Needs and challenges for online language teachers - the ECML project DOTS

The growing use of digital technologies in educational settings, paralleled by a paradigm change in educational theory from an instructivist transmission approach to constructivist and sociocultural theories of learning, demands more adapted teacher training programs, both technical and pedagogical. Looking at factors influencing teachers’ implementation of ICT in the foreign language classroom and guided by the results of a needs analysis survey conducted among twenty six language teachers from twenty five different European countries, the DOTS project aims to develop an online workspace with bite-sized learning objects for autonomous use by language professionals, particularly freelance teachers who frequently miss out on the training opportunities provided for their full-time colleagues

Multimedia delivery in the future internet

The term “Networked Media” implies that all kinds of media including text, image, 3D graphics, audio and video are produced, distributed, shared, managed and consumed on-line through various networks, like the Internet, Fiber, WiFi, WiMAX, GPRS, 3G and so on, in a convergent manner [1]. This white paper is the contribution of the Media Delivery Platform (MDP) cluster and aims to cover the Networked challenges of the Networked Media in the transition to the Future of the Internet. Internet has evolved and changed the way we work and live. End users of the Internet have been confronted with a bewildering range of media, services and applications and of technological innovations concerning media formats, wireless networks, terminal types and capabilities. And there is little evidence that the pace of this innovation is slowing. Today, over one billion of users access the Internet on regular basis, more than 100 million users have downloaded at least one (multi)media file and over 47 millions of them do so regularly, searching in more than 160 Exabytes1 of content. In the near future these numbers are expected to exponentially rise. It is expected that the Internet content will be increased by at least a factor of 6, rising to more than 990 Exabytes before 2012, fuelled mainly by the users themselves. Moreover, it is envisaged that in a near- to mid-term future, the Internet will provide the means to share and distribute (new) multimedia content and services with superior quality and striking flexibility, in a trusted and personalized way, improving citizens’ quality of life, working conditions, edutainment and safety. In this evolving environment, new transport protocols, new multimedia encoding schemes, cross-layer inthe network adaptation, machine-to-machine communication (including RFIDs), rich 3D content as well as community networks and the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) overlays are expected to generate new models of interaction and cooperation, and be able to support enhanced perceived quality-of-experience (PQoE) and innovative applications “on the move”, like virtual collaboration environments, personalised services/ media, virtual sport groups, on-line gaming, edutainment. In this context, the interaction with content combined with interactive/multimedia search capabilities across distributed repositories, opportunistic P2P networks and the dynamic adaptation to the characteristics of diverse mobile terminals are expected to contribute towards such a vision. Based on work that has taken place in a number of EC co-funded projects, in Framework Program 6 (FP6) and Framework Program 7 (FP7), a group of experts and technology visionaries have voluntarily contributed in this white paper aiming to describe the status, the state-of-the art, the challenges and the way ahead in the area of Content Aware media delivery platforms

The Bellagio Global Dialogues on Intellectual Property

Reviews Rockefeller's conference series on intellectual property and its efforts to promote policies and institutional capacities that better serve the poor, with a focus on food security and public health. Discusses global policy, development, and trade

Management system requirements for wireless systems beyond 3G

This paper presents a comprehensive description of various management system requirements for systems beyond 3G, which have been identified as a result of the Software Based Systems activities within the Mobile VCE Core 2 program. Specific requirements for systems beyond 3G are discussed and potential technologies to address them proposed. The analysis has been carried out from network, service and security viewpoints

Identity principles in the digital age: a closer view

Identity and its management is now an integral part of web-based services and applications. It is also a live political issue that has captured the interest of organisations, businesses and society generally. As identity management systems assume functionally equivalent roles, their significance for privacy cannot be underestimated. The Centre for Democracy and Technology has recently released a draft version of what it regards as key privacy principles for identity management in the digital age. This paper will provide an overview of the key benchmarks identified by the CDT. The focus of this paper is to explore how best the Data Protection legislation can be said to provide a framework which best maintains a proper balance between 'identity' conscious technology and an individual's expectation of privacy to personal and sensitive data. The central argument will be that increased compliance with the key principles is not only appropriate for a distributed privacy environment but will go some way towards creating a space for various stakeholders to reach consensus applicable to existing and new information communication technologies. The conclusion is that securing compliance with the legislation will prove to be the biggest governance challenge. Standard setting and norms will go some way to ease the need for centralised regulatory oversight