Blending on-campus and online experiences through the use of virtually immersive technologies

Recently, there has been a great deal of attention put toward efforts to integrate teaching methodologies and strategies between face to face and online classrooms looking to maximize learning by combining delivery modalities. Studies point to students not only learning more when online capabilities were added to traditional courses, but also increasing their level of interaction thereby improving the students’ sense of satisfaction with the courses taken. However, these studies tend to isolate deliveries to either all online deliveries or to all on-campus classes and students, without taking into account the more recent movement of blending teaching methods that look to cross over the barriers between online and face to face students. To meet some of the collaborative requirements for blending instruction, virtually immersive environments are beginning to show promise as an interactive communication media that can facilitate the needs of several communities including e-learning, distance education and corporate training. So the question was posed - what happens when online students are given the opportunity, through the use of virtually immersive technologies, to engage with students attending traditional on-campus sessions? Thus, the purpose of this case study is to evaluate the use of virtually immersive technologies as a platform for the conduct of synchronous and asynchronous classroom activities. This article also presents the framework for conducting an undergraduate level ‘Technology Project Management’ course that includes delivery approaches to students from both online (Distance Education) class offerings and on-campus (Face-to-face) class offerings

Data in Depth: Web 3-D Technologies Provide New Approaches to the Presentation of Course Content

For nearly two decades, the Web has provided the classroom with vast, ever-expanding volumes of browser-accessible information. As the web has evolved so too has our desire to become more involved with the process of content-creation and content-sharing. Now new web-based technologies look to provide smarter, more meaningful content and present that content with a new level of depth and interactivity. No longer are faculty and students browsing for information that is largely static; instead, these users are interacting through their three-dimensional (3-D) proxies (their avatars) and are querying applications (semantic web agents) soliciting them to collect, filter, verify, correlate, and present answers to their queries. Yet, all of this capability is not without potential challenges. There is an evolving need for faculty and students to find and build out new structure in their 3-D virtual surroundings that visually enables their content, making it more palatable to the user while presenting it in a 3-D format verses the typical 2-D format that has been the mainstay for the past two decades. With the maturation of virtual world (3-D Web) and semantic web technologies, the web-based content available in the classroom increases exponentially and takes on a new look. Following a brief overview of these two technologies and their overall impact in the classroom, this article presents several practical approaches for presenting course content in 3-D Web environments based on recent implementation efforts. In-World lectures and lab assignments, project team briefing sessions, student mentoring activities, and open conference forums are just a few of the areas discussed. Further discussions also focus on setup and future evaluation studies planned in the near-term to further evaluate course content presentation techniques

Virtual world technologies provide platform for interaction between on-campus and online students: A case study

There has been a great deal of attention paid to efforts by educators to integrate teaching methodologies and strategies between face to face and online classrooms in an effort to maximize learning by combining delivery modalities. Recent studies point to students not only learning more when online capabilities were added to traditional courses, but also increasing their level of interaction thereby improving the students‟ sense of satisfaction with the courses taken. These studies tend to isolate deliveries to either all online classes and students or to all on-campus classes and students, without taking into account the more recent movement of blending teaching methods and crossing over the barriers between online and face to face students. So, what happens when online students are given the opportunity, through the use of virtual world technologies, to engage with students attending traditional on-campus sessions? The purpose of this case study is to evaluate the use of virtual world technologies as a platform for the conduct of synchronous and asynchronous classroom activities. A framework for conducting an undergraduate „Technology Project Management‟ course is presented that includes delivery approaches to students from both online (Distance Education) class offerings and on-campus (Face-to-face) class offerings. Stand-alone, asynchronous, or synchronous learning modalities are incorporated into the framework. To evaluate the framework, a composite evaluation of survey, responses, and assessments analysis are examined. Discussion includes the challenges of developing and presenting this framework as well as managing the instructional complexities involved in the planning and execution of virtual world interactions in the classroom setting. Further discussion includes use of virtual teaming sessions and self-paced online case studies; incorporation of in-world interactive learning modules; assessment of impromptu, in-world, e-learning sessions in the form of informal student interactions; and use of online text and voice chat capabilities. The data indicates, surprisingly, that the learning curve for students was not as steep as expected and that overall the students felt reasonably comfortable with the introduction of this technology into their learning environments. Finally, there is little evidence, beyond pedagogical preference, of adverse effects in using this framework while there were some initially positive small gains in the online students‟ performance related to learning objectives using the virtual world technologies

A New Approach to Communications Management Planning Through 3D Web and Semantic Web Technologies

Communication management plans are used to determine not only who needs what information but also how that information will be collected and transmitted. Now two evolving technologies are looking to drive project planners to develop new approaches and methods for planning communications in the coming years. The first of these technologies, the Semantic Web, is becoming a driving force in how computers are making web content available to its users. The second technology, Web three-dimensional (3D) focuses on web-based content presentation by providing a rich 3D Web-centric environment for users to access information and interact with other users. This effort discusses the advent of the Semantic Web and Web 3D technologies and identifies many of the new planning considerations driving project information collection and analysis. The planning considerations for these two technologies are also discussed to aid in the framing of a new approach to project communications planning

A Design Case: Assessing the Functional Needs for a Multi-faceted Cybersecurity Learning Space

Following a multi-year effort that developed not only a detailed list of functional requirements but also the preliminary physical and logical design layouts, the concept for a multi-faceted cybersecurity center was approved and the physical, as well as, additional infrastructure space was subsequently allocated. This effort briefly describes the structure and scope of the current cybersecurity program being supported and then draws out the functional requirements that were identified for the center based on the needs of the institution’s cybersecurity program. It also highlights the physical and logical design specifications of the center, as well as, the many external program delivery requirements that were identified as essential to not only the current cybersecurity program but also the projected future needs of the program and its supporting activities

Sonolytic Decomposition of Aqueous Bioxalate in the Presence of Ozone

Ultrasonic irradiation in the presence of ozone is demonstrated to be effective for the rapid oxidation of oxalic acid, bioxalate, and oxalate (H_(2)C_(2)O_(4)/HC_(2)O_(4)−/C_(2)O_(4)^2−) in aqueous solution to CO_2 and H_(2)O. The degradation rate of bioxalate exposed to “sonozone” (i.e., simultaneous ultrasonication and ozonolysis) was found to be 16-times faster than predicted by the linear addition of ozonolysis and ultrasonic irradiation rates. The hydroxyl radical (•OH) is the only oxy-radical produced that can oxidize oxalate on a relevant time-scale. Thus, plausible •OH production mechanisms are evaluated to explain the observed kinetic synergism of ultrasonication and ozonolysis toward bioxalate decomposition. •OH production via decomposition of O_3 in the cavitating bubble vapor and via the reaction of O_3 and H_(2)O_2 are considered, but kinetic estimations and experimental evidence indicate neither to be a sufficient source of •OH. A free-radical chain mechanism is proposed in which the HC_(2)O_(4)− + •OH reaction functions as a primary propagation step, while the termination occurs through the O_3 + CO_(2)•− reaction via an O-atom transfer mechanism. Kinetic simulations confirm that ozone reacts efficiently with the superoxide (O_(2)•−) ion that is produced by the reaction of O_2 and CO_(2)•− to form •OH radical, and that the reaction of O_3 + CO_(2)•− must be chain terminating. Oxalate is also readily oxidized by “peroxone” treatment (i.e., H_(2)O_2 and O_3). However, the addition of H_(2)O_2 during the course of the sonolytic ozonation of oxalic acid does not appear to increase the observed degradation rate and decreases rates at millimolar levels

Programmable telemetry system Patent

Time division multiplexed telemetry transmitting system controlled by programmed memor

Data in Depth: Web 3-D Technologies Provide New Approaches to the Presentation of Course Content

For nearly two decades, the Web has provided the classroom with vast, ever-expanding volumes of browseraccessible information. As the web has evolved so too has our desire to become more involved with the process of content-creation and content-sharing. Now new web-based technologies look to provide smarter, more meaningful content and present that content with a new level of depth and interactivity. No longer are faculty and students browsing for information that is largely static; instead, these users are interacting through their three-dimensional (3-D) proxies (their avatars) and are querying applications (semantic web agents) soliciting them to collect, filter, verify, correlate, and present answers to their queries. Yet, all of this capability is not without potential challenges. There is an evolving need for faculty and students to find and build out new structure in their 3-D virtual surroundings that visually enables their content, making it more palatable to the user while presenting it in a 3-D format verses the typical 2-D format that has been the mainstay for the past two decades. With the maturation of virtual world (3-D Web) and semantic web technologies, the web-based content available in the classroom increases exponentially and takes on a new look. Following a brief overview of these two technologies and their overall impact in the classroom, this article presents several practical approaches for presenting course content in 3-D Web environments based on recent implementation efforts. In- World lectures and lab assignments, project team briefing sessions, student mentoring activities, and open conference forums are just a few of the areas discussed. Further discussions also focus on setup and future evaluation studies planned in the near-term to further evaluate course content presentation techniques