APL: Un Lenguaje de Programación basado en Audio para Aprendices Ciegos

Expanded the number of users who can program or learn how to program. They are focused on sighted users. This study introduces APL, an Audio Programming Language for blind learners. APL is a programming language with audio-based interfaces to assist blind learners to develop problem solving and algorithmic thinking skills. APL is also a way to help blind learners to construct meaning by making programs. APL is a programming language by and for blind learners. We tested APL with novice blind programmers during and after development. They tried, analyzed and make improvements to APL. They usability tested APL by solving problems with increasingly complexity and answering usability questionnaires. Blind users understood APL, made programs, mapped the programming process and enjoyed the experience showing that a programming language based on audio can be constructed to fit the needs and mental models of blind learners to help them to enter to the programming world.El desarrollo de habilidades de programación es un tema relevante en las ciencias de la computación. Los lenguajes de programación han sido usados progresivamente para satisfacer las necesidades y ensamblar con los modelos mentales de los usuarios finales. En el último tiempo se ha expandido el número de usuarios que pueden programar o aprender a programar. La mayoría de estos lenguajes se centran en usuarios videntes. Este estudio introduce APL, lenguaje de programación a través de audio para aprendices ciegos. APL es un lenguaje de programación basado en interfaces de audio para asistir a aprendices ciegos en el desarrollo de habilidades de resolución de problemas y pensamiento algorítmico. APL es también una forma de ayudar a aprendices ciegos a construir significado escribiendo programas computacionales. APL es un lenguaje de programación diseñado por y para aprendices ciegos. APL fue evaluado con aprendices de programación novatos durante y después de su implementación. Ellos conocieron el lenguaje, lo analizaron y realizaron sugerencias para su mejoramiento. La usabilidad de APL fue evaluada por los aprendices a través de la resolución de problemas de complejidad creciente y la aplicación de cuestionarios de usabilidad. Como resultado, los aprendices ciegos escribieron programas, entendieron el proceso de programación y disfrutaron la experiencia. Nuestros resultados preliminares evidencian que es posible construir un lenguaje de programación basado en audio que ensamble con las necesidades y los modelos mentales de aprendices ciegos para ayudarlos a ingresar al mundo de la programación y desarrollar habilidades de resolución de problemas

An approach to distributed sensing in a virtual fishtank

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1997.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-45).by Mark L. Neri.M.Eng

Composing graphical user interfaces in a purely functional language

This thesis is about building interactive graphical user interfaces in a compositional manner. Graphical user interface application hold out the promise of providing users with an interactive, graphical medium by which they can carry out tasks more effectively and conveniently. The application aids the user to solve some task. Conceptually, the user is in charge of the graphical medium, controlling the order and the rate at which individual actions are performed. This user-centred nature of graphical user interfaces has considerable ramifications for how software is structured. Since the application now services the user rather than the other way around, it has to be capable of responding to the user's actions when and in whatever order they might occur. This transfer of overall control towards the user places heavy burden on programming systems, a burden that many systems don't support too well. Why? Because the application now has to be structured so that it is responsive to whatever action the user may perform at any time. The main contribution of this thesis is to present a compositional approach to constructing graphical user interface applications in a purely functional programming language The thesis is concerned with the software techniques used to program graphical user interface applications, and not directly with their design. A starting point for the work presented here was to examine whether an approach based on functional programming could improve how graphical user interfaces are built. Functional programming languages, and Haskell in particular, contain a number of distinctive features such as higher-order functions, polymorphic type systems, lazy evaluation, and systematic overloading, that together pack quite a punch, at least according to proponents of these languages. A secondary contribution of this thesis is to present a compositional user interface framework called Haggis, which makes good use of current functional programming techniques. The thesis evaluates the properties of this framework by comparing it to existing systems

An Agent-Based Variogram Modeller: Investigating Intelligent, Distributed-Component Geographical Information Systems

Geo-Information Science (GIScience) is the field of study that addresses substantive questions concerning the handling, analysis and visualisation of spatial data. Geo- Information Systems (GIS), including software, data acquisition and organisational arrangements, are the key technologies underpinning GIScience. A GIS is normally tailored to the service it is supposed to perform. However, there is often the need to do a function that might not be supported by the GIS tool being used. The normal solution in these circumstances is to go out and look for another tool that can do the service, and often an expert to use that tool. This is expensive, time consuming and certainly stressful to the geographical data analyses. On the other hand, GIS is often used in conjunction with other technologies to form a geocomputational environment. One of the complex tools in geocomputation is geostatistics. One of its functions is to provide the means to determine the extent of spatial dependencies within geographical data and processes. Spatial datasets are often large and complex. Currently Agent system are being integrated into GIS to offer flexibility and allow better data analysis. The theis will look into the current application of Agents in within the GIS community, determine if they are used to representing data, process or act a service. The thesis looks into proving the applicability of an agent-oriented paradigm as a service based GIS, having the possibility of providing greater interoperability and reducing resource requirements (human and tools). In particular, analysis was undertaken to determine the need to introduce enhanced features to agents, in order to maximise their effectiveness in GIS. This was achieved by addressing the software agent complexity in design and implementation for the GIS environment and by suggesting possible solutions to encountered problems. The software agent characteristics and features (which include the dynamic binding of plans to software agents in order to tackle the levels of complexity and range of contexts) were examined, as well as discussing current GIScience and the applications of agent technology to GIS, agents as entities, objects and processes. These concepts and their functionalities to GIS are then analysed and discussed. The extent of agent functionality, analysis of the gaps and the use these technologies to express a distributed service providing an agent-based GIS framework is then presented. Thus, a general agent-based framework for GIS and a novel agent-based architecture for a specific part of GIS, the variogram, to examine the applicability of the agent- oriented paradigm to GIS, was devised. An examination of the current mechanisms for constructing variograms, underlying processes and functions was undertaken, then these processes were embedded into a novel agent architecture for GIS. Once the successful software agent implementation had been achieved, the corresponding tool was tested and validated - internally for code errors and externally to determine its functional requirements and whether it enhances the GIS process of dealing with data. Thereafter, its compared with other known service based GIS agents and its advantages and disadvantages analysed