Technology-enhanced learning on campus: insights from EUNIS e-Learning Task Force

In 2010 the EUNIS e-Learning Task Force (ELTF) members collaborated on a review of tools and technologies in use across our member institutions. One of the key features of that paper was the use of technology to give off-campus learners, such as distance learners, those undertaking field studies and learners in the workplace a richly supported learning experience. Building on the success of that collaboration, the ELTF members have turned their attention this year to the use of technology on campus. Whilst technology and distance learning go hand in hand, universities are often slower to take advantage of the possibilities offered by technology to enrich the learning that takes place in our lecture theatres and classrooms. The reasons for this are often cultural as much as financial or technical. Drawing on experience from across the EUNIS member nations we take a look at the types of tools, learning resources and learning activities that are being used to enhance the traditional curriculum, promote deeper learning and bridge the learning that takes place inside and outside the classroom. We look at a range of innovative projects and the benefits they have delivered, ways of overcoming the barriers to technology-enhanced learning on campus and we speculate about the role and function of the campus of the future

Software Engineering Issues Emerged From Critical Control Applications

: This paper describes a software engineering project which evolved from certain critical control applications. Its goal is to improve a professional practice in the design and implementation of safe, reliable computer systems. This is to be achieved by development of a proper methodology together with supporting software tools. Since this methodology is addressed to practitioners, it must be not "too academic" but at the same time theoretically sound. Keywords: formal methods, safety-critical, software engineering, software specification, software tools, system documentation. 1 INTRODUCTION Software systems are undoubtedly among the most complex artifacts made by humankind but also among the least trustworthy. These two facts are clearly related. Errors in software are not caused by a fundamental lack of our knowledge. In principle, we know everything about the effect of each instruction that is executed. Software errors are caused by our inability to fully understand all the interrel..

Functional Documents for Computer Systems

Although software documentation standards often go into great detail about the format of documents, describing such details as paragraph numbering and section headings, they fail to give precise descriptions of the information to be contained in the documents. This paper does the opposite; it defines the contents of documents without specifying their format or the notation to be used in them. We describe documents such as the "System Requirements Document", the "System Design Document", the "Software Requirements Document", the "Software Behaviour Specification ", the "Module Interface Specification", and the "Module Internal Design Document" as representations of one or more mathematical relations. By describing those relations, we specify what information should be contained in each document. 1 Introduction Engineers are expected to make disciplined use of science, mathematics and technology to build useful products. Those who construct computer systems are clearly Enginee..

Ultrathin Pd and Pt Films on W(211)

The transition metals Pd and Pt have, in bulk, approximately the same nearest neighbor distance as tungsten, so that ultrathin Pd or Pt films can be grown on W substrates without creating significant strain. In the present work we study ultrathin Pd and Pt films on the atomically rough W(211) surface by first-principles density-functional theory (DFT) methods. Previous experiments, summarized here, have shown that in films thicker than 1 physical monolayer (PML), tungsten atoms of the substrate diffuse into the film to create alloys. Both to confirm the alloy formation from theory and to help characterize the alloys we present studies of Pd and Pt films with included W atoms. The DFT results allow us to indicate the energetically preferred alloy structures