Quantifying the Evolutionary Self Structuring of Embodied Cognitive Networks

We outline a possible theoretical framework for the quantitative modeling of networked embodied cognitive systems. We notice that: 1) information self structuring through sensory-motor coordination does not deterministically occur in Rn vector space, a generic multivariable space, but in SE(3), the group structure of the possible motions of a body in space; 2) it happens in a stochastic open ended environment. These observations may simplify, at the price of a certain abstraction, the modeling and the design of self organization processes based on the maximization of some informational measures, such as mutual information. Furthermore, by providing closed form or computationally lighter algorithms, it may significantly reduce the computational burden of their implementation. We propose a modeling framework which aims to give new tools for the design of networks of new artificial self organizing, embodied and intelligent agents and the reverse engineering of natural ones. At this point, it represents much a theoretical conjecture and it has still to be experimentally verified whether this model will be useful in practice.

Peripatetic electronic teachers in higher education

This paper explores the idea of information and communications technology providing a medium enabling higher education teachers to act as freelance agents. The notion of a ‘Peripatetic Electronic Teacher’ (PET) is introduced to encapsulate this idea. PETs would exist as multiple telepresences (pedagogical, professional, managerial and commercial) in PET‐worlds; global networked environments which support advanced multimedia features. The central defining rationale of a pedagogical presence is described in detail and some implications for the adoption of the PET‐world paradigm are discussed. The ideas described in this paper were developed by the author during a recently completed Short‐Term British Telecom Research Fellowship, based at the BT Adastral Park

Developing the scales on evaluation beliefs of student teachers

The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to investigate the validity and the reliability of a newly developed questionnaire named ‘Teacher Evaluation Beliefs’ (TEB). The framework for developing items was provided by the two models. The first model focuses on Student-Centered and Teacher-Centered beliefs about evaluation while the other centers on five dimensions (what/ who/ when/ why/ how). The validity and reliability of the new instrument was investigated using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis study (n=446). Overall results indicate that the two-factor structure is more reasonable than the five-factor one. Further research needs additional items about the latent dimensions “what” ”who” ”when” ”why” “how” for each existing factor based on Student-centered and Teacher-centered approaches

Adaptive Synchronization of Robotic Sensor Networks

The main focus of recent time synchronization research is developing power-efficient synchronization methods that meet pre-defined accuracy requirements. However, an aspect that has been often overlooked is the high dynamics of the network topology due to the mobility of the nodes. Employing existing flooding-based and peer-to-peer synchronization methods, are networked robots still be able to adapt themselves and self-adjust their logical clocks under mobile network dynamics? In this paper, we present the application and the evaluation of the existing synchronization methods on robotic sensor networks. We show through simulations that Adaptive Value Tracking synchronization is robust and efficient under mobility. Hence, deducing the time synchronization problem in robotic sensor networks into a dynamic value searching problem is preferable to existing synchronization methods in the literature.Comment: First International Workshop on Robotic Sensor Networks part of Cyber-Physical Systems Week, Berlin, Germany, 14 April 201

OpenML: networked science in machine learning

Many sciences have made significant breakthroughs by adopting online tools that help organize, structure and mine information that is too detailed to be printed in journals. In this paper, we introduce OpenML, a place for machine learning researchers to share and organize data in fine detail, so that they can work more effectively, be more visible, and collaborate with others to tackle harder problems. We discuss how OpenML relates to other examples of networked science and what benefits it brings for machine learning research, individual scientists, as well as students and practitioners.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

Community tracking in a cMOOC and nomadic learner behavior identification on a connectivist rhizomatic learning network

This article contributes to the literature on connectivism, connectivist MOOCs (cMOOCs) and rhizomatic learning by examining participant interactions, community formation and nomadic learner behavior in a particular cMOOC, #rhizo15, facilitated for 6 weeks by Dave Cormier. It further focuses on what we can learn by observing Twitter interactions particularly. As an explanatory mixed research design, Social Network Analysis and content analysis were employed for the purposes of the research. SNA is used at the macro, meso and micro levels, and content analysis of one week of the MOOC was conducted using the Community of Inquiry framework. The macro level analysis demonstrates that communities in a rhizomatic connectivist networks have chaotic relationships with other communities in different dimensions (clarified by use of hashtags of concurrent, past and future events). A key finding at the meso level was that as #rhizo15 progressed and number of active participants decreased, interaction increased in overall network. The micro level analysis further reveals that, though completely online, the nature of open online ecosystems are very convenient to facilitate the formation of community. The content analysis of week 3 tweets demonstrated that cognitive presence was the most frequently observed, while teaching presence (teaching behaviors of both facilitator and participants) was the lowest. This research recognizes the limitations of looking only at Twitter when #rhizo15 conversations occurred over multiple platforms frequented by overlapping but not identical groups of people. However, it provides a valuable partial perspective at the macro meso and micro levels that contribute to our understanding of community-building in cMOOCs

Internet Utopianism and the Practical Inevitability of Law

Writing at the dawn of the digital era, John Perry Barlow proclaimed cyberspace to be a new domain of pure freedom. Addressing the nations of the world, he cautioned that their laws, which were “based on matter,” simply did not speak to conduct in the new virtual realm. As both Barlow and the cyberlaw scholars who took up his call recognized, that was not so much a statement of fact as it was an exercise in deliberate utopianism. But it has proved prescient in a way that they certainly did not intend. The “laws” that increasingly have no meaning in online environments include not only the mandates of market regulators but also the guarantees that supposedly protect the fundamental rights of internet users, including the expressive and associational freedoms whose supremacy Barlow asserted. More generally, in the networked information era, protections for fundamental human rights — both on- and offline — have begun to fail comprehensively. Cyberlaw scholarship in the Barlowian mold isn’t to blame for the worldwide erosion of protections for fundamental rights, but it also hasn’t helped as much as it might have. In this essay, adapted from a forthcoming book on the evolution of legal institutions in the information era, I identify and briefly examine three intersecting flavors of internet utopianism in cyberlegal thought that are worth reexamining. It has become increasingly apparent that functioning legal institutions have indispensable roles to play in protecting and advancing human freedom. It has also become increasingly apparent, however, that the legal institutions we need are different than the ones we have

Making sense of assets: Community asset mapping and related approaches for cultivating capacities

This working paper critically reviews some main aspects from asset based approaches highlights key strengths and weaknesses for future research/development. Drawing on a large body of reports and relevant literature we draw on different theoretical traditions and critiques, as well as practices and processes embedded within a broad range of approaches including, widely acknowledged frameworks such Asset Based Community Development (ABCD), Appreciative Inquiry (AI), Sustainable Livelihood Approaches (SLA) and Community Capitals Framework (CCF). Although these are presented as distinct approaches, there is a sense of evolution through them and many of them overlap (in terms of both theories and methodologies). We also include emerging frameworks, including geographical, socio-spatial, visual and creative approaches, stemming from a number of projects within AHRC’s Connected Communities programme and additional collaborations