The impact of dynamic locking on collaborative programming

The parallel strategy of collaborative writing is commonly used by academia and industry. However, the nature of this approach may not scale to other genres of collaboration including collaborative programming. In this paper, we present a web-based prototype that supports parallel programming with the use of dynamic locking, and evaluate its scalability and system usability. Our results suggest there are benefits to our approach, and we discuss the implications and future directions for research

Multi-synchronous collaboration between desktop and mobile users: A case study of report writing for emergency management

The development of multi-synchronous decision support systems to facilitate collaboration between diverse users is an emerging field in emergency management. Traditionally, information management for emergency response has been a centralised effort. However, modern devices such as smartphones provide new methods for gaining real-time information about a disaster from users in the field. In this paper, we present a framework for multi-synchronous collaborative report writing in the scope of emergency management. This framework supports desktop-based users as information providers and consumers, alongside mobile users as information providers to facilitate multi-synchronous collaboration. We consider the benefits of our framework for writing collaborative Situation Reports and discuss future directions for research

Towards an Adaptive OS Noise Mitigation Technique for Microbenchmarking on Apple Ipad Devices

This study investigates levels of Operating System (OS) noise on Apple iPad mobile devices. OS noise causes variations in application performance that interfere with microbenchmark results. OS noise manifests in collected data through extreme outliers and variations in skewness. Using our collected data, we develop an iterative, semi-automated outlier removal process for Apple iPad OS noise profiles. The profiles generated by outlier removal represent the first step toward an adaptive noise mitigation technique, which presents opportunities for use in microbenchmarking across other mobile platforms

A Survey of Asynchronous Programming Using Coroutines in the Internet of Things and Embedded Systems

Many Internet of Things and embedded projects are event-driven, and therefore require asynchronous and concurrent programming. Current proposals for C++20 suggest that coroutines will have native language support. It is timely to survey the current use of coroutines in embedded systems development. This paper investigates existing research which uses or describes coroutines on resource-constrained platforms. The existing research is analysed with regard to: software platform, hardware platform and capacity; use cases and intended benefits; and the application programming interface design used for coroutines. A systematic mapping study was performed, to select studies published between 2007 and 2018 which contained original research into the application of coroutines on resource-constrained platforms. An initial set of 566 candidate papers were reduced to only 35 after filters were applied, revealing the following taxonomy. The C & C++ programming languages were used by 22 studies out of 35. As regards hardware, 16 studies used 8- or 16-bit processors while 13 used 32-bit processors. The four most common use cases were concurrency (17 papers), network communication (15), sensor readings (9) and data flow (7). The leading intended benefits were code style and simplicity (12 papers), scheduling (9) and efficiency (8). A wide variety of techniques have been used to implement coroutines, including native macros, additional tool chain steps, new language features and non-portable assembly language. We conclude that there is widespread demand for coroutines on resource-constrained devices. Our findings suggest that there is significant demand for a formalised, stable, well-supported implementation of coroutines in C++, designed with consideration of the special needs of resource-constrained devices, and further that such an implementation would bring benefits specific to such devices.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures, to be published in ACM Transactions on Embedded Computing Systems (TECS

ACADEMAGOGY FOR ENHANCING ADULT ONLINE LEARNER ENGAGEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The COVID-19 pandemic has escalated the online learning revolution in tertiary education. However, the commonly applied “one-size-fits-all” paradigm poses challenges such as high attrition rates among online adult learners. This paper highlights the potential benefits and limitations of academagogy to enable the personalisation of online learning in terms of fostering better learner engagement

GitHub: Factors Influencing Project Activity Levels

Open source software projects typically extend the capabilities of their software by incorporating code contributions from a diverse cross-section of developers. This GitHub structural path modelling study captures the current top 100 JavaScript projects in operation for at least one year or more. It draws on three theories (information integration, planned behavior, and social translucence) to help frame its comparative path approach, and to show ways to speed the collaborative development of GitHub OSS projects. It shows a project’s activity level increases with: (1) greater responder-group collaborative efforts, (2) increased numbers of major critical project version releases, and (3) the generation of further commits. However, the generation of additional forks negatively impacts overall project activity levels

Enhancing Social Presence while Balancing Teacher and Student Wellbeing

[Extract] The outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020 caused global disruption on an unprecedented scale, impacting every aspect of life including higher education. Within three weeks of the World Health Organisation declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, UNESCO reported that on-campus teaching at schools and universities had completely stopped in 185 countries, impacting the learning of 1.5 billion learners globally (Marinoni et al., 2020). University teachers, regardless of interest, preparation, experience or attitude towards online learning, were ill-equipped and placed in a stressful position, where they had no option but to rapidly upskill and digitally transform their teaching within a period of days or, at most, a couple of weeks to ensure the continuity of student learning (Borowiec et al., 2021; Colclasure et al., 2021; Cutri et al., 2020). This stress was further compounded for some teachers who experienced technology, health, and family issues (Adedoyin & Soykan, 2020; Cutri et al., 2020; Ensmann et al., 2021). ... From this disruptive time in higher education, and from the social presence strategies that were deployed during this time, there are many lessons that can be learned. This study sought to investigate how computer science, information systems and information technology teachers at Australian universities can effectively develop sustainable and scalable social presence in online environments. It is anticipated that these strategies are directly applicable to the “new” higher education environment that is emerging in a post-pandemic era. The research questions guiding this study are: 1. How do Australian university information technology educators conceptualise social presence? 2. What strategies do Australian university information technology educators use to establish and maintain social presence in their online classes? 3. What barriers and challenges do Australian university teachers face in developing social presence in online learning environments? We commence this investigation by examining the relevant literature and theoretical frameworks underpinning this study, before discussing the methodology used for this research. Next, we discuss the findings and implications for practice. We conclude with a brief discussion of areas where further research is require

Analysing Big Data Projects Using Github and JavaScript Repositories

GitHub open source software developers remain in short supply. Successful GitHub projects offer multiple pathways for developers to contribute into their repositories. This study’s GitHub JavaScript big data is path modelled to provide understanding of the different significant developer contribution pathways towards raising the project’s activity level. Its significant pathways offer the project’s creator benchmark decision making capabilities that can be used to trigger faster project software development through to its next completion point. This approach has behavioural consumptive value connotations that may provide a future pathway towards tapping big data sources and to also delivering real business values

A four stage approach towards speeding GitHub OSS development

Many open source software (OSS) project creators adopt GitHub as their chosen online repository. They seek out others within the global OSS community of developers. Such community developers are then encouraged to add their capabilities, ideas and coding into a creator’s developing OSS project. A structural equation modelling study of three top OSS programming languages deploys GitHub’s operational elements as a four stage directional suite of (1) dependent, (2) intermediaries, and (3) independent elements. It shows a project’s activity levels can be enhanced when additional project contributions are effectively stage-wise pursued. A staged development approach helps creators understand the process of attracting OSS developers into a creator’s GitHub project

Creativity in the cane fields: motivating and engaging IT students through games

In this paper we discuss the influence of the unique local environment and culture on students and teaching styles in the IT degree at James Cook University Cairns Campus. In this degree program games are used to motivate self-directed study and increase student engagement in first and second year programming subjects, and also to generate interest in learning new technologies such as programming for mobile devices. We discuss the use of a mixed reality location based game to improve attitude to teamwork by integrating students in a games subject and a general IT software engineering subject. Students learn the value of community engagement through links to a local primary school for design and evaluation of games, to ensure a balanced approach to user requirements, game design and implementation. Students have explored niche applications of games through the development of a game for children with disabilities