Proof in Context -- Web Editing with Rich, Modeless Contextual Feedback

The Agora system is a prototypical Wiki for formal mathematics: a web-based system for collaborating on formal mathematics, intended to support informal documentation of formal developments. This system requires a reusable proof editor component, both for collaborative editing of documents, and for embedding in the resulting documents. This paper describes the design of Agora's asynchronous editor, that is generic enough to support different tools working on editor content and providing contextual information, with interactive theorem proverss being a special, but important, case described in detail for the Coq theorem prover.Comment: In Proceedings UITP 2012, arXiv:1307.152

GeoNotes: A Location-based Information System for Public Spaces

The basic idea behind location-based information systems is to connect information pieces to positions in outdoor or indoor space. Through position technologies such as Global Positioning System (GPS), GSM positioning, Wireless LAN positioning o

The internet milieu: individualization within a globalised community

Communication technologies have become deeply embedded in our lives, mediating the ways in which information is presented. Due to the global nature of this channel of communication, the world has shrunk and members of the internet may share similar cultural norms of thinking and behaving. Yet, paradoxically, the Internet is personal in that each individual has an interactive opportunity in choosing the options that can expand the breadth and depth of the information they are reading, who they interact with, and the means to achieve that interaction. These options can be expressed through a variety of media techniques. This paper is based on a study of selected websites hosted in English. It looks at language use in the Internet and illustrates the paradoxes between global and individual mediations of meanin

Transformative pedagogy and language learning in Maori and Irish contexts

Establishing positive learning communities in classrooms where pedagogies are socially and culturally responsive and centred on shared life experiences is critical for the revitalisation of minoritised languages such as Irish and Māori, which lack the dominance and power of the wider languages of government and communication. Transformative pedagogy and pedagogical re-positioning of teachers are essential to legitimising and affirming minoritised languages in the classroom. Three small-scale New Zealand studies of emerging literacy in Māori are introduced, exemplifying a responsive and transformative pedagogy that enables teachers to position themselves as socially and culturally responsive participants within classroom contexts. These studies offer strategies that might facilitate the development of similar transformative pedagogy in Irish contexts also

The use of network-based communication to support EFL writing at Walailak University

The aim of the study was to investigate the potential of using network-based communication (NBC) in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing classroom. It has been hypothesised that EFL writers benefit from the interactions through NBC with two peer groups (readers and students) in two aspects: 1) NBC permits explicit feedback that influences revisions, and 2) exposure to the target language in NBC leads to incorporation of language.The study integrated an online course (BlackBoard Courselnfo) into a writing classroom of thirty-two EFL students at Walailak University (WU), Thailand. The students wrote and submitted their drafts electronically to the asynchronous discussion forum where peers read the drafts, interacted with the writers and provided feedback. Taxonomies as defined by Faigley and Witte and Bridwell were used to identify revisions made in the sequential drafts. The feedback was analysed based on fifteen moves and two characteristics: text-specific (TS) and request for revision (RQ). The drafts and the feedback were cross-checked to determine the feedback effects as evidenced in revisions.The results show that students benefited from interaction with the audience when they made use of the provided feedback. The students made many changes mainly at the format and sentence levels. However, only a minority of revisions came from the online peer response while the majority originated from other sources such as selfinitiation. Feedback by the two peer groups differed in content, length and quantity. Students incorporated comments into all linguistic levels of their writing, and these were mainly surface corrections, TS and RQ feedback. Evidence from the online course indicated scarce and inconsistent participation implying low motivationThese findings have led to the conclusion that NBC has the potential to support EFL writing, but the students in this particular study were not highly motivated to become involved in the activities. The study also revealed that exposure to the target language for a short time (one academic term) did not result in language incorporation apart from the incorporation of the explicit feedback. Despite its limitations, this study provides some insights into further development in the field of EFL writing and NBC