bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
InfoSec Policy - The Basis for Effective Security Programs
Authors: Mattord Herbert J. , Whitman Michael E.
Published: May 2011

The success of any information security program lies in policy development. The lack of success in any particular program can often be attributed to this unmet need to build the foundation for success. In 1989, the National Institute of Standards and Technology addressed this point in Special Publication SP 500-169: Executive Guide to the Protection of Information Resources (1989): The success of an information resources protection program depends on the policy generated, and on the attitude of management toward securing information on automated systems. You, the policy maker, set the tone and the emphasis on how important a role information security will have within your agency. Your primary responsibility is to set the information resource security policy for the organization with the objectives of reduced risk, compliance with laws and regulations and assurance of operational continuity, information integrity, and confidentiality (p.1).
Integration Framework for Complex Systems
Authors: Szczerbicki Edward
Published: May 2011

Information is seen as one of the main resources that systems analysts try to use in an optimal way. In this chapter we show how this resource can be used in integration issues. We introduce the problem of information-based integration, propose a solution, and briefly discuss future trends in this area. Systems become increasingly complex. Their decomposition into smaller units is the usual way to overcome the problem of complexity. This has historically led to the development of atomized structures consisting of a limited number of autonomous subsystems that decide about their own information input and output requirements, that is, can be characterized by what is called an information closure. In a real-world context, autonomous subsystems consist of groups of people and/or machines tied by the flow of information both within a given subsystem and between this subsystem and its external environment (Esteve, 2002; Szczerbicki, 2003; Tharumarajah, 1998). Autonomous subsystems can still be interrelated and embedded in larger systems, as autonomy and independence are not equivalent concepts. These ideas are recently gaining very strong interest in both academia and industry, and the atomized approach to complex systems analysis is an idea whose time has certainly come (Liu & Ling, 2003; Orlowski, 2002).
Isochronous Distributed Multimedia Synchronization
Authors: Yang Zhonghua , Yang Yanyan , Gu Yaolin , Gay Robert
Published: May 2011

A multimedia system is characterized by the integrated computer-controlled generation, manipulation, presentation, storage, and communication of independent discrete and continuous media data. The presentation of any data and the synchronization between various kinds of media data are the key issues for this integration (Georganas, Steinmetz, & Nakagawa, 1996). Clearly, multimedia systems have to precisely coordinate the relationships among all media that include temporal and spatial relationships. Temporal relationships are the presentation schedule of media, and spatial relationships are the location arrangements of media. Multimedia synchronization is a process of maintaining these relationships by employing appropriate synchronization mechanisms and algorithms. Multimedia synchronization is traditionally challenging, especially in distributed environments.
Knowledge-Based Support Environment
Authors: Neville Karen , Powell Philip
Published: May 2011

No company has ever existed or will ever exist without knowledge. Still, it was only recently that knowledge started being heralded as the way forward (Drucker, 1993; Itami, 1987; Toffler, 1990). This may explain why in the business world, knowledge management (KM) is still perceived in two substantially different senses: (a) as synonymous to information management (e.g., Dempsey, 1999; Vernon, 1999) and (b) as a distinct area of study and practice dealing with the management of knowledge (e.g., Newing, 1999; Zack, 2003). In contrast, the academic world sees knowledge and information as related but fundamentally distinct. Furthermore, the vast majority of both of these communities has focused on the managerial or social aspect of KM (see, for example, Birkinshaw & Sheehan, 2002; Davenport & Glaser, 2002; Davenport, Thomas, & Cantrell, 2002; Gupta & Govindarjan, 2000). The nature of knowledge and its implications for management have been largely ignored.
Legal Expert Systems in Administrative Organizations
Authors: Svensson Jörgen S.
Published: May 2011

The term expert system comes from the world of artificial intelligence. Originally, it comprised the idea that computer programs can be devised to solve complex problems of decision making, as well as, or even better than human experts. Although in some technical domains this ambitious goal is still valid, it is generally relaxed for applications in legal and administrative domains. Here the term expert system – or knowledge-based system – refers to a category of computer programs that use coded knowledge to help solve problems of decision making. One simple, everyday example is a computer program that helps a tax payer fill in his tax returns and informs him about the implications his answers will have in terms of the amount of tax to be paid. A second, quite different example is a system which, based on a textual summary of a case at hand, can help a legal professional in finding applicable case law.
Management Considerations for B2B Online Exchanges
Authors: Archer Norm
Published: May 2011

Information systems that link businesses for the purpose of inter-organizational transfer of business transaction information (inter-organizational information systems, or IOIS) have been in use since the 1970s (Lankford & Riggs, 1996). Early systems relied on private networks, using electronic data interchange (EDI) or United Nations EDIFACT standards for format and content of transaction messages. Due to their cost and complexity, the use of these systems was confined primarily to large companies, but low-cost Internet commercialization has led to much more widespread adoption of IOIS. Systems using the Internet and the World Wide Web are commonly referred to as B2B (business-to-business) systems, supporting B2B electronic commerce.
Managing Value-Creation in the Digital Economy
Authors: McIntosh John C. , Siau Keng L.
Published: May 2011

Value-creation and maintenance of a sustained revenue stream in the digital economy continue to elude most businesses. With the exception of advanced firms such as Dell™, Virgin®, Yahoo!®, and eBay®, relatively few firms have been able to leverage Internet technologies to create sustainable business models. From a strategic perspective, although firms are freed of the strictures of vertical integration, they face the daunting task of orchestrating a constantly changing web of suppliers and partners to create appealing products for increasingly sophisticated, fickle customers.
Media and Personal Involvement in the Perceptions of Data Quality
Authors: Borchers Andrew
Published: May 2011

This article introduces the concepts of data quality as described in the literature and discusses research results on how individual perceptions of data quality are influenced by media (World Wide Web versus print) and personal involvement with the topic. A search of literature on “data quality” and “media creditability” reveals that researchers in both the information systems and journalism fields have explored this topic. While these threads have developed separately, these streams of research approach similar issues of how people view the quality of information they receive from different sources.
Migrating Legacy Systems to the Web
Authors: Aversano Lerina , Canfora Gerardo , De Lucia Andrea
Published: May 2011

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is defined as “the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve significant improvements of the performances, such as cost, quality, service, and speed” (Hammer & Champy, 1993). Most BPR projects aim at converting business organisations from hierarchical centralised structures to networked decentralised business units cooperating with one another. This conversion is assuming a strategic relevance as the Internet is changing radically business processes, not only because they are purposely reengineered, but also because the Internet and the information and communication technology, offer more convenient means of fulfilling their requirement.
Object-Oriented Software Reuse in Business Systems
Authors: Brandon Daniel
Published: May 2011

“Reuse [software] engineering is a process where a technology asset is designed and developed following architectural principles, and with the intent of being reused in the future” (Bean, 1999). “If programming has a Holy Grail, wide-spread code reuse is it with a silver bullet. While IT has made and continues to make laudable progress in our reuse, we never seem to make great strides in this area” (Grinzo, 1998). “The quest for that Holy Grail has taken many developers over many years down unproductive paths” (Bowen, 1997). This article is an overview of software reuse methods, particularly object oriented, that have been found effective in business systems over the years.
Organizing Multimedia Objects by Using Class Algebra
Authors: Buehrer Daniel J.
Published: May 2011

Web-based applications (Web services and service-oriented architectures) can be run via a Web-based browser. There are several approaches to writing such Web-based applications. A lightweight approach is suitable for hand-held devices. In this approach, a Java servlet or a JSP page (Java 2 Platform, JSP), or an ASP application (Microsoft .NET, ASP) generates HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), XHTML, or XML documents (W3C Semantic Web Activity, XHTML, XML) to be displayed by the browser. Most browsers use an anchored URLs extension (e.g., .doc, .jpg, .xml, etc.) to choose an appropriate plug-in to display the URL when it is clicked. Besides displaying text and multimedia, Web servers and/or browsers can also execute Java applets or scripting languages to read and/or change persistent data. Previously, about 98% of these data were stored in relational or object-relational databases. However, recently more of these data are being stored in XML-based documents. Often these documents have an associated “schema” declaring the nesting of tags and the types of primitive values, or an “ontology” (Everett et al., 2002, Hunter, 2003) declaring classes, attributes, and relations that are used in the document.
Personal Information Privacy and Internet Technology
Authors: Szewczak Edward J.
Published: May 2011

Concerns about the collection of personal information by Internet technology and the possibility of misuse of that information are a primary reason why people limit their use of the Internet and are even limiting the success of e-commerce (Szewczak, 2004). Various uses of technology that collect and/or disseminate personal information include corporate and government databases, e-mail, wireless communications, clickstream tracking, hardware and software watermarks, and biometric devices. The main challenge to personal information privacy is the surreptitious monitoring of user behavior on the Internet without the user’s consent and the possible misuse of the collected information resulting in financial and personal harm to the user. Our focus is primarily on Internet use in the United States of America, though clearly the technology is global in nature and poses challenges and issues for societies around the world.
Personal Internet Usage and Quality of Work Life
Authors: Mahatanankoon Pruthikrai
Published: May 2011

The management of Internet usage in the workplace is becoming one of most important productivity concerns of the modern workplaces. Through proper use of Internet technology, organizations reap the benefits of efficient communication and information sharing among employees, managers, and organizations’ customers. The Internet is an essential necessity, as global business expansion requires networked organizations that can understand and predict future market trends, analyze competitors’ movements, and identify vital environmental factors that could be affecting their competitive position. For this reason the Internet has provided many added benefits for organizations, and modern workplaces have equipped their employees with access to the Internet and provided individual e-mail accounts.
Process-Aware Information Systems for Virtual Teamwork
Authors: Dustdar Schahram
Published: May 2011

The question of the “right” organizational form and the appropriate information systems support remains of paramount importance and still constitutes a challenge for virtually all organizations, regardless of industrial background. Organizations distribute their required work activities among groups of people (teams), with teams constituting the main building block for implementing the work (tasks). In most cases, team members are organized as “virtual (project) teams.” These teams are under heavy pressure to reduce time to market of their products and services and lower their coordination costs. Some characteristics of distributed virtual teams are that team (member) configurations change quite frequently and that team members report to different managers, maybe even in different organizations. From an information systems’ point of view, distributed virtual teams often are self-configuring networks of mobile and “fixed” people, devices, as well as applications. A newly emerging requirement is to facilitate not just mobility of content (i.e., to support a multitude of devices and connectivity modes) to team members, but also to provide contextual information on work activities to all distributed virtual team members (Dustdar, 2002a, 2002b, 2002c). By context, we mean traceable and continuous views of associations (relationships) between artifacts (e.g., documents, database records), resources (e.g., people, roles, skills), and business processes. Context is composed of information on the “who, when, how, and why.” The remainder of this chapter is organized as follows: The next section provides an overview of related work on classification systems of collaborative systems and provides an overview on evaluation aspects of current collaborative systems for virtual teamwork. Section 3 discusses some issues and problems related to the integration of artifacts, resources, and processes. Section 4 presents one proposed solution. Finally, Section 5 discusses some future trends and concludes the chapter.
Program Execution and Visualization on the Web
Authors: Pareja-Flores Cristóbal , Velazquez-Iturbide J. Ángel
Published: May 2011

Programming is a central activity in the computing profession. It is facilitated by different tools (editors, compilers, debuggers, etc), which are often integrated into programming environments. Programming also plays a central role in computer science education. For this purpose, a number of complementary tools were developed during the last decade: algorithm animators, program visualizers, problem generators, assignment graders, and so forth.
QoS-Oriented MAC Protocols for Future Mobile Applications
Authors: Markhasin Alexander , Olariu Stephen , Todorova Petia
Published: May 2011

Common intended access to a physically unshareable resource requires arbitration. Since in wireless communications the transmission medium cannot be shared without loss of information, medium access control (MAC) plays the role of an arbiter stipulating, for each of the intended users, the conditions and parameters of exclusive access rights. The major challenge in designing a good MAC protocol is to provide each user with the negotiated quality-of-service (QoS) parameters while, at the same time, utilizing the network resources as efficiently as possible. Thus, an ideal MAC protocol must strike a balance between the conflicting goals of QoS provisioning, efficiency, simplicity, and service controllability. The MAC protocol improvements ensure a dominant effect on the development of the QoS and other future breakthrough wireless technologies.
Reuse of Formal Specifications
Authors: Felice Laura , Riesco Daniel
Published: May 2011

During the Rigorous Approach to Industrial Software Engineering (RAISE) specification development process, a variety of components and infrastructures are built. All of these components are not independent, but related to one another, especially when we specify different systems into the same infrastructure. The RAISE method (Bjorner, 2000) is based on the idea that software development is a stepwise, evolutionary process of applying semantics-preserving transitions. Thus, the reuse process is crucial in all of the stages of the development, but there is no explicit reference to the specification reusability in this development process.
Security and Trust of Online Auction Systems
Authors: Lei Pouwan , Chatwin Chris , Young Rupert
Published: May 2011

An auction is a market with an explicit set of rules determining resource allocation and prices on the basis of bids from market participants (McAfee & McMillan, 1987). Generally speaking, an auction is the standard means for performing an aggregation of supply and demand in the marketplace to effectively establish a price for a product or service. It establishes prices according to participants’ bids for buying and selling commodities, and the commodities are sold to the highest bidder. Simply stated, an auction is a method for allocating scarce goods, a method that is based upon competition between the participants. It is the purest of markets: a seller wishes to obtain as much money as possible for the commodity offered, and a buyer wants to pay as little as necessary for the same commodity. Traditionally, there are three protagonists in the auction: sellers, buyers, and auctioneers. An auction offers the advantage of simplicity in determining market-based prices. It is efficient in the sense that an auction usually ensures that resources accrue to those who value them most highly and ensures also that sellers receive the collective assessment of the value. Indeed, auctions are conducted in accordance with formal rules for governing market access, trade interaction, price determination, and trade generation (Friedman, 1993). In the case of a traditional physical auction, a seller will choose an auction house based on the service: the form of licensing, the availability of suitable insurance, suitable descriptions and access to the commodities, payment terms, and security of goods before and during the auction process. The buyer or seller needs to come to the market or sends his/her representative.
Signature-Based Indexing Techniques for Web Access Logs
Authors: Manolopoulos Yannis , Nanopoulos Alexandros , Morzy Mikolaj , Morzy Tadeusz , Wojciechowski Marek , Zakrzewicz Maciej
Published: May 2011

Web servers have recently become the main source of information on the Internet. Every Web server uses a Web log to automatically record access of its users. Each Web-log entry represents a single user’s access to a Web resource (e.g., HTML document) and contains the client’s IP address, the timestamp, the URL address of the requested resource, and some additional information. An example log file is depicted in Figure 1. Each row contains the IP address of the requesting client, the timestamp of the request, the name of the method used with the URL of the resource, the return code issued by the server, and the size of the requested object.
Simple Methods for Design of Narrowband High-Pass FIR Filters
Authors: Jovanovic-Dolecek Gordana
Published: May 2011

Digital signal processing (DSP) is an area of engineering that “has seen explosive growth during the past three decades” (Mitra, 2001). Its rapid development is a result of significant advances in digital computer technology and integrated circuit fabrication (Smith, 2002; Jovanovic-Dolecek, 2002). Diniz, Silva, and Netto (2002) state that “the main advantages of digital systems relative to analog systems are high reliability, suitability for modifying the system’s characteristics, and low cost.”
Simulation in Information Systems Research
Authors: Vitolo Theresa M. , Coulston Chris
Published: May 2011

Simulation is a standard research technique of the natural sciences, social sciences, and engineering disciplines. The paradigm of simulation provides an accepted mode of development, validation, and verification by which complex, highly dynamic interactions can be probed and analyzed. The approach enables researchers to phrase experiments in a controlled environment where the concepts, variables, and relationships of the domain can be manipulated. Then, employing standard experimental design techniques, the simulation represents the behavior of the underlying system. The behavior can be analyzed statistically for its regularity and critical values where the dynamics may become unstable. Further, once the simulation model is developed, sensitivity analysis can be done to probe the interdependencies of the elements of the underlying system upon one another.
SMEs in Knowledge-Based Economies
Authors: Sharma Sushil K. , Wickramasinghe Nilmini , Gupta Jatinder N.D.
Published: May 2011

Today’s Information Age is having a dramatic effect on businesses as well as on the life styles of people. Globalization, rapid technological change and the importance of knowledge in gaining and sustaining competitive advantage characterize this information age. Traditionally, economists have seen capital, labor, and natural resources as the essential ingredients for economic enterprise. The new economy of the 21st century is increasingly based on knowledge with information, innovation, creativity and intellectual capitalism as its essential ingredients (Persaud, 2001). Today’s modern economy then, is based more on intangibles, information, innovation, and creativity, and their abilities to facilitate expanding economic potential (Persaud, 2001) and the exploitation of ideas rather than material things. Many new terms have been coined for this new economy such as “knowledge-based economy”, “borderless economy”, “weightless economy”. and “digital economy” to name a few (Woodall, 2000). This new economy seems to defy the basic economic law of scarcity which means, if a physical object is sold, the seller ceases to own it. In this new economy, however, when an idea is sold, the seller still possesses it and can sell it over and over again (Woodall, 2000). Traditional economic theory assumes that most industries run into “diminishing returns” at some point because unit costs start to rise, so no one firm can corner the market. In the new economy, knowledge-based products and services have “increasing returns” because knowledge-based products are expensive to produce for the first time, but cheap to reproduce. High fixed costs and negligible variable costs give these industries vast potential for economies of scale (Sharma, Wickramasinghe & Gupta, 2003; Woodall, 2000).
Stickiness and Web-Based Customer Loyalty
Authors: Forgionne Guisseppi , Ingsriswang Supawadee
Published: May 2011

Between 1997-2003, Internet hosts grew from 16 million to over 233 million worldwide (www.isc.org, 2004). Of all Internet hosts, the number of commercial domain names (.com) is about 20.9%, which increased from 3.9 million in January 1997 to 48.6 million in January 2004.
Technology and Knowledge Management
Authors: Mitchell Helen
Published: May 2011

Rapid and extensive advances in technology, particularly in the area of communications, have had a considerable impact on the way organizations operate and opened pathways to access vast amounts of information. Information, however, is static unless knowledge is applied to translate it into something meaningful and with the potential to be actionable. From the time organizations commence business, they accumulate information about the markets in which they operate, yet often, knowledge is not applied in a way that it can be exploited to bring benefit. The ability to share knowledge, to develop ideas, and to become more innovative is increasingly important for businesses, and the range of technologies now available provides a conduit for knowledge to flow through the organization to enable sharing to occur. Technology is frequently referred to as “just an enabler,” but it can also be identified as a value-adder.
Telemedicine in Healthcare Organisations
Authors: Al-Qirim Nabeel A.Y.
Published: May 2011

Diminishing funds from the government and cost control led many health care providers across the globe to search for alternative and more cost-effective means of providing care (Edelstein, 1999; Neame, 1995). In many cases, this has become necessary for survival (Edelstein, 1999) in order to sustain the increased competition as well amongst health care providers. The business of health care has become so competitive that many small rural hospitals are trying to align themselves with larger tertiary care centres in a community health information network, a telemedicine network, or some other type of partnership in order to survive and to retain their local patients (Huston & Huston, 2000).
The Impact of IT on Business Partnerships and Organizational Structures
Authors: Zhao Fang
Published: May 2011

Over the past decade, with the advent of the Internet, organizations have changed the way they communicate internally and externally, the way they are configured, and the way they build partnerships. Today’s complex and volatile business world calls for changes and alternatives to the old and conventional paradigm of organizational design and new ways of doing business with others. E-business becomes one of the most important forces shaping today’s business. Virtual corporations and e-partnerships become increasingly popular in the perception of managers and in business operations.
The Software Industry in Egypt
Authors: Kamel Sherif
Published: May 2011

During the 1960s computing was introduced to Egypt. Its use and applications were limited to the government and the public sector. During the 1980s the introduction and diffusion of computing was widespread following the global personal computer evolution. Personal computers effectively impacted organizational development and growth due to the continuous developments in the information technology industry and caused by hardware penetration, software innovations, and the build-up of the telecommunications infrastructure. This article assesses the software industry in Egypt as a major building block of the information technology industry and a possible active contributor to business and socioeconomic development at large.
Theoretical Framework for CRM Outsourcing
Authors: Gupta Babita , Iyer Lakshmi
Published: May 2011

Customer service is emerging as a key differentiator among competitors as the explosive growth of e-commerce is changing the nature of competition among companies. This has changed the customer-related business requirements for all types of companies. With firms increasing their online operations, customers now have the ability to contact organizations through a variety of interactive and noninteractive means (such as e-mail, fax, call centers, FAQs, online chats, newsletters, snail mail, retail stores, and Web-based forums). This has led companies to consider customer relationship management (CRM) as an important part of their competitive strategy. As the focus is shifting to retention rather than acquisition of customers, companies are looking for ways to identify and engage their most profitable customers.
Translation of Natural Language Patterns to Object and Process Modeling
Authors: Galatescu Alexandra
Published: May 2011

In order to shorten the engineering period of the complex information systems (ISs), the integration of the models is needed for uniformly: (1) traversing all phases of ISs’ lifecycle (analysis, design, coding, testing), and (2) representing object, functional, process and organizational models on the business domain.
Triangular Strategic Analysis for Hybrid E-Retailers
Authors: Lee In
Published: May 2011

For traditional retailers, the success of an e-channel lies largely in formulating and implementing a sound e-channel strategy that leverages their resource base. Numerous evidences show that poorly developed e-channels have added little value to retailers (Huang, 2003; Prencipe & McCarthy, 2002). Some of the poorly developed e-channels have had a negative impact on business performance due to an excessive investment, disappointing sales, and low margin (Nataraj & Lee, 2002). The poor performance arose from focusing on the Internet as a separate channel not affected by the activities in other existing channels (Kannan, 2001). For many traditional retailers, their costly and frequent e-channel reorganizations could have been avoided if they had adequately analyzed the strategic fit between their external environment and e-channel organization.
Uses and Gratifications for the World Wide Web
Authors: Stafford Thomas F.
Published: May 2011

It has always been important to understand what motivates consumers to use the Internet, since network use is a critical precursor to electronic commerce (Eighmey & McCord, 1998; Lohse & Spiller, 1998; Schonberg, Cofino, Hoch, Podlaseck & Spraragen, 2000). Without Internet use, there is no e-commerce use; this is much the same sort of issue that retailers study when trying to determine issues that motivate store visits. Internet use motivations, then, serve an important purpose in the understanding of e-commerce activities (Stafford, 2003b).
Web Usability
Authors: Becker Shirley Ann
Published: May 2011

The study of computing technology and user interfaces was initiated during the 1970s when industrial research laboratories began to focus on human-computer interaction (HCI) (Badre, 2002). In the 1980s, the personal computer was introduced, thus expanding the need for designing effective user interfaces. HCI became a discipline during this time, and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) established the Special Interest Group in Computer Human Interaction. One of the first textbooks on HCI, Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction (Schneiderman, 19891), was published. Shortly thereafter, HCI became part of the ACM curriculum promoting the development of effective user interfaces. Software tools were developed in order to assist in designing usable interfaces while employing usability engineering methods. Many of these methods focused on usability from the perspective of ease of use, ease of learning, user satisfaction, and zero defects (Nielsen, 1993).
Accreditation and Recognition in Distance Learning
Authors: Kostopoulos George K.
Published: May 2011

Distance learning is the fastest growing sector in academia. Consequently, it is experiencing growing pains. Such pains come from various directions, with the major ones being accreditation and recognition. At all levels of education, let it be elementary, secondary, or postsecondary, the term accreditation is vaguely understood by most. As a result, the subsequent recognition of the earned credential can be at risk.
Analyzing Collaboration in Online Communications
Authors: Ingram Abert L. , Hathorn Lesley G.
Published: May 2011

Elsewhere (Hathorn & Ingram, 2002b; Ingram & Hathorn, 2004; Ingram & Hathorn, 2005), the authors have argued that collaboration in a small group can be seen to consist of three major elements: interdependence, synthesis of information, and independence. These three factors can be found in the transcripts of online discussions by looking at such things as roughly equal participation among the group members, the interactions that occur, and the product that the group constructs. Here we demonstrate how these concepts can be applied to a specific set of online discussions to determine the amount of collaboration that has taken place in different groups. Specifically, we present a coding scheme that can be used to analyze online collaborative discussions. This scheme has potential utility for education and research.
Behaviorism
Authors: Chen Irene
Published: May 2011

The theory of behaviorism concentrates on the study of overt behaviors that can be observed and measured (Good & Brophy, 1990). In general, the behavior theorists view the mind as a “black box” in the sense that response to stimulus can be observed quantitatively, ignoring the possibility of thought processes occurring in the mind. Behaviorists believe that learning takes place as the result of a response that follows on a specific stimulus. By repeating the S-R (stimulus-response) cycle, the organism (may it be an animal or human) is conditioned into repeating the response whenever the same stimulus is present. The behavioral emphasis on breaking down complex tasks, such as learning to read, into subskills that are taught separately has a powerful influence on instructional design. Behaviors can be modified, and learning is measured by observable change in behavior. The behavior theorists emphasize the need of objectivity, which leads to great accentuation of statistical and mathematical analysis. The design principles introduced by the behavior theorists continue to guide the development of today’s computer-based learning. In distance education courseware and instructional software, key behavior-modification principles are used. For example, a typical course Web site usually states the objectives of the software; uses text, visual, or audio to apply appropriate reinforcers; provides repetition and immediate feedback; uses principles to shape, chain, model, punish, and award the learners; incorporates a scoring system as a part of the system; and provides status of the progress of the learner.
Cognitive Profiling in Life-Long Learning
Authors: Lin Taiyu , Kinshuk  , Kinshuk
Published: May 2011

Statistics indicate that the information stored in the world doubles every 2.8 years (Keegan, 2000). The problem every country faces now is not how to create more information, but how to locate and utilise the available information. This amazing phenomenon brings on the dawn of a so-called knowledge economy within which market transactions are facilitated or even driven by knowledge that is acquiring more of the properties of a commodity (Houghton & Sheehan, 2000).
Delivering Management Education via Tutored-Video Instruction
Authors: Murray L. W. , Efendioglu Alev M.
Published: May 2011

The University of San Francisco (USF) initially contracted with a Hong Kong-based, Chinese multinational firm, China Resources Holding Company (CRC), to deliver an entire MBA program to approximately 40 of its fast-tracked employees. The technologies known as Tutored-Video Instruction (TVI) were selected as the means of delivery. The success of the first cycle resulted in a contract with a second Chinese company, Guangdong Enterprises (GD), based in Guangdong (Canton). During 1989–2000, a total of five academic cycles were undertaken, each lasting approximately two years. Three of the cycles involved students from CRC, designated in this paper as CRC1, CRC2 and CRC3, and the remaining two cycles involved students from GD, designated GD1 and GD2. Both programs utilized lock-step cohorts; that is, a group of students taking the same classes at the same time throughout the MBA program, with no elective course choices. Each cohort group averaged about 35 students; a total of 175 students received their MBA degrees during the five cycles of instruction.
Design Research in the Elementary School Classroom
Authors: Woodruff Earl , Nirula Latika
Published: May 2011

Over the last 15 years, the study of technology in classroom settings has highlighted the need for a new research paradigm. Past research on educational technologies and software has been impugned due to the impossibility of establishing valid controls for the simultaneous introduction of technological and pedagogical innovations (Cobb, 2000; Brown, 1992; Collins, 1992, 1999). In response to the growing dissatisfaction to traditional paradigms, a relatively new approach called design research (Brown, 1992; Collins, 1992) has gained popularity – for an extensive history, see Edelson (2002). This new framework provides a potential infrastructure for promoting exchange across many different types of investigation (Cobb et al., 2003). Design researchers are able to use varying elements of design to optimize conditions that may result in the increased efficacy of a given educational innovation, since the process is defined by iterative design and formative research in complex real-world contexts (Edelson, 2002). Through careful observation, both quantitative and qualitative, design researchers are able to surmise how different design elements are contributing to observed results (Collins, 1999).
Designing Effective Computer-Based Learning Materials
Authors: Ally Mohamed
Published: May 2011

This entry begins by discussing the history of computer-based learning (CBL), followed by a description of learning theories and instructional design models that are being used to design CBL materials. The chapter concludes by proposing a model for designing CBL materials. The model proposed is based on current instructional design models but goes beyond these models by suggesting the use of intelligent agents to capitalize on the power of the computer in CBL. Instructors and tutors working in CBL one-to-one environments claim that it takes more time to design, develop, and deliver instruction when compared to face-to-face delivery. The main reason for extra time is the lack of use of the power of the computer in CBL. The author is suggesting the use of intelligent agents in the design, development, and delivery of instructions in CBL. Intelligent agents can be used to conduct learner analysis after interacting with the learner, assemble the content, and prescribe instructional strategies for individual learners after forming a profile of the learner. Intelligent agents can also be used to manage learners’ interaction and participation in the CBL process, freeing the tutor to do other human-related tasks. Wooldridge and Jennings (1995) defined an intelligent agent as a computer system that is capable of flexible autonomous action in order to meet its design objectives
Document Delivery
Authors: Ewing Robin L.
Published: May 2011

Document delivery is a service offered by academic libraries that allows distance education students to access or obtain the research materials required for their studies. These services find the document and send a copy of it to the student (Calvert, 2001). Document delivery services aim to provide the same level of service to on-campus students and to off-campus students. They provide access to library materials at the student’s home institution as well as from other libraries. Document delivery services for distance students are generally part of a library’s Interlibrary Loan Department but document delivery can be a separate department. Some libraries have a division or department dedicated to serving distance students and document delivery is handled there when they exist. In the United States, regional accreditation agencies consider document delivery services to be a vital part of a distance education program. For example, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools’ Guidelines for Distance Education emphasize that students should have access to the appropriate library resources for the field of study (2000).
Download Delay and its Effects on Online Learning
Authors: Hantula Donald A.
Published: May 2011

Download delay is the amount of time needed for instructional materials to appear on a Web page on the client computer after the page is accessed from the server; it is a new challenge specific to designing and using Internet-based materials (Davis & Hantula, 2001). Also known as “download time” in end-user computing literature, such delays are primarily a function of the size of the data files being transmitted from the server to the client and the technological limitations of the client and server computers and the network infrastructure. A file of the same size may download slowly or quickly on different client computers depending on capabilities of the hardware, speed of the network and connections, and relative efficiency in the design of programs and transfer protocols. In an Internet environment, download delay is usually a matter of seconds, often fractions of a second.
E-Learning Study Skills for Online Students
Authors: Watkins Ryan
Published: May 2011

For instructors and administrators of traditional classroom and distance learning courses alike, the leading indicators of success for college courses remain the retention and academic achievement of students. While technologies have changed many aspects of both how students study in college and how college courses are taught, the metrics of persistence and performance continue to be used by institutional decision-makers in defining success. As a result, in order to maximize our success as online instructors, we can and should work to ensure that our students have the study habits and learning skills necessary to be accomplished e-learners. Not only do such skills improve the odds that online students will be successful academically, but they also increase the likelihood that they will continue to enroll in future online or on-campus courses.
Electronic Performance Support, E-Learning and Knowledge Management
Authors: Banerji Ashok , Scales Glenda Rose
Published: May 2011

The key outcome of the current transition from the “old economy” to the “new economy” is the dramatic shift from investments in physical capital to investments in intellectual capital. Today, approximately 70% of a country’s wealth is in human capital as opposed to physical capital, as estimated by Gary S. Becker, Nobel laureate and professor of economics and sociology at the University of Chicago (Ruttenbur, Spickler, & Lurie, 2000). In the knowledge-based economy, organizations as well as individuals need to focus on protecting and enhancing their biggest asset: their knowledge capital. The increasing economic importance of knowledge is blurring the boundary lines for work arrangements and the links between education, work, and learning.
Enhanced Instructional Presentation Model
Authors: Pelton Leslee Francis , Pelton Timothy W.
Published: May 2011

Linear presentations, such as lectures, expositions, demonstrations and activity sequences, are efficient from the perspective of the instructor and the institution. Linear presentations aim to maximize the overall learning efficiency for a target audience by identifying the initial understandings and needs of the average learner and then building a fixed presentation to meet those needs. These presentations, which may be delivered via educational TV programming, video, CD-ROM and online services, are often well polished and moderately effective for large portions of their target audiences.
Facilitation of Web-Based Courses Designed for Adult Learners
Authors: Ordonez Bonnie McCall
Published: May 2011

Web-based courses have currently surpassed all other forms of distance education in the higher education field. One of the main reasons in growth is the demand from adult and professional students looking for a convenient yet quality education (Kearsley, 2000). College and university faculty members are a key component in the development and delivery of online courses. Many studies have been conducted on effective course design, and student achievement and outcomes (Kearsley, 2000, p. 46), but less research is available on the instructional techniques necessary to facilitate an online course.
Going Online
Authors: Baylen Danilo M. , Zhu Erping
Published: May 2011

Teaching and learning in the 21st century not only utilize various technologies, but they also take place anytime and anyplace. During the last decade, higher education institutions equipped many of their classrooms with the latest computer hardware and software applications, and trained their faculty and staff to use the technology. With the technological advancements and the changing needs of institutions and students, more faculty members are teaching online.
Increased Benefits from Using Online Class Components
Authors: Ryan Richard C.
Published: May 2011

The Internet is maturing as a delivery medium for university education. It now provides new ways to do things that typically are not done in the traditional classroom setting.
The Intangibles
Authors: Downs Robert
Published: May 2011

In today’s world, any discussion about the requirements of a millennium teacher should naturally focus around technology and training. Millennium “must haves” should concentrate on two categories: (1) the obvious answers, and (2) the intangibles.
Learning Orientation and Stress in an Online Experience
Authors: Molinari Deana L. , Anderberg Ellie , Dupler Alice E. , Lungstrom Naomi
Published: May 2011

Stress impacts both quality and length of life according to several researchers (McEwen & Seeman, 2003). More studies need to discuss the relationship between stress and education. The lack of available information does not mean the issue is not important because stress is known to block learning (Zull, 2002; Sapolsky, 1998). Learning and life stressors are thought to negatively influence academic achievement and satisfaction levels. Stress also affects performance according to Akgun and Ciarrochi (2003) by decreasing memory and problem- solving abilities (McEwen, 1998a). The psychological outcomes of poor performance can further impact student academic retention (Shelton, 2003) and health (McEwen, 1998b). Recent research about learning emotion, intention, and social factors offers new insights into stress and achievement (Martinez, 2003).
Mentoring at a Distance
Authors: Switzer Jamie S.
Published: May 2011

Colleges and universities are adept at teaching students in the academic sense. Often what is lacking in a student’s education is a thorough grasp of the “real world”—how their chosen field actually functions and operates. One way for students to gain an understanding of a particular occupation is to interact with a mentor. Mentors can offer valuable intellectual resources to students (O’Neil & Gomez, 1996). Regardless of the quality of their education, students still need the practical information that can only be provided by a working professional who can present students an awareness of the real world (O’Neil, 2001).
Millennium Teachers in a Global Context
Authors: Kissock Craig
Published: May 2011

When preparing for a race, the coach will advise, “Do not look back at your competition; look forward to your goal.” Educators integrating technology into instruction often take this same view; they look ahead to win the race in preparing students to be effective in the use of technology in learning and in life.
The Need for a Well-Managed Technology Infrastructure
Authors: Lapping Thomas
Published: May 2011

As commonly defined, the “digital divide” means inadequate access to the Internet in urban or rural areas where telecommunications resources are limited or non-existent. This gap normally exists because of an insufficient economic incentive for investment by telecommunications providers. For educators, the digital divide means that students and teachers are unable to learn and apply the technologies most used by other educators, business, and industry in the information age because these technologies are not available. When there is inadequate access to the tools needed to learn and work in the information age, a barrier is placed between teachers, students, and successful achievement of learning goals.
Open Student Models
Authors: Alkhalifa Eshaa M.
Published: May 2011

When a student makes an error, the instructor wonders what possible misconception caused that error (Self, 1990) and attempts to correct it through altering the instruction method. Consequently, student models represent the system’s assumptions of learner knowledge and preferences without giving any guarantees that this model accurately reflects any of the information it contains.