Transmedia storytelling edutainment experience in engineering studies

[EN] Transmedia Storytelling Edutainment is a new learning paradigm that develops from the coordinated and strategic use of multiple media/platforms for the communication of a story (content), involving students in the story as prosumers (producers+consumers). Experiential learning combined with storybased curriculums can be a very effective means of educating students. Specifically, Transmedia Storytelling Edutainment is effective in improving engagement, motivation and knowledge retention with students. Experiences have been made with young people in basic education, but they are scarce in university studies and more specifically in technical bachelor¿s degrees. Transmedia storytelling is a complex task that requires design considerations of narrative, engagement, and interaction. This paper analyses the structure and characteristics of transmedia experiences in university. Based on the results of the analysis, we propose a transmedia experience in a technical subject of the Degree in Computer Science. This strategy takes into account the following aspects: the story should be convincing and based on realism; the promotion of cooperation and a sense of community be promoted; and that there be multimodality in the learning environments, as well as challenging students to go deeper into the course material.This work is supported by the Universidad de Zaragoza project PIIDUZ_19_348 Aplicación De Narrativas Transmedia En El Contexto De Asignaturas De Informática E Ingeniería De Sistemas.Del Val Noguera, E.; González Sorribes, A. (2020). Transmedia storytelling edutainment experience in engineering studies. Iated. 5566-5572. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2020.1510S5566557

Active-learning methods for control engineering teaching using web applications

[EN] The development of active-learning methods is strongly proliferating nowadays in Higher Education studies. Roughly speaking, active learning can be understood as a way of learning in which students are more directly involved in the learning process. It is commonly accepted that, in contrast to traditional methods, substantial improvement of the own learning process is achieved through active methodologies. In particular, teachers must address an extra effort to engage the interest of students when faced with subjects provided with strong theoretical background (such as automatic control related topics). Indeed, one of the main drawbacks reported by the own students is their difficulty to connect real engineering application and theoretical lessons. In this paper, we present an active learning method conceived for automatic control subjects with the aid of virtual laboratories compatible with a wide range of web browsers for this end. In a first stage, some real engineering problems for students in the classroom are raised. Through a suitable follow-up of intermediate results and the appropriate discussions, teachers will be able to obtain an immediate feedback while evaluating the quality of learning at each stage. It is worthwhile mentioning that virtual labs are developed using the standard web interactive programming language HTML and Javascript, which only requires a web browser to be executed. Hence, in comparison to previous academic years, it is expected to better promote the usefulness of the control engineering for the students¿ careers with high degree of autonomy for self-scheduling homework and low cost resources, while improving the self-motivation and long-term quality of learning.This work is supported by the Universidad de Zaragoza project PIIDUZ_19_342 Desarrollo e implantación de un modelo basado en aula invertida y metodologías activas para asignaturas de informática e ingeniería de sistemas.González Sorribes, A.; Del Val Noguera, E. (2020). Active-learning methods for control engineering teaching using web applications. Iated. 5583-5589. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2020.1516S5583558

Empowering users regarding the sensitivity of their data in social networks through nudge mechanisms

The use of online social networks (OSNs) is a continuous trade-off between relinquishing some privacy in exchange for getting some social benefits like maintaining (or creating new) relationships, getting support, influencing others’ opinions, etc. OSN users are faced with this decision each time they share information. The amount of information or its sensitivity is directly related to the amount of users’ loss of privacy. Currently, there are several approaches for assessing the sensitivity of the information based on the willingness of users to provide them, the monetary benefits derived from extracting knowledge of them, the amount of information they provide, etc. In this work, we focus on quantifying data sensitivity as the combination of all of the approaches and adapting them to the OSN domain. Furthermore, we propose a way of scoring publication sensitivity as the accumulative value of the sensitivity of the information types included in it. Finally, an experiment with 196 teenagers was carried out to assess the effectiveness of empowering users regarding the sensitivity of the publication. The results show a significant effect on users’ privacy behavior by the nudge message and the sensitivity included in it

Assessing the Effectiveness of a Gamified Social Network for Applying Privacy Concepts: An Empirical Study with Teens

[EN] The concept of privacy in online social networks (OSNs) is a challenge, especially for teenagers. Previous works deal with teaching about privacy using educational online content, and media literacy. However, these tools do not necessarily promote less risky behaviors, and do not allow the assessment of users' behavior after the learning period. Moreover, few research studies about the effects of social gamification have been performed for this population segment (i.e., teenagers). To address this problem in this article, we propose the use of gamification in an OSN called Pesedia to facilitate the teaching/learning process, and assess its effectiveness in promoting suitable privacy behaviors. We tested our proposal comparing teenagers' performance in two editions of a course about social networks, and privacy (with, and without gamification) for one month. We measured the impact of gamification in the participants' behaviors toward privacy concepts as a consequence of the privacy teaching/learning process, and the participants' engagement in the educational process. The results show that there are significant differences in participants' behavior regarding privacy, and engagement in the gamified social network. Moreover, there is also a significant difference in participants' engagement for the gamified male participants. The gamified social network proposed in this article may be relevant, and useful for educators who wish to develop, and enhance teenagers' privacy skills, or for a broader base of aspects related to the development of digital competences, and technology in education.This work was supported in part by the Spanish Government Project TIN2017-89156-R, and in part by the FPI under Grant BFS-2015-074498. (Corresponding author: Elena Del Vol.)Alemany-Bordera, J.; Del Val, E.; García-Fornes, A. (2020). Assessing the Effectiveness of a Gamified Social Network for Applying Privacy Concepts: An Empirical Study with Teens. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies. 13(4):777-789. https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2020.3026584S77778913

Strategies for cooperation emergence in distributed service discovery

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Cybernetics and Systems on APR 3 2014], available online:http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01969722.2014.894848[EN] In distributed environments where entities only have a partial view of the system, cooperation plays a key issue. In the case of decentralized service discovery in open agent societies, agents only know about the services they provide and who are their direct neighbors. Therefore, they need the cooperation of their neighbors in order to locate the required services. However, cooperation is not always present in open systems. Non-cooperative agents pursuing their own goals could refuse to forward queries from other agents to avoid the cost of this action; therefore, the efficiency of the decentralized service discovery could be seriously damaged. In this paper, we propose the ombination of incentives and local structural changes in order to promote cooperation in the service discovery process. The results show that, even in scenarios where the predominant behavior is not collaborative cooperation emerges.The work was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through grants TIN2009-13839-C03-01, TIN2012-36586-C03-01, CSD2007-0022 (CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010).Del Val Noguera, E.; Rebollo Pedruelo, M.; Botti, V. (2014). Strategies for cooperation emergence in distributed service discovery. Cybernetics and Systems. 45(3):220-240. https://doi.org/10.1080/01969722.2014.894848S220240453Blanc , A. , Y.K. Liu , and A. Vahdat . “Designing Incentives for Peer-to-Peer Routing.” InProceedings of the 24th Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Societies, Vol. 1, pp. 374–385, 2005 .del Val , E. “Semantic Service Management in Service-Oriented Multi-Agent Systems.” Ph.D. thesis, Departament de Sistemes Informàtics i Computació, Universitat Politècnica de València, 2013 .Del Val, E., Rebollo, M., & Botti, V. (2012). Enhancing decentralized service discovery in open service-oriented multi-agent systems. Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, 28(1), 1-30. doi:10.1007/s10458-012-9210-0DORAN, J. E., FRANKLIN, S., JENNINGS, N. R., & NORMAN, T. J. (1997). On cooperation in multi-agent systems. The Knowledge Engineering Review, 12(3), 309-314. doi:10.1017/s0269888997003111Eguíluz, V. M., Zimmermann, M. G., Cela‐Conde, C. J., & Miguel, M. S. (2005). Cooperation and the Emergence of Role Differentiation in the Dynamics of Social Networks. American Journal of Sociology, 110(4), 977-1008. doi:10.1086/428716Griffiths , N. and M. Luck . “Changing Neighbours: Improving Tag-Based Cooperation.” InProceedings of the 9th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems: volume 1.(AAMAS'10), 249–256. Richland, SC: International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, 2010 .Gu , B. and S. Jarvenpaa . “Are Contributions to p2p Technical Forums Private or Public Goods? An Empirical Investigation.” Paper presented at the 1st Workshop on Economics of Peer-to-Peer Systems, June 4–5, 2004, Harvard University .Hauert, C., Traulsen, A., Brandt, H., Nowak, M. A., & Sigmund, K. (2007). Via Freedom to Coercion: The Emergence of Costly Punishment. Science, 316(5833), 1905-1907. doi:10.1126/science.1141588Hofmann , L.M. , N. Chakraborty , and K. Sycara . “The Evolution of Cooperation in Self-Interested Agent Societies: A Critical Study.” InProceedings of the 10th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, Volume 2 , edited by K. Tumer , P. Yolum , L. Sonenberg , and P. Stone , 685–692. IFAAMAS, 2011 .Lin, W. S., Zhao, H. V., & Liu, K. J. R. (2009). Incentive Cooperation Strategies for Peer-to-Peer Live Multimedia Streaming Social Networks. IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, 11(3), 396-412. doi:10.1109/tmm.2009.2012915Nowak, M. A. (2006). Five Rules for the Evolution of Cooperation. Science, 314(5805), 1560-1563. doi:10.1126/science.1133755Nowak, M. A., & Sigmund, K. (1998). Evolution of indirect reciprocity by image scoring. Nature, 393(6685), 573-577. doi:10.1038/31225Ohtsuki, H., Hauert, C., Lieberman, E., & Nowak, M. A. (2006). A simple rule for the evolution of cooperation on graphs and social networks. Nature, 441(7092), 502-505. doi:10.1038/nature04605Santos, F. C., Santos, M. D., & Pacheco, J. M. (2008). Social diversity promotes the emergence of cooperation in public goods games. Nature, 454(7201), 213-216. doi:10.1038/nature06940Shneidman , J. and D. C. Parkes . “Rationality and Self-Interest in Peer to Peer Networks.” Paper presented at the 2nd Int. Workshop on Peer-to-Peer Systems (IPTPS’03), February 20–21, 2003, Berkeley, CA .Sigmund, K. (2007). Punish or perish? Retaliation and collaboration among humans. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 22(11), 593-600. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2007.06.012Sigmund, K. (2009). Sympathy and similarity: The evolutionary dynamics of cooperation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(21), 8405-8406. doi:10.1073/pnas.0903947106Sigmund, K., Hauert, C., & Nowak, M. A. (2001). Reward and punishment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98(19), 10757-10762. doi:10.1073/pnas.161155698Sun , Q. and H. Garcia-Molina . “Slic: A Selfish Link-Based Incentive Mechanism for Unstructured Peer-To-Peer Networks.” Paper presented at the 24th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS’04), March 23–26, 2004, Washington, DC .Villatoro , D. , J. Sabater-Mir , and S. Sen . “Social Instruments for Robust Convention Emergence.”Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, edited by T. Walsh, 420–425, 2011

Comparación de la refracción subjetiva binocular guiada por el sistema Chronos con la refracción subjetiva binocular hecha por un optometrista como Gold Standard

Introducción: Se comparó un nuevo equipo de refracción subjetiva binocular guiada (Chronos) con la refracción subjetiva realizada por un optometrista experimentado como Gold Standard. Material y métodos: Realizamos un estudio observacional transversal, aleatorizado y doble ciego en una muestra de 43 ojos derechos de pacientes, 24 hombres (55.8 %) y 19 mujeres (44.2 %) con una mediana de 54 años y rango intercuartílico (42-64). Los sujetos se seleccionaron mediante el criterio de inclusión de ausencia de patología ocular previa y los criterios de exclusión del equipo Chronos. Cada paciente fue graduado por el equipo Chronos, obteniendo una refracción subjetiva binocular y una agudeza visual para lejos y cerca, asistido por un optometrista. Los resultados refractivos se analizaron mediante equivalente esférico medio (M) y componentes cilíndricas y verticales y oblicuas (J0 y J45). Resultados: Se calcularon los coeficientes de correlación de Spearman para las variables M0, J0 y J45 entre el Chronos y el optometrista obteniendo una fuerte correlación positiva de 0.983, 0.804 y 0.777 respectivamente con una p<0.01 para las 3 en la refracción de lejos. Para la refracción de lejos los coeficientes fueron 0.973, 0.727 y 0.754 respectivamente para las mismas con una p<0.01. Las agudezas visuales obtuvieron una correlación positiva más baja para la refracción de lejos de 0.634 y p<0.01 y para refracción de cerca de 0.259 y p<0.05 siendo este último el único que resultó estadísticamente significativo. No hubo diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre hombres y mujeres ni en pacientes ≥40 años. Conclusiones: La refracción subjetiva binocular guiada por el Equipo Chronos muestra unos valores muy similares a la refracción realizada por un optometrista tanto el componentes esféricos y cilíndricos como en agudeza visual excepto en la visión de cerca donde las diferencias son estadísticamente significativas.Introduction: A new binocular-guided subjective refraction device (Chronos) was compared with subjective refraction performed by an experienced optometrist as the Gold Standard. Material and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, randomized, double-blind observational study in a sample of 43 patients’ right eyes, 24 men (55.8%) and 19 women (44.2%) with a median of 54 years and interquartile range (42-64). The subjects were selected using the inclusion criteria of the absence of previous ocular pathology and the exclusion criteria of the Chronos system. Each patient was graded by the Chronos team, obtaining subjective binocular refraction and visual acuity for far and near, assisted by an optometrist. Refractive results were analyzed by mean spherical equivalent (M) and cylindrical and vertical and oblique components (J0 and J45). Results: Spearman's correlation coefficients were calculated for the variables M0, J0 and J45 between the Chronos and the optometrist, obtaining a strong positive correlation of 0.983, 0.804 and 0.777, respectively, with p<0.01 for the 3 in distance refraction. For distance refraction, the coefficients were 0.973, 0.727 and 0.754, respectively, with p<0.01. Visual acuity obtained a lower positive correlation for distance refraction of 0.634 and p<0.01 and for near refraction of 0.259 and p<0.05, the latter being the only one that was statistically significant. There were no statistically significant differences between men and women or in patients ≥40 years. Conclusions: The subjective binocular refraction guided by the Chronos device shows very similar values to the refraction performed by an optometrist, both in the spherical and cylindrical components and in visual acuity, except in near vision where the differences are statistically significant

Aprendizaje activo en línea utilizando cuadernos virtuales para la asignatura de sistemas multiagente

Las metodologías activas están centradas en el estudiante y permiten a éstos desempeñar un papel fundamental en su proceso de aprendizaje mediante la participación activa. Para la aplicación de estas metodologías es necesario entornos de aprendizaje apropiados. En el caso concreto de la enseñanza en línea, el uso de herramientas tecnológicas se convierte en un elemento fundamental. En este artículo, presentamos una metodología de aprendizaje activo en línea para la asignatura de Sistemas Multiagente con la ayuda cuadernos virtuales que están disponibles a través de la plataforma Moodle. Esta metodología consta de dos etapas. En una primera etapa se presentan a los estudiantes dos problemas reales en los contextos de la salud e Internet de las cosas en los que los Sistemas Multiagente pueden aplicarse como solución. Los estudiantes se agrupan en “células de aprendizaje” donde discuten las posibles soluciones y llegan a un acuerdo sobre un posible diseño. Al mismo tiempo, el profesor proporciona información sobre problemas similares y sus soluciones a través de cuadernos virtuales. Utilizando estos cuadernos, los alumnos pueden ver de forma práctica cómo se han resuelto problemas similares y adquirir los conocimientos teóricos y prácticos necesarios para resolver el problema propuesto. En una segunda etapa cada “célula de aprendizaje” revisa el diseño de su solución inicial y puede implementarla y probarla a través de otro cuaderno. Para trabajar con estos cuadernos virtuales y la plataforma virtual, los estudiantes necesitarán una conexión a Internet y un navegador web. Con esta metodología de aprendizaje activo en línea se espera promover la utilidad de los sistemas multiagente en problemas reales y mejorar la motivación y la calidad del aprendizaje en las asignaturas en línea.Active methodologies are student-centered and allow students to play a key role in their learning process through active participation. These methodologies have been shown to reduce failure rates and increase student performance. Active learning methodologies need appropriate learning environments for their development. Moreover, if we add the factor of online teaching, the use of technological tools becomes a fundamental element. In this article, we present an online active learning methodology for the subject of Multiagent Systems with the help of virtual notebooks that are available through the Moodle platform. In the first stage, students are presented with two real problems in the contexts of health and the Internet of Things (IoT) in which Multiagent Systems can be applied as a solution. Students are grouped in "learning cells"where they discuss possible solutions and reach an agreement on a possible design. At the same time, the teacher provides information about similar problems and their solutions through a virtual notebook. Using these notebooks, students can see in a practical way how similar problems have been solved and acquire the theoretical knowledge needed to solve the proposed problem. Once this knowledge is acquired, in a second stage, each “learning cell” reviews the design of its initial solution and can test it through another notebook. To work with these virtual notebooks and the virtual platform, students will need an Internet connection and a web browser. With this active online learning methodology, it is expected to promote the usefulness of multi-agent systems in real problems and to improve the motivation and quality of learning in online subjects

Detection and nudge-intervention on sensitive information in social networks

[EN] Detecting sensitive information considering privacy is a relevant issue on Online Social Networks (OSNs). It is often difficult for users to manage the privacy associated with their posts on social networks taking into account all the possible consequences. The aim of this work is to provide information about the sensitivity of the content of a publication when a user is going to share it in OSN. For this purpose, we developed a privacy-assistant agent that detects sensitive information. Based on this information, the agent provides a message through a nudge mechanism warning about the possible risks of sharing the message. To avoid being annoying, the agent also considers the user's previous behaviour (e.g. if he previously ignored certain nudges) and adapts the messages it sends to give more relevance to those categories that are more important to the user from the point of view of the privacy risk. This agent was integrated into the social network Pesedia. We analysed the performance of different models to detect a set of sensitive categories (i.e. location, medical, drug/alcohol, emotion, personal attacks, stereotyping, family and association details, personal details and personally identifiable information) in a dataset of tweets in Spanish. The model that obtained the best results (i.e. F1 and accuracy) and that was finally integrated into the privacy-assistant agent was transformer-based.This work is supported by the Spanish Government project TIN2017-89156-R.Alemany, J.; Botti-Cebriá, V.; Del Val Noguera, E.; García-Fornes, A. (2022). Detection and nudge-intervention on sensitive information in social networks. Logic Journal of IGPL. 30(6):942-953. https://doi.org/10.1093/jigpal/jzac00494295330

Enhancing Smart-Home Environments using Magentix2

[EN] Multi-agent system paradigm has been envisioned as an appropriate solution for challenges in the area of smart-environments. Specifically, MAS add new capabilities such as adaption, reorganization, learning, coordination, etc. These features allow to deal with open issues in the context of smart-homes such as multi-occupancy, activity tracking or profiling activities and behaviors from multiple residents. In this paper, we present Magentix2 as a suitable MAS platform for the development of dynamic smart environments. Specifically, the use of Magentix2 (http://gti-ia.upv.es/sma/tools/magentix2/index.php) facilitates the management of the multiple occupancy in smart living spaces. Normative virtual organizations provide the possibility of defining a set of norms and organizational roles that facilitate the regulation and control of the actions that can be carried out by internal and external agents depending on their profile. Moreover, Magentix2 provides a tracing service to keep track of activities carried out in the system. We illustrate the applicability and benefits of Magentix2 in a set of scenarios in the context of smart-homes.This work is supported by the Spanish government grants PROMETEOII/2013/019,TIN2014-55206-R, TIN2015-65515-C4-1-R, H2020-ICT-2015-688095.Valero Cubas, S.; Del Val Noguera, E.; Alemany-Bordera, J.; Botti, V. (2017). Enhancing Smart-Home Environments using Magentix2. Journal of Applied Logic. 24:32-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jal.2016.11.022S32442

Analyzing urban mobility paths based on users' activity in social networks

[EN] This work presents an approach to model how the activity in social media of the citizens reflects the activity in the city. The proposal includes a gravitational model that deforms the surface of the city based on the intensity of the activity in different zones. The information is extracted from geolocated tweets (n = 1.48 x 10(6)). Furthermore, this activity affects how people move in a city. The path a user follows is calculated using the geolocation of the tweets that he or she publishes along the day. Several models are evaluated and compared using the Hausdorfs distance (d(H)). The combination of gravitational potential with attraction to the destination points provides the best results, with d(H) = 1176 against the Manhattan (d(H) = 1203) or the geodesic (d(H) = 1417) alternatives. Finally, the analysis is repeated with the data segmented by gender (n=2,826 paths, men=1,910, women=916). The results validate (p=0.000334) the studies that affirm that men travel longer distances (d(M) = 4.73 km, alpha(m) = 26.1 degrees) with rectilinear trajectories, whereas women have shorter and more angled paths (d(w) = 4.5 km, alpha(w) = 32.2 degrees), obtaining p values in path lengths and p=0.006 in the angles. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This work is partially supported by Spanish Government Project TIN2015-65515-C4-1-R and the Post-doc grant Ref. SP20170057.Rodríguez, L.; Palanca Cámara, J.; Del Val Noguera, E.; Rebollo Pedruelo, M. (2020). Analyzing urban mobility paths based on users' activity in social networks. Future Generation Computer Systems. 102:333-346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2019.07.072S33334610