The technological mediation of mathematics and its learning

This paper examines the extent to which mathematical knowledge, and its related pedagogy, is inextricably linked to the tools – physical, virtual, cultural – in which it is expressed. Our goal is to focus on a few exemplars of computational tools, and to describe with some illustrative examples, how mathematical meanings are shaped by their use. We begin with an appraisal of the role of digital technologies, and our rationale for focusing on them. We present four categories of digital tool-use that distinguish their differing potential to shape mathematical cognition. The four categories are: i. dynamic and graphical tools, ii. tools that outsource processing power, iii. new representational infrastructures, and iv. the implications of highbandwidth connectivity on the nature of mathematics activity. In conclusion, we draw out the implications of this analysis for mathematical epistemology and the mathematical meanings students develop. We also underline the central importance of design, both of the tools themselves and the activities in which they are embedded

PRIMA — Privacy research through the perspective of a multidisciplinary mash up

Based on a summary description of privacy protection research within three fields of inquiry, viz. social sciences, legal science, and computer and systems sciences, we discuss multidisciplinary approaches with regard to the difficulties and the risks that they entail as well as their possible advantages. The latter include the identification of relevant perspectives of privacy, increased expressiveness in the formulation of research goals, opportunities for improved research methods, and a boost in the utility of invested research efforts

Elastic Business Process Management: State of the Art and Open Challenges for BPM in the Cloud

With the advent of cloud computing, organizations are nowadays able to react rapidly to changing demands for computational resources. Not only individual applications can be hosted on virtual cloud infrastructures, but also complete business processes. This allows the realization of so-called elastic processes, i.e., processes which are carried out using elastic cloud resources. Despite the manifold benefits of elastic processes, there is still a lack of solutions supporting them. In this paper, we identify the state of the art of elastic Business Process Management with a focus on infrastructural challenges. We conceptualize an architecture for an elastic Business Process Management System and discuss existing work on scheduling, resource allocation, monitoring, decentralized coordination, and state management for elastic processes. Furthermore, we present two representative elastic Business Process Management Systems which are intended to counter these challenges. Based on our findings, we identify open issues and outline possible research directions for the realization of elastic processes and elastic Business Process Management.Comment: Please cite as: S. Schulte, C. Janiesch, S. Venugopal, I. Weber, and P. Hoenisch (2015). Elastic Business Process Management: State of the Art and Open Challenges for BPM in the Cloud. Future Generation Computer Systems, Volume NN, Number N, NN-NN., http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2014.09.00

Rethinking affordance

n/a – Critical survey essay retheorising the concept of 'affordance' in digital media context. Lead article in a special issue on the topic, co-edited by the authors for the journal Media Theory

A 5D Building Information Model (BIM) for Potential Cost-Benefit Housing: A Case of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)

The Saudi construction industry is going through a process of acclimatizing to a shifting fiscal environment. Due to recent fluctuations in oil prices, the Saudi construction sector decided to adjust to current trade-market demands and rigorous constitutional regulations because of competitive pressures. This quantitative study assesses and compares existing flat design vs. mid-terrace housing through cost estimation and design criteria that takes family privacy into consideration and meets the needs of Saudi Arabian families (on average consisting of seven members). Five pilot surveys were undertaken to evaluate the property preference type of Saudi families. However, Existing models did not satisfy the medium range family needs and accordingly a 5D (3D + Time + Cost) Building Information Modelling (BIM) is proposed for cost benefiting houses. Research results revealed that mid-terrace housing was the best option, as it reduced land usage and construction costs. While, 5D BIM led to estimate accurate Bill of Quantities (BOQ) and the appraisal of construction cost

Innovation, diffusion and catching up in the fifth long wave

Does the new technological paradigm based on information and communication technologies (ICTs) create new windows of opportunity or further obstacles for catching up countries? The paper discusses this question by taking neo-Schumpeterian long wave theory as the basic framework of analysis. According to this approach, the current rapid diffusion of the ICT-based paradigm marks the initial phase of a fifth long wave period. The first part of the paper focuses on the major changes that characterize the techno-economic system in the fifth long wave, and points out that the new paradigm is leading to several new opportunities for developing economies. If public policies will actively foster the development process by rapidly investing in the new technologies and in the related infrastructures and skills, these new opportunities will indeed be successfully exploited. The second part of the paper shifts the focus to the socio-institutional system, and argues that institutional changes driven by some major actors in the industrialized world are creating a new international regime where the scope and the resources available for State interventions are significantly reduced. The paper concludes by suggesting the existence of a temporary mismatch between the techno-economic and the socio-institutional system, which makes the catching up process more difficult for large parts of the developing world.Innovation; ICTs; catching up; long waves; global governance

Rethinking De-Perimeterisation: Problem Analysis And Solutions

For businesses, the traditional security approach is the hard-shell model: an organisation secures all its assets using a fixed security border, trusting the inside, and distrusting the outside. However, as technologies and business processes change, this model looses its attractiveness. In a networked world, “inside” and “outside” can no longer be clearly distinguished. The Jericho Forum - an industry consortium part of the Open Group – coined this process deperimeterisation and suggested an approach aimed at securing data rather than complete systems and infrastructures. We do not question the reality of de-perimeterisation; however, we believe that the existing analysis of the exact problem, as well as the usefulness of the proposed solutions have fallen short: first, there is no linear process of blurring boundaries, in which security mechanisms are placed at lower and lower levels, until they only surround data. To the contrary, we experience a cyclic process of connecting and disconnecting of systems. As conditions change, the basic trade-off between accountability and business opportunities is made (and should be made) every time again. Apart from that, data level security has several limitations to start with, and there is a big potential for solving security problems differently: by rearranging the responsibilities between businesses and individuals. The results of this analysis can be useful for security professionals who need to trade off different security mechanisms for their organisations and their information systems

Untangling the Web of E-Research: Towards a Sociology of Online Knowledge

e-Research is a rapidly growing research area, both in terms of publications and in terms of funding. In this article we argue that it is necessary to reconceptualize the ways in which we seek to measure and understand e-Research by developing a sociology of knowledge based on our understanding of how science has been transformed historically and shifted into online forms. Next, we report data which allows the examination of e-Research through a variety of traces in order to begin to understand how the knowledge in the realm of e-Research has been and is being constructed. These data indicate that e-Research has had a variable impact in different fields of research. We argue that only an overall account of the scale and scope of e-Research within and between different fields makes it possible to identify the organizational coherence and diffuseness of e-Research in terms of its socio-technical networks, and thus to identify the contributions of e-Research to various research fronts in the online production of knowledge

Participatory design, beyond the local

This workshop aims at stimulating and opening a debate around the capacity of Participatory Design (PD) and other co-design approaches to deliver outcomes and methodologies that can have an impact and value for reuse well beyond the local context in which they were originally developed. This will be achieved by stimulating the submission of position papers by researchers from the PD community and beyond.These papers will be discussed during the workshop in order to identify challenges, obstacles but also potentials for scaling up PD processes and results from the local to the global.</p