167 research outputs found

    Using Technology to Address the Problems of Malnutrition and Dehydration in Older Adults

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    Malnutrition and dehydration of important problems for older adults even in developed countries such as the UK and both have many serious health consequences. This programme of research developed an app, MyHealthyLiving, to support older adults in monitoring their intake of liquids and fruit and vegetables. I followed a user-centred design lifecycle and conducted six studies, starting with focus groups to understand the older users’ needs and wishes, through expert and user evaluations, to a two week field study of the use of the app by 15 older people. Using the data from the user evaluations, a new set of evidence-based heuristics for the development and evaluation of tablet apps for older people was also produced

    Training of Crisis Mappers and Map Production from Multi-sensor Data: Vernazza Case Study (Cinque Terre National Park, Italy)

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    This aim of paper is to presents the development of a multidisciplinary project carried out by the cooperation between Politecnico di Torino and ITHACA (Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action). The goal of the project was the training in geospatial data acquiring and processing for students attending Architecture and Engineering Courses, in order to start up a team of "volunteer mappers". Indeed, the project is aimed to document the environmental and built heritage subject to disaster; the purpose is to improve the capabilities of the actors involved in the activities connected in geospatial data collection, integration and sharing. The proposed area for testing the training activities is the Cinque Terre National Park, registered in the World Heritage List since 1997. The area was affected by flood on the 25th of October 2011. According to other international experiences, the group is expected to be active after emergencies in order to upgrade maps, using data acquired by typical geomatic methods and techniques such as terrestrial and aerial Lidar, close-range and aerial photogrammetry, topographic and GNSS instruments etc.; or by non conventional systems and instruments such us UAV, mobile mapping etc. The ultimate goal is to implement a WebGIS platform to share all the data collected with local authorities and the Civil Protectio

    The synthesis of a unified pedagogy for the design and evaluation of e-learning software for high-school computing

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    In recent decades, several countries have applied a resurgent focus to high-school computer science in the hope that it will provide the foundations for strong and innovative national IT sectors. The UK is one example undertaking this transition, and experiencing the associated challenges placed on the teaching community. In parallel, recent years have seen a trend towards enriching education with digital resources, specifically e-learning software. This study offers a practical contribution to the computer science teaching community by supporting the provision of e-learning software, and hence the increased use of e-learning in high-school teaching. However, it recognises that there remains a concern over the inconsistent pedagogical quality of many e-learning implementations. To safeguard the pedagogical quality of e-learning software, this study offers a research contribution by defining: (1) a comprehensive set of pedagogical heuristics to inform the design of e-learning software; (2) an associated e-learning evaluation protocol to guide the evaluation and selection of e-learning software for use in schools; and in doing so, (3) contributes to the under-researched area of high- school computing pedagogy. The proposed pedagogy synthesises a vast body of knowledge on learning theories into a comprehensive, yet accessible, set of heuristics. These heuristics supplement existing literature by focusing more tightly and in depth on pedagogy, rather than usability. The pedagogy synthesises the following learning theories: constructivism, social constructivism, connectivism, and cognitive load, and additionally gives pedagogical focus to VARK learning styles, ARCS motivational design, collaborative learning, gamification, and computational thinking. The e-learning evaluation protocol builds upon existing best practice in evaluation procedures but is unique in its characteristics and focus. The study follows a rigorous three phase mixed methods exploratory design in which the e-learning pedagogy and evaluation protocol were explored and iteratively developed in concert with input and evaluation from education experts and teachers. In parallel, practice-based input was secured via student usage of prototype e-learning software designed in adherence to the pedagogy. The findings of this research offer preliminary validation of the appropriateness and comprehensiveness of the e- learning pedagogy, and the final phase demonstrates statistically significant learning increases based on student usage of the e-learning software prototype. Additionally, this research offers preliminary validation of the reliability and validity of the evaluation protocol. Building on the findings of this research, several possibilities are outlined to further empirically establish this research, or develop it further into new avenues

    E-Governance: Strategy for Mitigating Non-Inclusion of Citizens in Policy Making in Nigeria

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    The Nigerian federation that currently has 36 states structure adopted the Weberian Public Administrative system before now as an ideal way of running government, which was characterized with the traditional way of doing things without recourse to the deployment of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Today e-governance is seen as a paradigm shift from the previous way of governance. Research has shown that, the adoption and implementation of e-governance is more likely to bring about effective service delivery, mitigate corruption and ultimately enhance citizens’ participation in governmental affairs. However, it has been argued that infrastructure such as regular electricity power and access to the Internet, in addition to a society with high rate of literacy level are required to effectively implement and realize the potentials of e-governance for improved delivery of services. Due to the difficulties currently experienced, developing nations need to adequately prepare for the implementation of e-governance on the platform of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Hence, this study seeks to examine whether the adoption and implementation of e-governance in the context of Nigeria would mitigate the hitherto non-inclusion of citizens in the formulation and implementation of government policies aimed at enhanced development. To achieve the objective of the study, data were sourced and analyzed majorly by examining government websites of 20 states in the Nigerian federation to ascertain if there are venues for citizens to interact with government in the area of policy making and feedback on government actions, as a way of promoting participatory governance. The study revealed that the adoption and implementation of e-governance in the country is yet to fully take place. This is due to lack of infrastructure, low level of literacy rate and government inability to provide the necessary infrastructure for e-governance to materialize. The paper therefore, recommends among others the need for the Federal Government to involve a sound and clear policy on how to go about the adoption and implementation of egovernance through deliberate effort at increasing budgetary allocation towards infrastructural development and mass education of citizens

    The Impact of e-Democracy in Political Stability of Nigeria

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    The history of the Nigerian electoral process has been hitherto characterized by violence stemming from disputes in election outcomes. For instance, violence erupted across some states in Northern Nigeria when results indicated that a candidate who was popular in that part of the country was losing the election leading to avoidable loss of lives. Beside, this dispute in election outcome lingers for a long time in litigation at the electoral tribunals which distracts effective governance. However, the increasing penetrating use of ICTs in Nigeria is evident in the electoral processes with consequent shift in the behavior of actors in the democratic processes, thus changing the ways Nigerians react to election outcomes. This paper examines the trend in the use ICT in the Nigerian political system and its impact on the stability of the polity. It assesses the role of ICT in recent electoral processes and compares its impact on the outcome of the process in lieu of previous experiences in the Nigeria. Furthermore, the paper also examines the challenges and risks of implementing e-Democracy in Nigeria and its relationship to the economy in the light of the socio-economic situation of the country. The paper adopted qualitative approach in data gathering and analysis. From the findings, the paper observed that e-democracy is largely dependent on the level of ICT adoption, which is still at its lowest ebb in the country. It recognizes the challenges in the provision of ICT infrastructure and argues that appropriate low-cost infrastructure applicable to the Nigerian condition can be made available to implement e-democracy and thus arouse the interest of the populace in governance, increase the number of voters, and enhance transparency, probity and accountability, and participation in governance as well as help stabilize the nascent democrac

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