemolysis detection.Les spécialistes du diagnostic in vitro (DIV) se sont d'abord appuyés sur l'inspection visuelle (optique) manuelle et, ensuite, sur des capteurs optiques ou des caméras intégrées ou intégrées à des dispositifs médicaux qui facilitent l'examen de la qualité des échantillons en phase pré-analytique. Avec l'augmentation des volumes de traitement des échantillons et des données complexes générées, ces techniques sont devenues de plus en plus difficiles ou les résultats ne sont pas facilement disponibles. Afin de surmonter les complexités posées par ces techniques traditionnelles, l'utilisation croissante des appareils mobiles et des algorithmes dans le secteur de la santé ouvre la voie à la définition de nouveaux cas d'utilisation et à la découverte d'analyses d'échantillons mobiles, car ils fournissent une interaction conviviale et familière. avec des objets affichés sur leurs écrans. Les interfaces et les techniques d'interaction rendues par les appareils mobiles apportent au spécialiste des dispositifs de DIV un certain nombre d'avantages et de valeur ajoutée en raison d'une familiarisation accrue avec les appareils ou de leur accessibilité, ce qui est facilité. Cependant, ils sont au début de leur parcours dans le secteur de la santé, en particulier dans le domains des DIV et point-of-care. Dans cette thèse, la proposition est de découvrir et de discuter de l’architecture, de la conception et de la mise en oeuvre d’une application pour smartphone (appelée «HemoDetect») avec ses algorithmes, interfaces et techniques d’interaction, qui a été développée pour aider à détecter l’hémolyse qui représente une rupture des globules rouges (érythrocytes) et la libération de leur contenu (cytoplasme) dans le liquide environnant (par exemple, le plasma sanguin), en le complétant par des statistiques de laboratoire et des mesures montrant son utilisation au cours des expériences, ce qui pourrait finalement être un concept réalisable qui pourrait permettre une détection précoce de l'hémolyse

Inverted GUI Development for IoT with Applications in E-Health

In the context of Internet of Things (IoT), the research of this dissertation is concerned with the development of applications for end-user devices, i.e. devices through which the end-user directly interacts with systems. The complexity of such applications is partly due to network intricacies, and partly because GUI (Graphical User Interface) development is generally complicated and time consuming. We employ a middleware framework called PalCom to manage the former, and focus our research on the problems of the latter, by expanding the scope of PalCom to also enable GUI development. In particular, the research goal is a more efficient GUI development approach that does not require program code to be written.To enable end-users with little or no programming experience to participate in the GUI development process, we eliminate the need for programming by introducing a new development approach. We view this approach as “inverted” in that the development focus is on presenting functionality from an application model as graphical components in a GUI, rather than on retroactively attaching functionality to manually added graphical components. The inverted GUI development approach is supported in two steps. First, we design a language for describing GUIs, and implement interpreters that communicate with remotely hosted application models and render GUI descriptions as fully functional GUIs. Second, we implement a graphical editor for developing GUIs in order to make the language more accessible.The presented solution is evaluated by its application in a number of research projects in the domain of e-health. From the GUIs developed in those projects, we conclude that the GUI language is practically viable for building full-blown, professional grade GUIs. Furthermore, the presented graphical editor is evaluated by direct comparison to a market leading product in a controlled experiment. From this, we conclude that the editor is accessible to new users, and that it can be more efficient to use than the commercial alternative

Improving girls’ perception of computer science as a viable career option through game playing and design: Lessons from a systematic literature review

The objective of exposing girls to Computer Science as a career option has led to research directed towards gaming activities for girls. These activities include both game play and game design. Research about gaming activities for increasing girls’ interest in computer science has gained much attention over the past few years and has resulted in a number of contributions. We follow up with an overview of the status of research through a Systematic Literature Review. We investigate the relation between the various game playing or designing activities and their impact on girls’ perception of Computer Science as a career choice. We further present the design consideration for the games and related activities to potentially improve the perception of girls towards a Computer Science career. The applied method is a Systematic Literature Review through which we investigate which contributions were made, which knowledge areas were most explored, and which research facets have been used. We identify 25 papers to distill a common understanding of the state-of-the-art. Specifically, we investigate the effects that the game play/design activities had on girls’ perception about Computer Science; and what are the key design factors to be kept in mind while designing a serious game to improve girls’ perception about Computer Science. The results of this systematic literature review show that game playing or designing could indeed improve how girls perceive having a career in CS. The key aspects that such activities require are personalizing, opportunity for collaboration and the presence of a female lead characterThis work has been done during the tenure of an ERCIM Alain Bensoussan fellowshi

A comparative analysis of mobile application development frameworks: A case study of mobile application development for water usage management in Alice and Fort Beaufort communities

Mobile phones have become an integral part of standard of living. Users and customers expect sensible and very useful applications in less time. In this competitive market, it is an enormous challenge to develop high performance mobile applications that might meet the expectations of end users. Despite the fact that development of new applications for each mobile operating system in short time is fairly an issue, mobile operating systems vendors are giving their best available resources for creating applications in additional convenient ways. These days, there is a common tendency to look for less complex and quicker solutions that could be used in the process of software development. Developers of a new mobile application have to undertake variety of selections and decisions, including the target platform as well as the development technology to utilize. Mobile application development frameworks contribute in solving this problem. Several frameworks have emerged, which we classify and evaluate their appropriateness. In order to compare existing development frameworks solutions in this research, we compiled a set of criteria to assess mobile application development approaches. In view on these criteria, we evaluated five frameworks that is, PhoneGap, Xamarin, App Inventor, Sencha Touch and DragonRad. For proof of concepts, the chosen framework from the five evaluated mobile development frameworks was used to develop application for water usage management. The research will equip mobile application developers to gain more insight into mobile development frameworks available, therefore helping them to choose the most appropriate framework for their project