Students use of laptops in large lecture classes: distraction, partial attention or productive use

http://editlib.org/p/34929ED-Media. World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications. Proceedings, 2010, v. 2010 n. 1, p. 2136-2141An increasing number of students are bringing personal laptops to their classes and are using laptops during lectures. This increasing use of personal mobile devices has been described as a shift from e-learning (electronic learning) to m-learning (mobile learning). However, a large debate on the appropriateness of the use of laptops in class has emerged. Many teachers describe that students use laptops for surfing the net, emailing, downloading software and using chat forums during class rather than paying attention to the lecture. This paper reports on the use of laptops in a large lecture class of 650+ students and describes a pilot project that introduced an innovative system that was designed to both focus the attention of students during the class and engage them with the course material outside of class. Educational implications and next steps will be discussed.postprin

Two Halves of Play - Simulation versus Abstraction and Transformation in Sports Videogames Design

Sports videogames need to model a complex reality to a gratifying game experience. This paper suggest a methodology and terminology to describe and explain deviations from pure simulation in sports videogames design. Using the terms of abstraction and transformation and by introducing a graphic representation for those qualities in respect to realism, selected games are qualitatively analysed regarding their respective implementations of reality

Two Halves of Play - Simulation versus Abstraction and Transformation in Sports Videogames Design

Sports videogames need to model a complex reality to a gratifying game experience. This paper suggest a methodology and terminology to describe and explain deviations from pure simulation in sports videogames design. Using the terms of abstraction and transformation and by introducing a graphic representation for those qualities in respect to realism, selected games are qualitatively analysed regarding their respective implementations of reality

06221 Abstracts Collection -- Computational Aestethics in Graphics, Visualization and Imaging

From 28.05.06 to 02.06.06, the Dagstuhl Seminar 06221 ``Computational Aesthetics in Graphics, Visualization and Imaging\u27\u27 was held in the International Conference and Research Center (IBFI), Schloss Dagstuhl. During the seminar, several participants presented their current research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed. Abstracts of the presentations given during the seminar as well as abstracts of seminar results and ideas are put together in this paper. The first section describes the seminar topics and goals in general. Links to extended abstracts or full papers are provided, if available

Increasing Peer Review Quality in Online Learning Systems

[EN] Lecturers face an on-going struggle to keep up-to-date with their students' learning progress in large university courses. This hurts especially when it comes to identifying and supporting the diverse needs of each individual student. One way to approach this challenge is to introduce peer reviewing as a means to provide students with individual feedback throughout the semester. However, the quality of feedback written by peers can vary immensely and some students intentionally avoid putting work into writing reviews. We addressed these issues by calculating a Review Karma (RK), a value indicating how helpful students are in giving feedback to their colleagues and in helping them improve. While this approach shows much promise, especially in identifying different groups of students and enhancing their learning experience, we also identified trends that negatively impact the way students approach reviewing and provide their honest opinions of their colleagues work. The main contributions of this paper are the design of and lessons learned from the introduction of the RK and its initial evaluation via a survey.http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAD18Luckner, N.; Purgathofer, P.; Fitzpatrick, G. (2018). Increasing Peer Review Quality in Online Learning Systems. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 321-328. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.798732132

Pictures in Your Mind: Using Interactive Gesture-Controlled Reliefs to Explore Art

Tactile reliefs offer many benefits over the more classic raised line drawings or tactile diagrams, as depth, 3D shape, and surface textures are directly perceivable. Although often created for blind and visually impaired (BVI) people, a wider range of people may benefit from such multimodal material. However, some reliefs are still difficult to understand without proper guidance or accompanying verbal descriptions, hindering autonomous exploration. In this work, we present a gesture-controlled interactive audio guide (IAG) based on recent low-cost depth cameras that can be operated directly with the hands on relief surfaces during tactile exploration. The interactively explorable, location-dependent verbal and captioned descriptions promise rapid tactile accessibility to 2.5D spatial information in a home or education setting, to online resources, or as a kiosk installation at public places. We present a working prototype, discuss design decisions, and present the results of two evaluation studies: the first with 13 BVI test users and the second follow-up study with 14 test users across a wide range of people with differences and difficulties associated with perception, memory, cognition, and communication. The participant-led research method of this latter study prompted new, significant and innovative developments

Values in computing

Whether it is in the form of software, system architecture or interface design, anything digital is inevitably affected by values: the organizational values of the project sponsor, the values of the research partners, and the values of each developer and designer. Some values (e.g. commercial success, academic prestige) are easier to quantify than others (e.g. social justice, care for the environment) with the latter often dismissed in decision making processes as lacking of measurable ‘evidence’. However, less easy to measure values are not less real: they are simply less visible. The aim of this one-day workshop is precisely to investigate mechanisms which give more exposure to those values in computing that are less frequently considered. We do so by bringing together practitioners from different computing backgrounds (e.g. software engineering, interaction design, information systems) who have first-hand experience of trying to represent on an equal footing all human values in computing

Landspotting: Social gaming to collect vast amounts of data for satellite validation

At present there is no single satellite-derived global land cover product that is accurate enough to provide reliable estimates of forest or cropland area to determine, e.g., how much additional land is available to grow biofuels or to tackle problems of food security. The Landspotting Project aims to improve the quality of this land cover information by vastly increasing the amount of in-situ validation data available for calibration and validation of satellite-derived land cover. The Geo-Wiki (Geo-Wiki.org) system currently allows users to compare three satellite derived land cover products and validate them using Google Earth. However, there is presently no incentive for anyone to provide this data so the amount of validation through Geo-Wiki has been limited. However, recent competitions have proven that incentive driven campaigns can rapidly create large amounts of input. The LandSpotting Project is taking a truly innovative approach through the development of the Landspotting game. The game engages users whilst simultaneously collecting a large amount of in-situ land cover information. The development of the game is informed by the current raft of successful social gaming that is available on the internet and as mobile applications, many of which are geo-spatial in nature. Games that are integrated within a social networking site such as Facebook illustrate the power to reach and continually engage a large number of individuals. The number of active Facebook users is estimated to be greater than 400 million, where 100 million are accessing Facebook from mobile devices. The Landspotting Game has similar game mechanics as the famous strategy game "Civilization" (i.e. build, harvest, research, war, diplomacy, etc.). When a player wishes to make a settlement, they must first classify the land cover over the area they wish to settle. As the game is played on the earth surface with Google Maps, we are able to record and store this land cover/land use classification geographically. Every player can play the game for free (i.e. a massive multiplayer online game). Furthermore, it is a social game on Facebook (e.g. invite friends, send friends messages, purchase gifts, help friends, post messages onto the wall, etc). The game is played in a web browser, therefore it runs everywhere (where Flash is supported) without requiring the user to install anything additional. At the same time, the Geo-Wiki system will be modified to use the acquired in-situ validation information to create new outputs: a hybrid land cover map, which takes the best information from each individual product to create a single integrated version; a database of validation points that will be freely available to the land cover user community; and a facility that allows users to create a specific targeted validation area, which will then be provided to the crowdsourcing community for validation. These outputs will turn Geo-Wiki into a valuable system for earth system scientists

Handle the way: Enhancing web accessibility for people with disability

The web has become the primary mechanism for information delivery. However, for people with an intellectual disability there can be significant barriers in accessing the web. This research aims to design a novel solution to help people with a disability, especially people who cannot type easily or correctly, to access the web independently. We propose to utilize Near Field Communication tokens to store and materialize website addresses into tangible handles for web access. Most importantly, we use tokens to store frequently used key words and serve as visual aids to enable query through combination of different search tokens. This solution has the potential to improve the quality of life yet is still relatively simple and affordable. Furthermore, together with other advanced technologies such as 3D printing for personalized tokens, it opens up the opportunities for co-design between people with disability and caregivers, customized services and collaborative support for diverse users via online volunteers

Game-Based Rehabilitation for Myoelectric Prosthesis Control

Background: A high number of upper extremity myoelectric prosthesis users abandon their devices due to difficulties in prosthesis control and lack of motivation to train in absence of a physiotherapist. Virtual training systems, in the form of video games, provide patients with an entertaining and intuitive method for improved muscle coordination and improved overall control. Complementary to established rehabilitation protocols, it is highly beneficial for this virtual training process to start even before receiving the final prosthesis, and to be continued at home for as long as needed. Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate (1) the short-term effects of a commercially available electromyographic (EMG) system on controllability after a simple video game-based rehabilitation protocol, and (2) different input methods, control mechanisms, and games. Methods: Eleven able-bodied participants with no prior experience in EMG control took part in this study. Participants were asked to perform a surface EMG test evaluating their provisional maximum muscle contraction, fine accuracy and isolation of electrode activation, and endurance control over at least 300 seconds. These assessments were carried out (1) in a Pregaming session before interacting with three EMG-controlled computer games, (2) in a Postgaming session after playing the games, and (3) in a Follow-Up session two days after the gaming protocol to evaluate short-term retention rate. After each game, participants were given a user evaluation survey for the assessment of the games and their input mechanisms. Participants also received a questionnaire regarding their intrinsic motivation (Intrinsic Motivation Inventory) at the end of the last game. Results: Results showed a significant improvement in fine accuracy electrode activation (P<.01), electrode separation (P=.02), and endurance control (P<.01) from Pregaming EMG assessments to the Follow-Up measurement. The deviation around the EMG goal value diminished and the opposing electrode was activated less frequently. Participants had the most fun playing the games when collecting items and facing challenging game play. Conclusions: Most upper limb amputees use a 2-channel myoelectric prosthesis control. This study demonstrates that this control can be effectively trained by employing a video game-based rehabilitation protocol.(VLID)486422