DesignABILITY: Framework for the Design of Accessible Interactive Tools to Support Teaching to Children with Disabilities

Developing educational tools aimed at children with disabilities is a challenging process for designers and developers because existing methodologies or frameworks do not provide any pedagogical information and/or do not take into account the particular needs of users with some type of impairment. In this study, we propose a framework for the design of tools to support teaching to children with disabilities. The framework provides the necessary stages for the development of tools (hardware-based or software-based) and must be adapted for a specific disability and educational goal. For this study, the framework was adapted to support literacy teaching and contributes to the design of educational/interactive technology for deaf people while making them part of the design process and taking into account their particular needs. The experts' evaluation of the framework shows that it is well structured and may be adapted for other types of disabilities

Teaching Software Engineering from a Collaborative Perspective: Some Latin-American Experiences

Teaching software engineering has been recognized as an important challenge for computer science undergraduate programs. Instruction in such area requires not only to deliver theoretical knowledge, but also to perform practical experiences that allow students to assimilate and apply such knowledge. This paper presents some results of two Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) experiences that involved students of software engineering courses from four Latin American Universities. The obtained results were satisfactory and indicate the reported collaborative activity could be appropriate to address teaching software engineering.Teaching software engineering has been recognized as an important challenge for computer science undergraduate programs. Instruction in such area requires not only to deliver theoretical knowledge, but also to perform practical experiences that allow students to assimilate and apply such knowledge. This paper presents some results of two Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) experiences that involved students of software engineering courses from four Latin American Universities. The obtained results were satisfactory and indicate the reported collaborative activity could be appropriate to address teaching software engineering

Multicultural aspects in HCI-curricula

In the developing of any kind of interactive and information applications, multicultural aspects, usually, have not been considered. Therefore, people need to adapt to the interfaces instead the opposite, interfaces adapting themselves to the user characteristics. Designing products for international users all above the world is a non solved challenge and will be one of the main goals for future marketing strategies. HCI area has experimented a growth that has occurred as a result of the generalization of computer use and of problems which originate from use by people who are not specifically trained in these appliances. Despite this growth, multicultural aspects in many cases are not included in the HCI Curricula. In recent years, diverse symptoms have expounded that the Ibero-American market is growing very fast to incorporate professionals with HCI backgrounds and solid knowledge about User Centred Design methods. Indeed, these kind of professionals are currently required when developing or localizing interactive systems in this particular scenario. In this paper, we describe the experience of starting the first HCI master in Spanish language for the wide Spanish speaking context held in the University of Lleida (Catalonia, Spain), where we have included specific courses including the multicultural aspects. They will orient the students to have in mind cross-cultural factors when developing international interfaces. In many cases, even it implies adapting evaluation techniques such as usability heuristics traditionally used in HCI courses.This paper was partially supported by the Microsoft Research Project Fund, Grant R0308LAC00

Diseño colaborativo basado en ThinkLets como apoyo a la enseñanza de la Programación

The incorporation of collaborative work in the educational field grows day by day, as do the number of research groups and projects associated with this topic; since the learning activities specified collaboratively promote communication, coordination, and negotiation within the groups. While this strategy's practical usefulness has been demonstrated at different training levels, not much emphasis has been placed on a fundamental part: the design of inherent collaborative processes. Collaboration Engineering highlights collaboration patterns and ThinkLets as primary design units, which has its primary objective reuse. This article presents a proposal for a collaborative activity to be implemented to support the teaching of initial programming courses at the university level, which bases its collaborative design on patterns and ThinkLets.La incorporación del trabajo colaborativo en el ámbito educativo crece día a día, al igual que el número de grupos de investigación y proyectos asociados a este tema, dado que las actividades de aprendizaje especificadas de forma colaborativa promueven la comunicación, la coordinación y la negociación al interior de los grupos. Si bien se ha demostrado la utilidad práctica de esta estrategia en diferentes niveles de formación, no se ha hecho mucho énfasis en una parte fundamental: el diseño de los procesos colaborativos inherentes. La Ingeniería de la Colaboración destaca para ello el uso de patrones de colaboración y de ThinkLets como unidades primarias de diseño, lo cual tiene como objetivo primordial la reutilización. Este artículo presenta una propuesta de actividad colaborativa a implementarse como apoyo en la enseñanza de cursos iniciales de Programación en el ámbito universitario, la cual basa su diseño colaborativo en la utilización de patrones y ThinkLets

Aspects to consider in the evaluation of satisfaction in virtual learning environments

Cada vez hay un mayor interés en medir y evaluar la experiencia de usuario de manera más objetiva y precisa con respecto a las necesidades reales de los usuarios. Sin embargo, la evolución de la tecnología ha implicado diversos retos que involucran lograr un acercamiento y comprensión de los elementos implícitos en la interacción de un usuario y un sistema interactivo. En el caso de entornos virtuales de aprendizaje, el desafío es mayor, ya que hay aspectos propios del contexto, que los métodos tradicionales son insuficientes para proporcionar una forma adecuada de evaluar la satisfacción de uso en este tipo de entornos. En este artículo se presenta una propuesta que pretende incluir dentro de la evaluación de la satisfacción de uso, elementos cruciales que caracterizan a los sistemas software dedicados al aprendizaje, y a su vez se propone la manera de evaluarlos desde un enfoque emocional.Every time there is an increased interest in measuring and evaluating the user experience more objectively and accurately with respect to the real needs of users. However, the evolution of technology has meant various challenges and has achieved a closer understanding of the implicit elements in the interaction of a user and an interactive system. In the case of virtual learning environments, the challenge is greater as there are contextual specific aspects that traditional methods cannot provide in an adequate way to assess the satisfaction of use in such environments. This proposal intended to include crucial elements that characterize learning software systems and to show how to evaluate these systems from an emotional approach

Design of an electronic voting system using A blockchain network

Design of a scalable electronic voting system, which, based on a generic model designed for this application called voting cell, guarantees the integrity of the information through the use of a private network Blockchain. For the validation of the system, the implementation of a cell was carried out, for which fifty voters and three voting options were enabled. The stored data was intentionally modified to corroborate the error correction method used by the block chain networks and thus ensure the integrity of the voting system results

Resource allocation model for a computer system

This article describes a simulation for resource allocation. As a particular case, it describes how would be the assignment in an ad hoc network. We present the results of a simulation allocating resources from one system (communications network) to another system (agent collections). In the description of the model first shows the behavior of the allocation of resources towards the nodes depending on the usefulness of the network and the satisfaction of the agents. Based on the mathematical model of the tragedy of the commons, the behavior of the system is shown. The usefulness and satisfaction of the system are measured. Resource allocation is modeled as an interaction. The computational model Interaction Nets is used as the basis of the simulation

Evaluando la usabilidad de aplicaciones interactivas en entornos de Televisión Digital

El alto porcentaje de penetración de la televisión en Colombia, así como el rápido despliegue que tendrá la Televisión Digital en el país los próximos años, tras el apagón analógico, hace necesario estudiar la Usabilidad de las aplicaciones pertenecientes a este medio de interacción, la cual es una característica de calidad fundamental para el éxito de dichas aplicaciones. La usabilidad es un concepto que incluye un conjunto de métricas y métodos con el objetivo de obtener sistemas fáciles de usar y de aprender. Los métodos de evaluación de usabilidad - MEU, que permiten medir los atributos de la usabilidad, son bastante diversos. Su realización depende de variables como: costos, disponibilidad de tiempo, recursos humanos, etc. Un buen número de MEU pueden ser realizados para evaluar aplicaciones de Televisión Digital Interactiva – TDi, pero la incógnita está en el nivel de información que obtiene cada uno de estos y/o la combinación de unos con otros. Este artículo presenta el análisis de un conjunto de MEU realizados sobre aplicaciones TDi, estableciendo una propuesta metodológica de evaluación de usabilidad, con el objetivo de obtener la mayor cantidad de información relevante sobre este tipo de aplicaciones.Facultad de Informátic

Evaluando la usabilidad de aplicaciones interactivas en entornos de Televisión Digital

El alto porcentaje de penetración de la televisión en Colombia, así como el rápido despliegue que tendrá la Televisión Digital en el país los próximos años, tras el apagón analógico, hace necesario estudiar la Usabilidad de las aplicaciones pertenecientes a este medio de interacción, la cual es una característica de calidad fundamental para el éxito de dichas aplicaciones. La usabilidad es un concepto que incluye un conjunto de métricas y métodos con el objetivo de obtener sistemas fáciles de usar y de aprender. Los métodos de evaluación de usabilidad - MEU, que permiten medir los atributos de la usabilidad, son bastante diversos. Su realización depende de variables como: costos, disponibilidad de tiempo, recursos humanos, etc. Un buen número de MEU pueden ser realizados para evaluar aplicaciones de Televisión Digital Interactiva – TDi, pero la incógnita está en el nivel de información que obtiene cada uno de estos y/o la combinación de unos con otros. Este artículo presenta el análisis de un conjunto de MEU realizados sobre aplicaciones TDi, estableciendo una propuesta metodológica de evaluación de usabilidad, con el objetivo de obtener la mayor cantidad de información relevante sobre este tipo de aplicaciones.Facultad de Informátic

Culture and Psychiatric Evaluation: Operationalizing Cultural Formulation for DSM-5

The Outline for Cultural Formulation (OCF) introduced with DSM-IV provided a framework for clinicians to organize cultural information relevant to diagnostic assessment and treatment planning. However, use of the OCF has been inconsistent, raising questions about the need for guidance on implementation, training, and application in diverse settings. To address this need, DSM-5 introduced a cultural formulation interview (CFI) that operationalizes the process of data collection for the OCF. The CFI includes patient and informant versions and 12 supplementary modules addressing specific domains of the OCF. This article summarizes the literature reviews and analyses of experience with the OCF conducted by the DSM-5 Cross-Cultural Issues Subgroup (DCCIS) that informed the development of the CFI. We review the history and contents of the DSM-IV OCF, its use in training programs, and previous attempts to render it operational through questionnaires, protocols, and semi-structured interview formats. Results of research based on the OCF are discussed. For each domain of the OCF, we summarize findings from the DCCIS that led to content revision and operationalization in the CFI. The conclusion discusses training and implementation issues essential to service delivery