263,816 research outputs found
The future of technology enhanced active learning – a roadmap
The notion of active learning refers to the active involvement of learner in the learning process,
capturing ideas of learning-by-doing and the fact that active participation and knowledge construction leads to deeper and more sustained learning. Interactivity, in particular learnercontent interaction, is a central aspect of technology-enhanced active learning. In this roadmap,
the pedagogical background is discussed, the essential dimensions of technology-enhanced active learning systems are outlined and the factors that are expected to influence these systems currently and in the future are identified. A central aim is to address this promising field from a
best practices perspective, clarifying central issues and formulating an agenda for future developments in the form of a roadmap
Systematic development of courseware systems
Various difficulties have been reported in relation to the development of courseware systems. A central problem is to address the needs of not only the learner, but also instructor, developer, and other stakeholders, and to integrate these different needs. Another problem area is courseware architectures, to which much work has been dedicated recently. We present a systematic approach to courseware development – a methodology for courseware engineering – that addresses these problems. This methodology is rooted in the educational domain and is based on methods for software development in this context. We illustrate how this methodology can improve the quality of courseware systems and the development process
A virtual environment to support the distributed design of large made-to-order products
An overview of a virtual design environment (virtual platform) developed as part of the European Commission funded VRShips-ROPAX (VRS) project is presented. The main objectives for the development of the virtual platform are described, followed by the discussion of the techniques chosen to address the objectives, and finally a description of a use-case for the platform. Whilst the focus of the VRS virtual platform was to facilitate the design of ROPAX (roll-on passengers and cargo) vessels, the components within the platform are entirely generic and may be applied to the distributed design of any type of vessel, or other complex made-to-order products
Managing evolution and change in web-based teaching and learning environments
The state of the art in information technology and educational technologies is evolving constantly.
Courses taught are subject to constant change from organisational and subject-specific reasons. Evolution
and change affect educators and developers of computer-based teaching and learning environments alike –
both often being unprepared to respond effectively. A large number of educational systems are designed
and developed without change and evolution in mind. We will present our approach to the design and
maintenance of these systems in rapidly evolving environments and illustrate the consequences of evolution
and change for these systems and for the educators and developers responsible for their implementation and
deployment. We discuss various factors of change, illustrated by a Web-based virtual course, with the
objective of raising an awareness of this issue of evolution and change in computer-supported teaching and
learning environments. This discussion leads towards the establishment of a development and management
framework for teaching and learning systems
Proceedings of the ECSCW'95 Workshop on the Role of Version Control in CSCW Applications
The workshop entitled "The Role of Version Control in Computer Supported Cooperative Work Applications" was held on September 10, 1995 in Stockholm, Sweden in conjunction with the ECSCW'95 conference. Version control, the ability to manage relationships between successive instances of artifacts, organize those instances into meaningful structures, and support navigation and other operations on those structures, is an important problem in CSCW applications. It has long been recognized as a critical issue for inherently cooperative tasks such as software engineering, technical documentation, and authoring. The primary challenge for versioning in these areas is to support opportunistic, open-ended design processes requiring the preservation of historical perspectives in the design process, the reuse of previous designs, and the exploitation of alternative designs.
The primary goal of this workshop was to bring together a diverse group of individuals interested in examining the role of versioning in Computer Supported Cooperative Work. Participation was encouraged from members of the research community currently investigating the versioning process in CSCW as well as application designers and developers who are familiar with the real-world requirements for versioning in CSCW. Both groups were represented at the workshop resulting in an exchange of ideas and information that helped to familiarize developers with the most recent research results in the area, and to provide researchers with an updated view of the needs and challenges faced by application developers. In preparing for this workshop, the organizers were able to build upon the results of their previous one entitled "The Workshop on Versioning in Hypertext" held in conjunction with the ECHT'94 conference. The following section of this report contains a summary in which the workshop organizers report the major results of the workshop. The summary is followed by a section that contains the position papers that were accepted to the workshop. The position papers provide more detailed information describing recent research efforts of the workshop participants as well as current challenges that are being encountered in the development of CSCW applications. A list of workshop participants is provided at the end of the report.
The organizers would like to thank all of the participants for their contributions which were, of course, vital to the success of the workshop. We would also like to thank the ECSCW'95 conference organizers for providing a forum in which this workshop was possible
Active artefact management for distributed software engineering
We describe a software artefact repository that provides its contents with some awareness of their own creation. "Active" artefacts are distinguished from their passive counterparts by their enriched meta-data model which reflects the work-flow process that created them, the actors responsible, the actions taken to change the artefact, and various other pieces of organisational knowledge. This enriched view of an artefact is intended to support re-use of both software and the expertise gained when creating the software. Unlike other organisational knowledge systems, the meta-data is intrinsically part of the artefact and may be populated automatically from sources including existing data-format specific information, user supplied data and records of communication.
Such a system is of increased importance in the world of
"virtual teams" where transmission of vital organisational
knowledge, at best difficult, is further constrained by the
lack of direct contact between engineers and differing development cultures
The Dag-Brucken ASRS Case Study
In 1996 an agreement was made between a well-known beverage manufacturer, Super-Cola Taiwan, (SCT) and a small Australian electrical engineering company, Dag-Brücken ASRS Pty Ltd, (DB), to provide an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) facility as part of SCT’s production facilities in Asia. Recognising the potential of their innovative and technically advanced design, DB was awarded a State Premiers Export Award and was a finalist in that year’s National Export Awards. The case tracks the development and subsequent implementation of the SCT ASRS project, setting out to highlight how the lack of appropriate IT development processes contributed to the ultimate failure of the project and the subsequent winding up of DB only one year after being honoured with these prestigious awards. The case provides compelling evidence of the types of project management incompetency that, from the literature, appears to contribute to the high failure rate in IT projects. For confidentiality reasons, the names of the principal parties are changed, but the case covers actual events documented by one of the project team members as part of his postgraduate studies, providing an example of the special mode of evidence collection that Yin (1994) calls ‘participant-observation’
Supporting active database learning and training through interactive multimedia
The learning objectives of a database course include aspects from conceptual and theoretical knowledge to practical development and implementation skills. We present an interactive educational multimedia system based on the virtual apprenticeship model for the knowledge- and skills-oriented Web-based education of database course students. Combining knowledge learning and skills training in an integrated environment is a central aspect of our system. We show that tool-mediated independent learning and training in an authentic setting is an alternative to traditional classroom-based approaches
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