38,612 research outputs found
An investigation into the perspectives of providers and learners on MOOC accessibility
An effective open eLearning environment should consider the target learner’s abilities, learning goals, where learning takes place, and which specific device(s) the learner uses. MOOC platforms struggle to take these factors into account and typically are not accessible, inhibiting access to environments that are intended to be open to all. A series of research initiatives are described that are intended to benefit MOOC providers in achieving greater accessibility and disabled learners to improve their lifelong learning and re-skilling. In this paper, we first outline the rationale, the research questions, and the methodology. The research approach includes interviews, online surveys and a MOOC accessibility audit; we also include factors such the risk management of the research programme and ethical considerations when conducting research with vulnerable learners. Preliminary results are presented from interviews with providers and experts and from analysis of surveys of learners. Finally, we outline the future research opportunities. This paper is framed within the context of the Doctoral Consortium organised at the TEEM'17 conference
Constraints on a possible variation of the fine structure constant from galaxy cluster data
We propose a new method to probe a possible time evolution of the fine
structure constant from X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich measurements of
the gas mass fraction () in galaxy clusters. Taking into account a
direct relation between variations of and violations of the
distance-duality relation, we discuss constraints on for a class of
dilaton runaway models. Although not yet competitive with bounds from high-
quasar absorption systems, our constraints, considering a sample of 29
measurements of , in the redshift interval , provide
an independent estimate of variation at low and intermediate
redshifts. Furthermore, current and planned surveys will provide a larger
amount of data and thus allow to improve the limits on variation
obtained in the present analysis.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in JCA
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