The seamless integration of Web3D technologies with university curricula to engage the changing student cohort

The increasing tendency of many university students to study at least some courses at a distance limits their opportunities for the interactions fundamental to learning. Online learning can assist but relies heavily on text, which is limiting for some students. The popularity of computer games, especially among the younger students, and the emergence of networked games and game-like virtual worlds offers opportunities for enhanced interaction in educational applications. For virtual worlds to be widely adopted in higher education it is desirable to have approaches to design and development that are responsive to needs and limited in their resource requirements. Ideally it should be possible for academics without technical expertise to adapt virtual worlds to support their teaching needs. This project identified Web3D, a technology that is based on the X3D standards and which presents 3D virtual worlds within common web browsers, as an approach worth exploring for educational application. The broad goals of the project were to produce exemplars of Web3D for educational use, together with development tools and associated resources to support non-technical academic adopters, and to promote an Australian community of practice to support broader adoption of Web3D in education. During the first year of the project exemplar applications were developed and tested. The Web3D technology was found to be still in a relatively early stage of development in which the application of standards did not ensure reliable operation in different environments. Moreover, ab initio development of virtual worlds and associated tools proved to be more demanding of resources than anticipated and was judged unlikely in the near future to result in systems that non-technical academics could use with confidence. In the second year the emphasis moved to assisting academics to plan and implement teaching in existing virtual worlds that provided relatively easy to use tools for customizing an environment. A project officer worked with participating academics to support the teaching of significant elements of courses within Second LifeTM. This approach was more successful in producing examples of good practice that could be shared with and emulated by other academics. Trials were also conducted with ExitRealityTM, a new Australian technology that presents virtual worlds in a web browser. Critical factors in the success of the project included providing secure access to networked computers with the necessary capability; negotiating the complexity of working across education, design of virtual worlds, and technical requirements; and supporting participants with professional development in the technology and appropriate pedagogy for the new environments. Major challenges encountered included working with experimental technologies that are evolving rapidly and deploying new networked applications on secure university networks. The project has prepared the way for future expansion in the use of virtual worlds for teaching at USQ and has contributed to the emergence of a national network of tertiary educators interested in the educational applications of virtual worlds

An e-learning platform for delivering educational contents in a school environment

Learning is a continuous process, without end, which takes place throughout life, and is the result of the interaction of an individual with a physical external environment, a social context or with herself. In what new technologies may help improving and making more effective the interaction of an individual during his learning process? This paper describes the use of a platform for delivering educational contents to students, to put theories into practice through the use of an LMS and highlight the strengths and weaknesses that have these learning tools in a school environment, in which - besides its formative aspect - upbringing is important.learning management system, digital contents.

The simplicity project: easing the burden of using complex and heterogeneous ICT devices and services

As of today, to exploit the variety of different "services", users need to configure each of their devices by using different procedures and need to explicitly select among heterogeneous access technologies and protocols. In addition to that, users are authenticated and charged by different means. The lack of implicit human computer interaction, context-awareness and standardisation places an enormous burden of complexity on the shoulders of the final users. The IST-Simplicity project aims at leveraging such problems by: i) automatically creating and customizing a user communication space; ii) adapting services to user terminal characteristics and to users preferences; iii) orchestrating network capabilities. The aim of this paper is to present the technical framework of the IST-Simplicity project. This paper is a thorough analysis and qualitative evaluation of the different technologies, standards and works presented in the literature related to the Simplicity system to be developed

Simulating face to face collaboration for interactive learning systems

The use of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in medical education and other educational settings has escalated. PBL\u27s strength in learning is mostly due to its collaborative and open-ended problem solving approach. Traditional PBL was designed to be used in live team environments rather than in an online setting. We describe research that allows for web-based PBL via geographically distributed physical locations that emphasize PBL\u27s collaboration and open brainstorming approach using interactive web, gaming and simulation techniques. We describe Interactive Face Animation - Comprehensive Environment (iFACE) which allows for expressive voice based character agents along with Collaborative Online Multimedia Problem-based Simulation Software (COMPS) which integrates iFace within a customizable web-based collaboration system. COMPS creates an XML-based multimedia communication medium that is effective for group based case presentations, discussions and other PBL activities

View: a 3D virtual learning environment for introduction to multimedia subjects using cooperative learning approach

Rapid advancement of technology can simplify and speed up communication processes. The development of information and communication technology (ICT) for instance, has allowed various learning activities to be conducted virtually. Some of the activities that have extensively exploited such a technology are cooperative and collaborative learning, in which ICT can strongly support the vital elements of the learning activities. The elements of these activities are interaction and communication between students, which are often carried out in a two-dimensional virtual learning environment (2-D VLE) by utilizing Web 2.0 applications such as chat rooms, online discussion forums, social networking sites, and blogs. Despite being extraordinarily capable of supporting online learning activities, ICT has several drawbacks. The technology is limited to text-based communication; it provides less support in the use of nonverbal communication to convey messages; and it provides users with limited tools to collaborate. These limitations make the applications inferior in supporting communication and interaction hence the learning activities performed in a VLE are considered very limited and not realistic since they are executed merely through text conversations or discussions without any other forms of interactions. Several problems have emerged from these limitations, particularly on students’ interaction, participation, motivation, satisfaction dan sense of presence. Therefore recently, a threedimensional virtual learning environment (3-D VLE) or a virtual world has been utilized as a platform of online learning as it possesses potentials in supporting online and virtual learning. However, 3-D VLE is still new in Malaysia, especially at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), although it is very beneficial for online learning and especially for distance Statistical analysis showed that there are significant performance improvements between students' scores in pre and post test. While interaction and communication of the students were evaluated by analyzing the recorded video of the learning activities using the content analysis technique based on a coding scheme which is related to cooperative learning. The results of this analysis indicate that the frequencies of seeking input and contributing about the tasks and also technical matters among the students were high. Therefore it shows that majority of the students were active during the learning process and none of them was a sleeping partner. In terms of satisfaction and sense of presence, it was assessed through questionnaires that were distributed to the students upon completion of all learning activities. Based on statistical analysis that has been carried out, the findings showed that scores of social presence, place presence and co-presence were high, thus showing that the students can feel that they were really in the virtual world along with their friends. From the interview conducted with several selected students, they were satisfied with the cooperative learning in ViEW. They feel that learning in 3-D VLE was enjoyable and has great potential to be further implemented in all subjects

Design Your Career - Design Your Life

This research investigates the current plague of unemployment and underemployment that nearly half of qualified individuals in the field of Visual Communications are met with after graduation. Students who major in this field dedicate a tremendous amount of time, money, and energy toward developing a broad skillset that resolves critical matters of communication through visual solutions. Research has demonstrated that despite conditions that are subject to ongoing change of economy, industry, and marketplace there are contributing factors that must be addressed to overcome un/underemployment regardless of circumstances. These include an underdeveloped network of professional contacts, deficiency in recognizing or responding to changing conditions, and a limited ability to customize one’s career around their unique specialization. The purpose of this study is to provide students who major in Visual Communications the information and tools needed to incorporate their ability to adapt and problem solve from their skillset into their search for work. To explore this issue, information was gathered through secondary research that involved data from federal databases, case studies, literature review, and secondary research in general. Return on investment for one’s education is measured in consideration of three primary themes: job satisfaction, income, and quality of life, which may provide hopeful opportunity for professionals in Visual Communications to overcome un/underemployment through career customization

DISRUPTIVE BUSSINESS MODEL FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

A business model is a plan for the successful operation of a business, identifying the source of revenue, the intended customers, value proposition, key resources, activities, and financing. It describes how organizations create, deliver and capture value. The recent developments in information and communications technology (ICT) disrupted most business models in different industries. The higher education industry is no exception, where it witnessed enormous integration of information and communications technologies. E-learning in higher education has made a tremendous shift in students’ life and raised the expectations of higher education service quality. The main objective of this thesis to develop a disruptive business model with a value proposition that leverages the recent development in the ICT sector and helps reduce educational costs, optimize operations of educational institutions, and provide an increased number of students with access to high-quality educational services. The research work provides a comprehensive literature review on using ICT in higher education and utilizes a well know business model canvas – designed in 2010 by business theorist Osterwalder – to develop a disruptive model of higher education. Two surveys have been conducted in the empirical part of this study. The first one investigates the current application of online technologies in higher education, targeting students, faculty, and parents. The second survey evaluates the students’ reactions to e-learning courses that they had taken. The results of the studies align with the value and technologies proposed by the business model. Hence, the two surveys’ findings prove the validity and the unique potential of the proposed business model. The study reveals that the implementation of the new model might face substantial resistance to change because many teachers, parents, and even students do not perceive online learning as a valid alternative to traditional education. Therefore, institutions of higher education will need to conduct information campaigns to convince students, parents, and employers of the validity of the new model