1,058,820 research outputs found

    A case study for measuring informal learning in PLEs

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    The technological support for learning and teaching processes is constantly changing. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) applied to education, cause changes that affect the way in which people learn. This application introduces new software systems and solutions to carry out teaching and learning activities. Connected to ICT application, the emergence of Web 2.0 and its use in learning contexts enables an online implementation of the student-centred learning paradigm. In addition, 2.0 trends provide “new” ways to exchange, making easier for informal learning to become patent. Given this context, open and user-centered learning environments are needed to integrate such kinds of tools and trends and are commonly described as Personal Learning Environments. Such environments coexist with the institutional learning management systems and they should interact and exchange information between them. This interaction would allow the assessment of what happens in the personal environment from the institutional side. This article describes a solution to make the interoperability possible between these systems. It is based on a set of interoperability scenarios and some components and communication channels. In order to test the solution it is implemented as a proof of concept and the scenarios are validated through several pilot experiences. In this article one of such scenarios and its evaluation experiment is described to conclude that functionalities from the institutional environments and the personal ones can be combined and it is possible to assess what happens in the activities based on them.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

    Personalized Service-Oriented E-Learning Environments

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    6 pages, 4 figures.The social component of Web 2.0-related services is providing a new open and personal approach to how we expect things to solve problems in our information-driven world. In particular, students' learning needs require open, personal e-learning systems adapted to life-long learning needs in a rapidly changing environment. It therefore shouldn't be surprising that a new wave of ideas centered on pervasive systems has drawn so much attention. This article analyzes current trends in the evolution of e-learning architectures and describes a new architecture that captures the needs of both formal (instructor-led) and informal (student-led) learning environments.Spain’s Programa Nacional de Tecnologías de la Sociedad de la Información supported this research through projects TSI2005-08225-C07-01 and -02.Publicad

    Rethinking professional competence for the networked environment

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    Describes how advances in information and communication technologies are bringing about profound changes in the operating environment of academic libraries, introducing new computer-based systems for teaching, learning, research and scholarly communication. Explains how the roles of staff are changing, particularly paraprofessionals, liaison librarians, and senior managers, and discusses the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to perform effectively in the networked environment, highlighting the breadth and depth of technical, managerial and personal competencies needed. Concludes that new competence frameworks are required to reflect the expanded skillset and library staff development should be managed strategically in collaboration with academic and service partners

    An exploration of decision making oscillations in dynamic and undynamic environments

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    The rapidly changing nature of information and use of information systems within organisations has seen the emergence of a gradual mistrust of human decision-making approaches. This is evident today with both researchers and practitioners advocating for an increased use of data-driven decision making. Although the advantages of using a data-driven approach have been well-documented, there has been scant research on the interplay between a data-driven approach and more human-centric decision making from an information systems perspective. To that end, this research study seeks to explore oscillations in decision-making approaches while having access to information systems in dynamic and undynamic environments. Data was gathered across four case study locations, in two distinct environments. The first of these was classified as a dynamic environment and two case studies were investigated involving aircraft pilots and an air traffic controller. The second was classified as an undynamic environment, with two further case studies investigated involving a pharmacist and national grid controller. The output of this study makes a number of contributions to IS theory and practise. Firstly, this study extends cognitive continuum theory to the information systems domain. In doing so, this study validates that decision makers will oscillate between an intuitive, system-aided judgement, and data-driven approach to decision making. Secondly, two distinct mechanisms are identified and once activated these mechanisms will oscillate a decision makers decision-making approach. These mechanisms are referred to as the personal sensitivity to a negative outcome mechanism and the process loafing mechanism. Thirdly, this research has validated that the environment a decision maker operates is a factor in the decision-making approach used. However, it was also found that the personal sensitivity to a negative outcome mechanism will override the environment a decision maker is in once activated. Fourthly, this study highlights the need for organisations to consider decision making approaches when implementing new policies, procedures, and information systems

    LOOP:Exploring Physicalization of Activity Tracking Data

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    Wearables, mobile devices and Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensors are enabling us to monitor our environment, understand our social connections, and track our personal health. However, most of these systems communicate data through information visualizations that are often ‘hidden’ inside devices, such as mobile phones and tablets, requiring users to undertake explicit actions to reveal them. Novel interfaces and devices embedded in people’s everyday life have the potential to help users visualize, use, and appropriate their collected personal data. To this end, we designed the physical artifact LOOP, which provides an abstract visualization of the user’s activity data by changing its shape. In this paper, we elaborate on the design and present a one-week field study in which LOOP was deployed in the homes of five end-users. We found that the physical presence of LOOP facilitated reflection and the layered visualization supported various personal tracking

    Ethics in the Cloud

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    For the past several decades, information communication technologies (ICTs) have been changing the way we create, share, and keep our records and data. How are we adapting? Today, individuals and organizations are increasingly creating, sharing, and storing information of all kinds in the cloud, some of them with the same expectations of privacy, access, intellectual rights, and control they have when storing it in in-house systems, either digital or analog. Such expectations provoke outrage when it is discovered that behavior in the cloud is not guided by long-established ethical rules guiding information creation, sharing, and use, but needs to be controlled by legal contracts and enforced by laws, many of which are ill-equipped to cope with the affordances of new technologies. Ethical expectations and guidelines that have been socially situated in a print culture developed over centuries are suddenly thrown into debate by technologies that may change yearly. What is the nature of information ethics in the digital era? In the context of the cloud environment, the ideas of privacy, access, intellectual rights, ownership, and control need to be reinterpreted and given new meaning. But ethical considerations concerning presentation of information through traditional channels of communication do not translate seamlessly to online communities. Information ethics, generally understood to be a branch of applied ethics, has developed to address the main ethical issues with information communication technologies – privacy, accuracy, property or ownership, and accessibility. These are considered within contexts of responsibility and trust. This article explores the landscape of emerging ethical issues related to the creation, use, and maintenance of digital materials in cloud computing platforms in the course of our business and personal activities

    Accounting Information Systems and Financial Performance How Artificial Intelligence Plays a Mediating Role

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    This investigation examines how accounting information systems (AIS) can benefit from AI to boost financial performance. The impact of AI on the correlation between AIS and financial outcomes is the focus of this research. Financial results from AIS have improved thanks to AI optimisation. Accounting information systems that use AI technology can boost financial reporting precision, decision quality, and overall business success. AIS’s use of AI improves financial management by processing large amounts of data, identifying patterns and outliers, automating mundane tasks, and providing real-time insights. The research also reveals many factors that facilitate AI integration in AIS. A few examples are helping accountants learn how to use AI-driven systems, ensuring that personal information is kept secure, and being transparent and accountable for all financial transactions. The study recommends that businesses implement AI as a strategic tool to boost AIS. Accounting information systems can benefit greatly from artificial intelligence, enabling businesses to better respond to changing market conditions, make more informed decisions, and maintain profitable growth. Accounting firms can be encouraged to adopt AI if policymakers develop a conducive regulatory environment that addresses concerns about innovation, data protection, and ethics. Academics, businesses, and regulators must all work together to ensure that AI in accounting information systems is applied responsibly and ethically. Finally, accounting information systems can benefit from AI’s ability to boost financial performance. The findings emphasise the need for organisations to adopt AI technologies and modify their AIS to leverage AI benefits. In an ever-changing company, doing so can improve financial performance, establish a competitive edge, and generate long-term success

    Personal information management strategies in higher education

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    Personal Information Management (PIM) is a complex non-linear process, described by Jones (2007) as the acquisition, organisation, maintenance and retrieval of the information people keep for their own use; it is, however, a concept with which we are all familiar. For students growing up with digital information, but studying in a transitional environment, the complexity is marked by the increasing importance given to their strategies for organising information which are themselves complicated by the rapidly changing digital formats. This paper reports on the initial findings of a larger study which aims to better understand the factors that influence student’s PIM in the digital environment and sets out through a literature review and case study to identify the key issues for students and their PIM in an academic setting. Management of personal information collections is often performed without conscious thought; mundane items such as shopping lists and to do lists reside alongside complex reports, research notes and emails that require more formal decisions in keeping or discarding. The need for information systems to organise items such as photos, videos, emails, documents and then use them in diverse ways is obvious, however the unique nature of each individual system creates methodological challenges in how to collect and analyse data and how to study the behaviour of user interaction with these items
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