Light, activity and sleep in my daily life: : Design of an online intervention targeting changes to routines and the home

Background: Older adults spend more time at home after retirement, and the home becomes a central place for activity. While research indicates that indoor lighting, exposure to daylight, physical activity and sleep interact to influence functioning, mood and daily rhythm, strategies are needed to promote behavioural changes to optimise these factors in daily life. The objective is to design an intervention delivered as a web-based course to encourage behaviour change related to outdoor physical activity, sleep patterns and changes to the home environment. The behaviour changes are intended to promote mental wellbeing and improve lighting and darkness conditions. The intervention strategy departs from the Information-Motivation-Behavioural Skills Model. Intervention components build on goal implementation theory. The Technology Acceptance Model is used as a framework to evaluate usability aspects of the course content and the learning management system. Method: Using a mixed-methods approach, qualitative and quantitative data were collected through video observations, semi-structured interviews and a 10-item Likert scale questionnaire (The System Usability Scale). Scores were averaged for each participant and converted into a usability score out of 100 (a score of 68 or above is considered above average). In a first round, three experts on pedagogy, design for older people and/or interaction design were invited to independently assess the usability of the course content on their laptops in a full-scale model of an apartment. The setting enabled manipulations of the lighting conditions (daylight mode and night mode, change of luminaires), contextual interviews and video observation to identify any problems when participants experimented with the test kit included in the course material. They participated on three occasions lasting 2 hours each. Six healthy adults (aged 70+) participated in a similar usability trial in a second round. Findings: Experts’ average usability score was 78.3, indicating “Good” usability. However, the interviews did reveal some issues (e.g. difficult or inconsistent terms, unclear instructions). Results were used to refine the course before the second usability trial with six participants. Based on the interviews and usability ratings, the participants were positive about the course, and the instructions were easy to follow. All six participants rated the overall user-friendliness of the course as 6 out of 7. The average usability score was 86.7, indicating “Excellent” usability. Based on the participants’ feedback and interactions in the apartment, changes to the course content included, e.g. clarifying terms, the different types of text links and instructions. Unexpected issues with online enrolment in the course appeared before the second trial because standard instructions developed by the university were not tailored to the participants.Conclusions: A two-step usability evaluation by experts in the first round and target users in the second proved valuable. It enabled refinement of the course content and significantly reduced the number of identified usability issues in the second trial. A learning management system seems promising for use in behaviour-change interventions. However, the time-limited lab trials restricted a complete evaluation. Therefore, the next step is to pilot the course and evaluate the feasibility in real-world homes

Usability evaluation of a virtual museum interface

The Augmented Representation of Cultural Objects (ARCO) system provides software and interface tools to museum curators to develop virtual museum exhibitions, as well as a virtual environment for museum visitors over the World Wide Web or in informative kiosks. The main purpose of the system is to offer an enhanced educative and entertaining experience to virtual museum visitors. In order to assess the usability of the system, two approaches have been employed: a questionnaire based survey and a Cognitive Walkthrough session. Both approaches employed expert evaluators, such as domain experts and usability experts. The result of this study shows a fair performance of the followed approach, as regards the consumed time, financial and other resources, as a great deal of usability problems has been uncovered and many aspects of the system have been investigated. The knowledge gathered aims at creating a conceptual framework for diagnose usability problems in systems in the area of Virtual Cultural Heritage

การพัฒนารูปแบบการบริหารจัดการทรัพยากรท่องเที่ยวเป็นแหล่งเรียนรู้ สำหรับสถานศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐาน

บทคัดย่อ การวิจัยครั้งนี้มีความมุ่งหมายเพื่อวิเคราะห์สภาพ  พัฒนารูปแบบ  ศึกษาประสิทธิผล ประเมินความเป็นไปได้และความเป็นประโยชน์ของรูปแบบการบริหารจัดการทรัพยากรท่องเที่ยวเป็นแหล่งเรียนรู้สำหรับสถานศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐาน  ซึ่งใช้วิธีวิจัยแบบผสมผสานโดยใช้กลุ่มตัวอย่างในการวิจัย 3 กลุ่ม ได้แก่ ผู้เชี่ยวชาญทางการท่องเที่ยวและการศึกษา จำนวน 12 คนสำหรับการวิจัยเชิงคุณภาพ นักเรียนจำนวน 30 คนสำหรับการวิจัยเชิงทดลอง และผู้บริหารและครูจำนวน  125 คน จากโรงเรียน 12  แห่ง สำหรับการประเมินความเป็นไปได้และเป็นประโยชน์ของรูปแบบ   เครื่องมือที่ใช้ในการวิจัย ได้แก่ แบบบันทึกการสนทนากลุ่ม แบบวัด และแบบสอบถาม ผลการวิจัยพบว่า 1) สภาพการบริหารจัดการทรัพยากรท่องเที่ยวเป็นแหล่งเรียนรู้ หน่วยงานท่องเที่ยวมีการร่วมมือกันในการบริหารจัดการแหล่งการเรียนรู้ร่วมกับสถานศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐานใน 6 ด้าน ได้แก่ ด้านนโยบายของโรงเรียนกับแหล่งเรียนรู้  ด้านการจัดการแหล่งเรียนรู้ ด้านกิจกรรมการเรียนรู้ของนักเรียน ด้านระบบบริหารของโรงเรียน ด้านโครงสร้างเอกสารประกอบในการจัดทำ ด้านการวัดผลและประเมินผล  2) รูปแบบการบริหารจัดการทรัพยากรท่องเที่ยวเป็นแหล่งเรียนรู้สำหรับสถานศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐาน มี 5 องค์ประกอบ ได้แก่ การกำหนดนโยบายการบริหารทรัพยากรท่องเที่ยวและการบริหารแหล่งการเรียนรู้ของสถานศึกษา การประสานงานระหว่างโรงเรียนกับแหล่งท่องเที่ยว การเตรียมการของโรงเรียนและแหล่งการเรียนรู้ การใช้แหล่งเรียนรู้จากทรัพยากรท่องเที่ยว  และการประเมินผล  3) ประสิทธิผลของรูปแบบการบริหารจัดการทรัพยากรท่องเที่ยวเป็นแหล่งเรียนรู้สำหรับสถานศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐานมีคุณค่าในระดับมาก และความสามารถในการเขียนของนักเรียนอยู่ในระดับมากเช่นกัน  และ 4)  การประเมินความเป็นไปได้และความเป็นประโยชน์ต่อรูปแบบการบริหารจัดการทรัพยากรท่องเที่ยวเป็นแหล่งเรียนรู้สำหรับสถานศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐาน มีความเป็นไปได้และมีความเป็นประโยชน์อยู่ในระดับมากAbstract The purposes of this research were to analyze, develop, study the effectiveness, and evaluate possibility and usability of tourism resource management model as learning resource for basic education school. This was a mixed method research by 3 sampling groups which included 12 experts from educational and tourism resource for qualitative research, 30 students for experimental research, and 125 administrators and teachers from 12 schools for the possibility and usability. The instruments included: focus group, evaluation form, and questionnaires. The findings revealed that; (1) management of tourism resource as learning resource, therefor, the tourism resource organization collaborates into learning resource administration for basic educational school in 6 aspects; policies between school and learning resource, learning resource administration, student learning activities, school administration system, paper preparation, and evaluation,  (2) The model of tourism resource management as learning resource for basic education school had five components, namely, 1) setting a policy of tourism resource management as learning resource and policy of learning resource management of basic education school, 2) coordinating between school and tourism resource, 3) school and tourism resource’s preparation, 4) using tourism resource as learning resource, and 5) evaluation, (3) effectiveness of the model of tourism resource management as learning resource for basic education school gained high value level by the teacher and student opinion and the student writing ability was at a very good level, (4) the possibility and usability for the model of tourism resource management as learning resource for basic education school was at a high level. คำสำคัญ:        ทรัพยากรท่องเที่ยว  แหล่งเรียนรู้  การศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐาน Keywords:      Tourism resource,   Learning resources, Basic education schoo

Investigating heuristic evaluation as a methodology for evaluating pedagogical software: An analysis employing three case studies

This paper looks specifically at how to develop light weight methods of evaluating pedagogically motivated software. Whilst we value traditional usability testing methods this paper will look at how Heuristic Evaluation can be used as both a driving force of Software Engineering Iterative Refinement and end of project Evaluation. We present three case studies in the area of Pedagogical Software and show how we have used this technique in a variety of ways. The paper presents results and reflections on what we have learned. We conclude with a discussion on how this technique might inform on the latest developments on delivery of distance learning. © 2014 Springer International Publishing

Watch out for the preview: The effects of a preview on the usability of a Content Management System and on the user's confidence level

As time moves on, a trend crystallizes that sets new requirements on content management systems. The circle of users shifts from a small technically experienced group to a large network of inexperienced editors. Literature stresses that a higher need for usability is present if personnel with a low grade of human computer interaction expertise is using a system. But how can system designers accomplish a high level of usability? This study suggests a preview as an important factor for strengthening the usability (effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction) of a content management system. The findings of this study support the hypothesis: the results showed that a preview enhances the userspsila satisfaction with the system. Moreover, the study shows that the userspsila confidence to be able to work with the system is an important factor; the results showed positive correlations between confidence and satisfaction and between confidence and effectiveness

Embedding accessibility and usability: considerations for e-learning research and development projects

This paper makes the case that if e‐learning research and development projects are to be successfully adopted in real‐world teaching and learning contexts, then they must effectively address accessibility and usability issues; and that these need to be integrated throughout the project. As such, accessibility and usability issues need to be made explicit in project documentation, along with allocation of appropriate resources and time. We argue that accessibility and usability are intrinsically inter‐linked. An integrated accessibility and usability evaluation methodology that we have developed is presented and discussed. The paper draws on a series of mini‐case studies from e‐learning projects undertaken over the past 10 years at the Open University

Layered evaluation of interactive adaptive systems : framework and formative methods

Peer reviewedPostprin

IAMS framework: a new framework for acceptable user experiences for integrating physical and virtual identity access management systems

The modern world is populated with so many virtual and physical Identity Access Management Systems (IAMSs) that individuals are required to maintain numerous passwords and login credentials. The tedious task of remembering multiple login credentials can be minimised through the utilisation of an innovative approach of single sign-in mechanisms. During recent times, several systems have been developed to provide physical and virtual identity management systems; however, most have not been very successful. Many of the available systems do not provide the feature of virtual access on mobile devices via the internet; this proves to be a limiting factor in the usage of the systems. Physical spaces, such as offices and government entities, are also favourable places for the deployment of interoperable physical and virtual identity management systems, although this area has only been explored to a minimal level. Alongside increasing the level of awareness for the need to deploy interoperable physical and virtual identity management systems, this paper addresses the immediate need to establish clear standards and guidelines for successful integration of the two medium