VidyaOnline: Design and Development of a FOSS based Virtual Learning Environment on Library and Information Science at Vidyasagar University, West Bengal

VidyaOnline, the prototype web-based modular and interactive learning system, is aimed to produce a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for library and information science courses. In its final contour, VidyaOnline will be acted as a generic e learning platform for courses offered by the Directorate of Distance Education (DDE), Vidyasagar University. As we know, learning system that supports VLE features (as prescribed by INSPIRAL project), is not restricted to distance education alone, VidyaOnline will have all the facilities to support off-campus learning and evaluation activities related to traditional courses of Vidyasagar University. In short, VidyaOnline will be emerging as a web integrated hybrid e learning system for library and information science courses as well as for other distance and traditional courses of Vidyasagar University. The structure of VidyaOnline extends support for all three forms of VLE – web-based training, supported online learning and informal e learning. The software architecture of VidyaOnline is completely based on FOSS (Free and Open Source Software). It uses LAMP (Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP) architecture, Moodle course management system and GD graphics library to design and develop an interactive web-integrated e learning platform to accommodate library and information science courses along with other distance education programmes of DDE, Vidyasagar University. VidyaOnline is completely compatible with Unicode and one courseware is available in Unicode-based Bengali language interface

Web-based Campus Virtual Tour Application using ORB Image Stitching

Information disclosure in the digital age has demanded the public to obtain information easily and meaningful. In this paper, we propose the development of web-based campus virtual tour 360-degree information system application at the State University of Malang, Indonesia which aims to introduce the assets of the institution in an interesting view to public. This application receives a stitched or panoramic image generated through the ORB image stitching algorithm as an input and displays it in virtual tour manner. This paper realizes the image stitching algorithm to present the visualization of the 360-degree dynamic building and campus environment, so it looks real as if it were in the actual location. Virtual tour approach can produce a more immersive and attractive appearance than regular photos

Visual communication in urban planning and urban design

This report documents the current status of visual communication in urban design and planning. Visual communication is examined through discussion of standalone and network media, specifically concentrating on visualisation on the World Wide Web(WWW).Firstly, we examine the use of Solid and Geometric Modelling for visualising urban planning and urban design. This report documents and compares examples of the use of Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) and proprietary WWW based Virtual Reality modelling software. Examples include the modelling of Bath and Glasgow using both VRML 1.0 and 2.0. A review is carried out on the use of Virtual Worldsand their role in visualising urban form within multi-user environments. The use of Virtual Worlds is developed into a case study of the possibilities and limitations of Virtual Internet Design Arenas (ViDAs), an initiative undertaken at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London. The use of Virtual Worlds and their development towards ViDAs is seen as one of the most important developments in visual communication for urban planning and urban design since the development plan.Secondly, photorealistic media in the process of communicating plans is examined.The process of creating photorealistic media is documented, examples of the Virtual Streetscape and Wired Whitehall Virtual Urban Interface System are provided. The conclusion is drawn that although the use of photo-realistic media on the WWW provides a way to visually communicate planning information, its use is limited. The merging of photorealistic media and solid geometric modelling is reviewed in the creation of Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality is seen to provide an important step forward in the ability to quickly and easily visualise urban planning and urban design information.Thirdly, the role of visual communication of planning data through GIS is examined interms of desktop, three dimensional and Internet based GIS systems. The evolution to Internet GIS is seen as a critical component in the development of virtual cities which will allow urban planners and urban designers to visualise and model the complexity of the built environment in networked virtual reality.Finally a viewpoint is put forward of the Virtual City, linking Internet GIS with photorealistic multi-user Virtual Worlds. At present there are constraints on how far virtual cities can be developed, but a view is provided on how these networked virtual worlds are developing to aid visual communication in urban planning and urban design

APLIKASI PENCARIAN LOKASI PERGURUAN TINGGI DENGAN OBJEK MENGGUNAKAN METODE VIRTUAL REALITY PADA KOTA MAKASSAR

The development of information technology is very rapid, along with the need for information and the growth of human intelligence. Today, there are many information systems used to support and solve problems that usually arise within an organization, company, or government agency. Information systems are expected to improve the performance of an organization or agency by making it more effective, efficient, and easy to receive the information to be transmitted. Geographic Information System (GIS) is a technology that becomes an auxiliary and very essential tool, as well as the field of science that uses Virtual Reality (VR), which is the technology that displays images or objects surrounding them in 360 degrees. Makassar is famous for its district residents, who come from every district. A lot of high slopes are scattered in Makassar, but not everyone knows about the college in Makassar, especially about the shape or picture of the campus. To make it easier to inform people and students wherever they are who are in need of information about the University of London and its descriptions, the geographical information system of web-based university location search is perfect to meet these needs

What did the Romans ever do for us? ‘Next generation’ networks and hybrid learning resources

Networked learning is fundamentally concerned with the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to link people to people and resources, to support the process of learning. This paper explores some current and forthcoming changes in ICT and some potential implications of these developments for networked learning. Whilst we aim to avoid taking a technologically determinist stance, we explore the potential for future practice and how some educational and pedagogic practices are evolving to exploit and shape the digital environment. We argue that we can change both the ways in which connections between people (learners and other learners; learners and tutors) are made and the nature of the resources that learning communities (particularly distributed communities) can engage with. In doing this we draw on two strands of work. Firstly, we draw on the ‘IBZL Education’ a UK Open University initiative to develop new scholarship in the context of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) through which educators are encouraged to think about technological change in the next five to ten years and ways in which we can intervene and shape these developments. We use problem-based learning as an example of a learning experience that can be difficult to implement in a networked learning environment. IBZL identified two broad strands of significant technological development. 'Superfast' broadband networks that are capable of supporting novel applications are being rolled in the UK (and elsewhere). Also, boundaries between the real and virtual worlds are becoming blurred as in the ‘internet of things’ where, for example, RFID tags enable information about the real world to be brought into the virtual one. We use the term ‘artefact’ to describe designed components, whether entirely digital, such as a computer forum, or material, such as a tablet PC. Networked ‘hybrid’ technologies of virtual and material components have may great potential for use in education. Secondly, we illustrate how these changes may be beginning to happen in distance education using the example of TU100 My Digital Life, a new introductory Open University. . TU100 Students use an electronics board in their own homes to work on a programming problem in collaboration other students through a tutor-led tutorial in a web conferencing system. We also note some of the evident complexity that establishing such resources as part of wider infrastructures of networked learning would be likely to involve

Mining progressive user behavior for e-commerce using virtual reality technique

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on March 21, 2008)Includes bibliographical references.Thesis (M.S.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2007.Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Computer science.In the past decade, the virtual reality (VR) technique has been becoming a popular marketing tool on e-commerce websites, where the consumers are allowed to interact with the products and have a vivid shopping experience simulated to the real world. Despite of the advantages, VR shopping is still at its early stage due to some difficulties, namely, 1) complex communication among VR components, backend relational databases, and web services, 2) meaningful interpretation of mined patterns into the user behavior through VR tools, and 3) vast amount of information to mine and efficient summarization of the results to guide user's navigation. To overcome these obstacles, several techniques from the fields of Information Retrieval and Data Mining & Knowledge Discovery have been adopted and extended for the development of our system that is able to recommend products computationally according to the user's preference. These techniques include ranking in a Vector-Space Model to profile user's behavior based on their demographic information and mining Association Rules to analyze user's choices as well as real-time navigational behavior. This system can adapt itself to meet each individual's interest progressively. It is our ultimate goal to provide a general framework that can be applied to any web-based e-commerce applications where customers can find the most fitting products efficiently and effectively under a virtual reality environment

Introducing Wimba to Oscail online programmes

This paper reports on a pilot project that investigated the potential for providing synchronous web-based tutorial support for distance education students, and the evaluation of that pilot project. A key challenge for distance education providers is the provision of quality academic support to all students regardless of location. The proven, positive link between attendance at tutorials and academic achievement highlights this aspect of academic support as crucial to distance education student success. In response to student difficulties in attending tutorials and diminishing numbers of tutorial centres, it has become increasingly important to investigate alternative methods of providing tutorial support to distance education students. Following an evaluation of a number of web-based conferencing software, Dublin City University opted to use Wimba Classroom in providing live, virtual classrooms to students. The pilot project involved the adaption of the existing, synchronous, face-to-face tutorial support system, provided to distance education students on the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSc in IT) degree programme from Oscail – DCU Distance Education, such that students attended live, virtual classrooms instead. A particular focus of this paper is the “Enterprise and Emerging Technologies” module of the BSc in IT programme which was specifically redesigned and rewritten for this pilot project. The most successful feature of this software was the archived versions of the live tutorials with 83% of students accessing the archives. The results of this project will have a significant impact on the future delivery of tutorial support, course delivery and assessment in Oscail – DCU Distance Education

Investigating a theoretical framework for e-learning technology acceptance

E-learning has gained recognition and fame in delivering and distributing educational resources, and the same has become possible with the occurrence of Internet and Web technologies. The research seeks to determine the factors that influence students' acceptance of E-learning and to find out the way these factors determine the students' intention to employ E-learning. A theoretical framework was developed based on the technology acceptance model (TAM). To obtain information from the 270 university students who utilized the E-learning system, a questionnaire was formulated. The results revealed that “social influence, perceived enjoyment, self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use” are the strongest and most important predictors in the intention of and students towards E-learning systems. The outcomes offer practical implications for practitioners, lawmakers, and developers in effective E-learning systems implementation to improve ongoing interests and activities of university students in a virtual E-learning atmosphere, valuable recommendations for E-learning practices are given by the research findings, and these may turn out to be as guidelines for the efficient design of E-learning systems

Disruptive Innovative Library Services @ international Nalanda University: Present and Future Roadmaps

This paper discusses innovative technologies that have implemented at international Nalanda University, Rajgir, Bihar, India and also planning to implement some other advanced tools and technologies in future. The Nalanda University is an avant-garde International University, a truly “sui generis” supported by 17 partner countries of the East Asia Summit. The Government of India designates it as an “Institution of National Importance” under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Nalanda University envisions its library to be the central fulcrum of its master plan, both in terms of its design and bearing. This paper explains in details the services which are categorized into five different areas such as (1) Infrastructure (2) Collection Development (3) Emerging Tools and Technologies (4) Research Support Service (5) Other Social Responsible Activities. Under the “Infrastructure” this paper enumerates in details about the good ambience for best study environment for the users to attract towards the library; illustrates various types of resources, setting up a Common Archival Resource Centre (CARC) and Digitization of Nalanda’s Discovery under “Collection Development”; and also explains various types of “Emerging Tools and Technologies” to reach out the to the users such as Integrated Library Management System (ILMS), Customized Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), Web-scale Discovery Service (WSDS), Library Portal, Remote Access and Single Sign-on, Institutional Repository, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), A to Z Link and Open URL Link Resolver, Cloud Computing, Electronic Resource Management System (ERMS), Course Reserve, M Library, Content Management System (CMS), Google’s Custom Search Engine (GCS), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR) & Augmented Reality (AR), Gesture-based Computing, Crowdsourcing, QR Code, Internet of Thing (IoT), Popular Aisles, Library Utensils, 3D Printer, Library Wearable, Learning Management Systems, Web 2.0, and MakerSpace. This paper also explains in details Information and Reference Services, Reference Management Tool, Citation database, Thesis and Dissertation, Scholarly Archive, Anti-plagiarism Tool, Academic Writing, Personalized Research ID, Data and Visualization Service, Copyright and IPR issues, Information Alerts on Core and Allied Subjects under “Research Support Service”. It also elucidates in details about “Other Social Responsibilities Activities” such as Mobile Library Service, Workshops for local communities, Libraries in Jails, Competitive Examinations Centr