bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Organizational Learning Process
Authors: Ke Weiling , Wei Kwok Kee
Published: May 2011

This chapter uses organizational learning as a lens to study how firms implement the enterprise system. The core research questions are: What are the critical organizational factors affecting organizational learning in ES implementation? How do these elements shape the learning process and thereby influence ES implementation outcomes? To address these questions, we conducted comparative case study with two organizations that have recently adopted ES and achieved significantly different results. Based on the empirical findings, we propose a framework that describes how organizational factors affect the four constructs of organizational learning in ES implementation context—knowledge acquisition, information distribution, information interpretation and organizational memory.
Knowledge Management and Electronic Commerce Supporting Strategic Decisions
Authors: Jih Wen-Jang Kenny , Helms Marilyn M. , Mayo Donna T.
Published: May 2011

Current literature on e-commerce and knowledge management primarily emphasizes the benefit of knowledge management for innovative e-commerce operations. The Internet-enabled e-commerce field provides capabilities for firms in all sectors to reach global buyers and suppliers. Knowledge management provides frameworks to manage intellectual capital as a valuable organizational and strategic resource. Do knowledge management practices significantly benefit electronic commerce? If so, does the relationship work in the other direction? Does a firm’s e-commerce applications significantly benefit knowledge management practices as well? To test these exploratory propositions, empirical data were collected from companies in a variety of industries in Taiwan, a country emphasizing e-commerce initiatives. The results revealed significant relationships between the way businesses implement electronic commerce projects, as well as how they experiment with knowledge management concepts. In addition, the findings reveal interesting benefits and difficulties in implementation. These relationships were found to operate in both directions, offering reinforcing effects as well as connections.
Instructional Design and Technology Implications for Indigenous Knowledge
Authors: Kinuthia Wanjira
Published: May 2011

It is fairly accurate to assume that societies are facing a paradigm shift from industrial to information society, and a transition from information to knowledge society. This shift has impacted the nature of the relationship between society, knowledge and technology. It is also valid to assume that knowledge is a resource. This chapter discusses instructional design and technology from Africa’s indigenous knowledge perspective. It is not the intent necessarily to dichotomize indigenous and non-indigenous knowledge structures. Rather, the objective is to rationalize the place of indigenous knowledge by addressing the context of usage, challenges and dilemmas, and provide a rationale and suggestions for instructional integration.
Towards an Indigenous Language Knowledge Base
Authors: McKenny Daryn , Hughes Baden , Arposio Alex
Published: May 2011

The Arwarbukarl Cultural Resources Association (ACRA)1 is a leading indigenous cultural representation and coordination body in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia. A particular focus of ACRA is language revitalisation — made more difficult since only a smattering of documentary evidence of the language exists from the 1830s. In 2005, the number of individuals involved in learning the Arwarbukarl language was 20. While indigenous language documentation and revitalisation efforts are by no means unique to the Arwarbukarl context, this particular indigenous community has made significant progress in the development of software tools for language analysis. Here we briefly consider a number of the important aspects (technological, functional, cultural and social) that have contributed to the success of this project.
Redfern Kids Connect
Authors: Sengara Ryan
Published: May 2011

Redfern Kids Connect is a volunteer-based community project running each Saturday morning out of the Redfern Computer Centre in inner-west Sydney, Australia. The project has been running consistently since August 2002. The Redfern-Waterloo suburbs of Sydney are widely considered a centre of urban aboriginal Australia and are often in the political and media spotlights. The area experiences high levels of socio-economic disadvantage and social problems, including high crime rates, high incarceration rates, domestic violence and a lack of extra educational and recreational opportunities for young people.
Adapting E-Learning Across Cultural Boundaries
Authors: McLoughlin Catherine
Published: May 2011

The chapter will, first of all, consider the challenges for educational designers of the need to maximise the opportunities of e-learning by enabling learners to participate in learning experiences, activities, and forms of communication that are congruent with their values, belief systems, and styles of learning. Second, by building on extant research and frameworks, the chapter will propose an integrated framework and set of guidelines for the development of quality learning resources for a global community of learners. The chapter makes a case for the internationalisation of learning resources informed by a flexible and pluralistic approach to design, based on the concept of constructive alignment.
Gamer Teachers
Authors: Gibson David , Halverson William , Riedel Eric
Published: May 2011

The divergence between the generation of people who grew up before versus after computer games became ubiquitous – a new kind of digital divide - is characterized by differences in thinking patterns, perceptions about the world, approaches to challenges, evaluation of risks, and expectations about leading and interacting with other people. Some argue that because of these sorts of differences, students of today have new expectations about learning, which suggests that we need new approaches to teaching and gamer teachers (the pun is intended). This chapter outlines a potential framework for research on teaching that understands and uses the power of computer games and simulations to improve student achievement. Along the way, we raise new research questions, which we hope that you and others will help answer.
Pervasive Game Design as an Artificial Teaching and Research Method
Authors: Walz Steffen , Schoch Odilo
Published: May 2011

Today and in the future, architectural students must be prepared for designing both physical and adaptive, computer-integrated, that is: “hybrid reality” spaces. The question is: How do we easily and effectively convey architecturally relevant theories and practices of pervasive computing in teaching? In this paper, we present an instructional model that is a possible answer. During a semester-long design class, we supervised an interdisciplinary group of architecture and computer science students who worked together on a serious pervasive game prototype, which we will refer to as “ETHGame”. The class culminated in a two-week intensive workshop and a presentation before school executives involved in strategic e-learning projects. The resulting interactive prototype takes advantage of our university’s extensive wireless local area network infrastructure (> 250 access points), allowing for player geo-positioning, location-based learning and servicing, as well as mediated communication. ETHGame transforms the school’s campus into a knowledge space, with key locations issuing position dependent and position relevant questions to players. ETHGame involves participants in an academic quiz by the way of a given university place, rewarding them for collaborating both face-to-face and Online. The game helps players build a collective academic and spatiotemporal identity whilst being immersed in a sentient environment. Thus, in this chapter we introduce serious pervasive game design as a novel design, research, and teaching paradigm for Computer Aided Architectural Design (CAAD), as well as an e-learning design strategy.
Officer-to-Application Systems
Authors: Gottschalk Petter
Published: May 2011

nformation systems solving knowledge problems are made available to knowledge workers and knowledge seekers. Artificial intelligence is applied in these systems. Expert systems, decision support systems, document management systems, intelligent search engines, and relational database tools represent some of the technologies and techniques developed to support Stage 4. Officer-to-application systems will only be successful if they are built on a thorough understanding of law enforcement. Therefore, this chapter concentrates on presenting two important knowledge application tasks in police investigations: profiling and “cross+check.” Offender profiling and cross+check in police investigations are examples of law enforcement work that can benefit from technologies such as artificial intelligence, knowledge-based systems, and case-based reasoning systems (Becerra-Fernandez, Gonzalez, & Sabherwal, 2004).
Policing Research Studies
Authors: Gottschalk Petter
Published: May 2011

Holgersson (2005) identified and described, in his doctoral dissertation, different types of knowledge that are part of police officers’ practice. This case description is based on his work. Even though an intervention usually forces a police officer to apply several different skills, Holgersson (2005) has chosen to discuss different forms of professional knowledge separately, in order to make things easier to comprehend for the reader. In general, a large part of police officers’ professional knowledge, as well as professional knowledge in many other contexts, is complex and difficult to describe and explain in words. The police profession is distinguished by the broad range of skills that are required, and by the time pressure under which actions often must be taken.
The Moral Status of Information and Information Technologies
Authors: Søraker J. H.
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to explore whether information and information technology in certain cases ought to be valued as ends in themselves rather than as mere means to other ends. I will address this problem by proposing a theory of moral status: a theory of who or what has moral status in the sense that we, as moral agents, have an obligation to take their well-being into consideration when making ethical judgments. The proposed relational theory of moral status draws on insights from both classical Western and East Asian philosophy in order to question the exclusion of all nonliving entities in most theories of moral status. The relational properties constitutivity and irreplaceability are singled out as ethically relevant and are suggested as one possible way to ground the moral status of information and information technologies.
Information Privacy in a Surveillance State
Authors: Rananand P. R.
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines information privacy as manifested and understood in Thai society. Multidisciplinary perspectives—philosophical, anthropological, historical, legal, policy oriented, and communicative—are used to explore information privacy, which arguably is emerging as an ethic in Thailand. While the diffusion of ICTs along with the country’s aspiration toward an information society may have given rise to this conceptual emergence, the longstanding surveillance that characterizes the Thai state is reckoned to be a major hindrance to a meaningful realization of this ethic in Thai society.
The Existential Significance of the Digital Divide for America's Historically Underserved Populations
Authors: Kvasny L.
Published: May 2011

During the 1990s, the digital divide figured prominently in the discourses of academics, corporate leaders, educators, and policymakers worldwide. In the U.S., we witnessed a massive infusion of computers and Internet access in homes, schools, libraries, and other neighborhood institutions. This has significantly increased citizens’ physical access to information and communication technology (ICT) artifacts and has enhanced citizens’ opportunities for acquiring and strengthening technical skills. However, does increased physical access and technical skills signal closure of the digital divide? In this chapter, I address this question by describing the preconstructed ways in which the digital divide is conceptualized by academics and policymakers, and inferring what these conceptualizations suggest about the existential significance of the digital divide as experienced by historically underserved groups in the U.S.
Complexity as a Resource
Authors: Iandoli Luca , Zollo Giuseppe
Published: May 2011

Before moving on to a more rigorous and systematic discussion in the following chapters, through diverse suggestions and references, this chapter intends to offer the reader a key to the theme of learning in organizations. We consider learning in organizations as an individual and collective response to the complexity that comes out of the encounter between the organization and its environment. We show that in this perspective, learning cannot be governed through the usual managerial logic based on control, standardization and planning, but requires new approaches and instruments. It is found in sense-making, meaning the capacity of individuals to reduce the ambiguity through the construction of plausible hypotheses and the production of convincing explanatory discourses, the starting point for the analysis of the process of organizational learning and the construction of new managerial tools.
The Emergence of Organizational Learning
Authors: Iandoli Luca , Zollo Giuseppe
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we present a model of organizational learning that ties together the conceptual elements described in Chapters II, III, IV and V with the process of organizational memory construction analyzed throughout Chapters VI, VII and VIII. This chapter also concludes the theoretical part of the book. In the MEP (memory – experience – plan) model organizational learning emerges from three basic coordinates: the coordinate of past knowledge (memory), the coordinate of current interaction (experience), the coordinate of intention and anticipation (plan). In this three-dimensional space, learning emerges out of actions and explanations. Organizational learning emerges from the bottom through the construction of a new explanation and its incorporation into organizational memory.
Managing in the Learning Organization
Authors: Iandoli Luca , Zollo Giuseppe
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we provide several suggestions for managing cognitive work and learning organizations. We underline that managers should pay attention mainly to the processes through which learning develops and occurs within organizations rather than focusing their attention on outcomes and performance. Learning outcomes are not predictable, nor easy to evaluate and control. Learning may develop in unusual directions and produce unexpected outcomes. It is crucial to provide organizational members with adequate levels of autonomy and trust. This requires a deep change and a new attitude with respect to the management of time, place and work relations. Time, place and relations should be driven by creativity and innovation rather than by operations, hierarchy and efficiency.
Technology, Lifelong Learning, and Effective Foreign Language Instruction Under the Memory Efficient Approach
Authors: Kang P. Tokoyo
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a method for foreign language (FL) teachers to implement currently available technologies as instructional tools in a FL language classroom using the memory efficient approach (MEA) to enhance instruction, and help students to become lifelong FL learners. Providing historical backgrounds of the FL acquisition or learning theory as well as technological implementation for FL instruction, the chapter suggests MEA with eclectic methodology for FL instruction. Under the MEA, the methods for “skill-using” and “skill-getting” (Rivers, 1985) are employed; thus, appropriate methods as well as appropriate instructional tools—technological and nontechnological—are selected according to the learning objective or goal. In addition, introducing emerging technologies that may be utilized for instruction in the FL area, the chapter will demonstrate a method to implement technologies in advanced Japanese courses as well as in elementary Japanese courses using MEA.
Building Powerful Online Synchronous Communications
Authors: Yuzer Volkan T. , Kurubacak Gulsun
Published: May 2011

Digital citizens have been using online synchronous communications (OSCs)-based milieus since the last decade. OSCs can provide these online communities with new and challenging opportunities via instant interactions, which are OSCs’ dominant nature, in lifelong learning. OSCs, therefore, help online learners, as lifelong learners, and communication workers (online communication designers, media coordinators, online managers, technology-support staff, multimedia designers, etc.) understand this milieu better to have more benefits. In this study, media richness theory and four cultural issues (biases, stereotypes, ethics and values) are discussed together to highlight the communicational characters of the OSCs. To utilize the communicational prospects of OSCs, this communication theory provides communication workers with useful guidelines related to cultural issues, which expand on future directions for OSCs. Finally, the researchers develop a framework according to the strategies of media richness theory, which declares that there must be a fit between technology and communication structures to reduce task-related ambiguity.
"Life in the Round" and the History of Libraries in Micronesia
Authors: Goetzfridt Nicholas J.
Published: May 2011

This chapter uses the importation of an American institution of information—“the library”—into the Pacific region of Micronesia as an example of a contextual-less, cross-cultural information transference that suggests the autonomous impact of distance education technology and protocols on indigenous and other interpretative communities. Such an impact negates the innate values of these communities as they pertain to concepts of “knowledge” and “information” derived from tenacious cultural and social values. Conflicts between indigenous values and the transferences of “the library” and subsequent information technologies are considered along with individualizing values exhibited by early Christian missionaries in Micronesia. Based upon these issues and cross-cultural tensions, the chapter appeals for the inclusion of indigenous contexts into discussions of online educational development and access to better understand and serve these communities and to provide an exemplary situation from which to recognize the importance of cultural contexts in the provision of distance educational opportunities.
Instructional Designers' Perceptions of Their Agency
Authors: Schwier Richard A. , Campbell Katy , Kenny Richard F.
Published: May 2011

Instructional designers provide more than service in the design and development of instruction; they also act as social change agents. This chapter draws on the stories of instructional designers to develop a model of change agency that includes interpersonal, professional, institutional and societal dimensions. The model provides guidance for the development of new skills in instructional design, for serious reflection by instructional designers about their own influence as agents, and for graduate programs in instructional design to address agency.
An Emerging Model of Community Collaboration During the Construction of E-Learning Resources
Authors: Simeon Lalen , Brickell Gwyn , Ferry Brian
Published: May 2011

For many lecturers within the academic community, the increasing emphasis on the use of ICT for research and teaching can be threatening, but these fears can be eased if professional development is supportive and ongoing, and provided in flexible, appropriate and adaptable ways. This is particularly relevant in institutions in developing countries where the increasing availability of e-learning technologies poses a challenge to ICT experts and trainers in assisting and supporting lecturers in adapting to the use of these technologies in the teaching/learning environment. This chapter focuses on the results of two case studies and describes the roles that the two instructional designers (IDs) played in facilitating the professional development of lecturers that were constructing e-learning environments. The findings suggest that the lecturers needed ongoing support, advice and technical assistance for an extended period of time. This study has enabled the researchers to develop a team collaboration model for planning and designing e-learning resources that would be piloted in tertiary institutions in Papua New Guinea. The findings also contribute to the research literature about the design processes needed to improve the quality of learning resources.
The Changing Role of an Instructional Designer in the Implementation of Blended Learning at an Australian University
Authors: McDonald Jacqueliné , Mayes Terry
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a case study that reflects on the changing approach of an instructional designer at an Australian university. The designer moved from one-to-one interactions with subject matter experts in the design of traditional print-based distance learning courses to adopting a pedagogical framework that guides the use of technology in hybrid course design and encourages the subject matter experts to design their courses in a way that emphasises what Wenger (2005) has called the “horizontalisation” of learning. The subject experts were encouraged to experience some of the benefits of a community of practice (CoP) approach for themselves. The study contrasts the traditional approach to design with the framework used here, in which social constructivist principles of learning were offered to the subject matter experts in a way that was immediately engaging and usable for them. The chapter presents the subject experts’ evaluation of the effectiveness of the approach described.
Authentic Learning on the Web
Authors: Herrington Jan , Oliver Ron , Herrington Anthony
Published: May 2011

In response to the growing influence of constructivism as a philosophical approach to learning, and a wide range of research studies investigating alternative models of teaching and learning over the last decade, many universities have experimented with the development of ‘authentic’ learning environments. How successful they have been in this quest is a subject of some debate. For instance, Gayeski (2005) has argued: Many of today’s programs are no better than those from the early days of interactive video—in fact, they are worse. We still see too many textbooks or PowerPoint slides ‘ported’ over to the Web with a few links or silly questions added to make them ‘interactive’ (p. 98) The challenge instructors face is to align university teaching and learning more substantially with the way learning is achieved in real-life settings, and to base instructional methods on recent theories of learning which reflect this shift, such as situated learning (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989; Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989; McLellan, 1996; Choi & Hannafin, 1995). Authentic approaches, as well as requiring students to apply theory, also allow students to create theories by starting with a realistic problem, and then developing their own knowledge within the practical situations in which the need for learning was created. This chapter proposes nine critical characteristics of learning as a framework for the design of more authentic learning environments on the Web. The elements are based on situated learning theory and other compatible research, with particular emphasis on computer and Web-based applications.
Improving the Usability of Distance Learning Through Template Modification
Authors: Lohr Linda L. , Falvo David A. , Hunt Erin , Johnson Ben
Published: May 2011

Navigating distance-learning environments can be a frustrating experience for users. Many find themselves confused about where they are, how they got there, or where they need to move next, a condition coined as “lost in cyberspace” (Webster, 2001). Even finding what they need is no guarantee that they will avoid similar disorientation at a later date when they need to perform the same or a parallel task. The question “Where was the place that I found that?” takes precedence over “What is important for me to learn?” The focus of this study is to discover if there are methods that an instructor can use to reduce user disorientation in distance learning environments.
Moving Toward the Implementation of Contextualized Educational Technology
Authors: Kahkonen Esko , Sutinen Erkki
Published: May 2011

As a result of the rapid development of information and communication technologies, educational software has become readily available in the global market. Although the international transfer and trade of most technological products seems straightforward, the actors in the field must have cultural sensitivity when it comes to implementing technology-based learning tools and digital materials. This is due to the individual and cultural diversity of the global e-learning community. This diversity should be recognized when designing and implementing modern learning environments or when activating technology-based study zones. First of all, by contextualization, we refer to the various methods and processes related to design issues, pedagogical aspects and approaches, contents, or applied technologies that are needed for a learning environment to be functional and useful in a particular cultural setting. Consequently, we need to discuss contextualization from diverse perspectives. As such we have identified: cultural differences in producing e-learning materials and tools, culturally flavored learning paths, technical platform and cultural factors, and taking a multidisciplinary approach to contextualization.
Evaluating the Flexibility of Learning Processes in E-Learning Environments
Authors: Dimitrova Maia T.
Published: May 2011

Flexible learning has many definitions, but it is typically used to describe the empowerment of the learner to choose when, how, and where to engage in learning in order to address their individual study needs. Collis and Moonen (2001) define a flexible learning approach as: …a movement away from a situation in which key decisions about learning dimensions are made in advance by the instructor or institution, towards a situation where the learner has a range of options from which to choose with respect to these key dimensions. (p. 16) A number of these key dimensions closely reflect the flexibility of the learning processes that students undertake, including the time and location of learning, the instructional approaches adopted, the variety of learning materials, and the course delivery model (Nikolova & Collis, 1998).
Are You Having Fun Yet?
Authors: Hansen Emily Diekemper
Published: May 2011

In K-12 videoconferencing, we often allow the pressures and challenges of our jobs to interfere with being able to enjoy our work. In this chapter, I have recounted some of my own personal experiences that show that it is quite possible to love your job and to find humor and enjoyment in each day. By making your enthusiasm obvious, combining a variety of different disciplines into programming and making the most out of “technical difficulties”, you can become a more effective and believable content provider and learn to take real pleasure in creating a positive and unique experience for students through technology.
Designing and Implementing Collaborative Classroom Videoconferences
Authors: Bidjerano Temi , Wilkinson Diane
Published: May 2011

The chapter introduces collaborative classroom projects implemented through videoconferencing technology as a means of enhancing and enriching classroom instruction. The various applications of collaborative classroom videoconferencing are discussed in the light of social constructivist learning theory. Special attention is devoted to teacher professional development training in designing and implementing collaborative classroom videoconference projects. Distinctive types of collaborative classroom implementation projects with supporting examples as well as affective outcomes associated with student learning are presented and discussed. The chapter concludes with a summary of the best practices in the utilization of collaborative classroom projects; directions and recommendations for future research are also offered.
Integrating Videoconferencing into the Classroom
Authors: Martin Maire
Published: May 2011

This chapter will focus largely on the author’s experiences in promoting the creative use of videoconferencing in schools in Northern Ireland over the past ten years. It will also describe certain groundbreaking projects that educators in other parts of the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland have undertaken in this field. Although, until recently, there has been little in the way of a systemic approach in Northern Ireland to the introduction and integration of videoconferencing into K-12 classrooms, there have been some striking examples of good practice. The examples chosen demonstrate the potential of videoconferencing to be inclusive of different needs and learning styles and to extend and enrich the learning experiences available in the classroom. They are intended to show how videoconferencing can have a powerful effect on learning and teaching and to give more educators the motivation and confidence to explore and develop this user-friendly valuable education resource.
Repositories
Authors: Alfano Cathleen S. , Henderson Susan L.
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents an overview of the use of digital repositories in the field of education. The authors’ purpose in writing this chapter is not only to provide their readers with general knowledge about educational repositories, but to give them some idea of the various issues and processes involved in launching a digital repository. The chapter first discusses key concepts and general functions of repositories, and offers the authors’ thoughts on the most important functions of repository software management tools. A case study of repository implementation for the State of Florida is briefly described. The chapter closes with a look at some of the different ways repositories are being used nationally and globally, and with the authors’ expectations on future developments in this area.
Online Learning with the Use of WebVT Vista
Authors: Zapalska Alina M. , Brozik Dallas
Published: May 2011

The primary goal of this chapter is to offer reflections on various aspects of the use of WebCT Vista in online business education at Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia, U.S.A.. The chapter argues that with the proper systems in place, including adequate technology and support and the cooperation of educational administrators, WebCT Vista can augment current educational systems in remarkable ways. The chapter also argues that the use of WebCT strongly contributes to the effectiveness of distance learning by improving the quality of students’ learning in the areas: of critical thinking; problem solving, decision-making, attention to detail, written communications, and organizational and analytical skills. The assessment tool presented in this chapter was used to obtain students’ feedback concerning their learning outcomes with and without the use of WebCT Vista. In general, most students positively evaluated the effect of WebCT Vista on their learning within areas such as critical thinking, problem solving, decision-making ability, oral communication, written communication, knowledge of information, and the ability to organize and analyze. As the results of the above analysis indicate, almost all students benefited from using WebCT.
A Case Study on Education Networks and Brokerage
Authors: Martin Gunnar , Bohl Oliver , Scheer August-Wilhelm , Winand Udo
Published: May 2011

n the context of the development on the educational market – which is especially influenced by an increasing importance of knowledge in society – universities and professors stand the chance to serve existing customer segments better and to develop new business segments. Experiences made in traditional teaching as well as in the field of eLearning and eTeaching facilitate a target group-specific configuration of educational services and offers with academic contents according to the principle of “assembling on demand”. Educational contents and services can be distributed beyond the physical barriers of the university to globally acting target groups and customer segments. Acquired core competencies and approved marketable educational services can be transformed into profits and economic success. Despite these promising market conditions, the active participation of universities on the global education market is insufficient. This chapter describes in terms of a case study different action alternatives, especially but not exclusively, for the German-speaking area, which can put public universities in the position to be able to transfer their compe-tencies to the further education market, which is globalising and increasing in competition, and thus market their competencies. Starting points for a new positioning and the development of a profile in the educational sector are shown by the example of an e-learning network and brokerage model among universities.
Introducing Integrated E-Portfolio across Courses in a Postgraduate Program in Distance and Online Education
Authors: Bhattacharya Madhumita
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a description and analysis of salient issues related to the development of an integrated e-portfolio application implemented at Massey University to help students track and accumulate evidence of skills developed over their period of study, particularly associated with the three core papers in the program. The web based e-portfolio project was initiated to help students provide evidence required by employers and research supervisors in a progressive and reflective manner by identifying the links across different papers and demonstrating their own conceptual understanding. Administrative issues are discussed, as well as considerations for future developments based on the experiences of this study.
The "Pastoral" in Virtual Space
Authors: Griffiths Mary , Griffiths Michael
Published: May 2011

Two online undergraduate media and communications projects, one in Australia (1999-2003), and the second from New Zealand (2004-5), are analysed and compared in this chapter. Written by two flexible-learning practitioners, the case study gives the background and contexts of the two projects. We describe how we developed intercultural, pastoral pedagogies suited to contrasting ‘internationalised’ cohorts, despite trends in new ‘market-driven’ universities. The framework used is Michel Foucault’s ‘pastoral’ power, as modelled by Ian Hunter in studies of the milieu of the face-to-face English classroom, and the agency of the teacher in constructing self-reflexive subjectivities (Hunter, 1996). The development of valuable intercultural skills in the student depends in part on the composition of the ‘internationalised’ student groups themselves, and on their and their teacher’s awareness of the formative nature of the software being used. Learning software has the potential to mediate conduct the choice of what kind of relationships ensue rests with the e-practitioner.
ESPORT Demonstration Project, Canada
Authors: Fahy Patrick J. , Cummins Patrick
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes the purpose, processes, and effects of an e-learning employment readiness system, ESPORT, currently being pilot tested in Canada. The Essential Skills Portfolio (ESPORT) system is a facilitated and supported Internet-delivered system primarily intended for adults with a high school education or less, intended to assist users to choose an occupation, assess their enabling skills in respect to the chosen occupation, identify and (optionally) remedy skills gaps, and document in a resume their abilities for prospective employers. While this e-learning project was not complete at this writing, this report describes the piloting process, and some already obvious conclusions regarding ESPORT’s technologies, design, delivery, and support models, and training protocols. As anticipated, both the project’s components and the evaluation design have changed, recognizing pressing issues requiring early attention, and responding to lessons learned.
Applying Semantic Web in Competence Management
Authors: Maukkanen Mikko , Helin Heikki
Published: May 2011

Efficient competence management is essential in knowledge-based companies. This chapter describes how the Semantic Web technologies can be used in managing employee competencies. Applying the Semantic Web technologies in the competence management enables building systems that support highly dynamic environments, are extensible as well as interoperable between different application domains, and benefit from the use of machine-accessible semantics. Competence management systems should be available not only for managers, but for all the employees of the company. As companies get larger, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage the knowledge and competencies that their employees have. Utilizing the Semantic Web opens many possibilities for building flexible systems for competence management.
Teaching Operations Management with Enterprise Software
Authors: LaForge R. Lawrence
Published: May 2011

Enterprise systems technology is used to enhance the teaching of operations management through development and operation of a virtual manufacturing enterprise. An ongoing, real-time simulation is conducted in which operations management issues in the ?ctitious factory must be addressed on a daily basis. The virtual manufacturing enterprise is integrated into an operations management course to facilitate understanding of the dynamic and interrelated nature of operations planning and control in a complex manufacturing environment. Enterprise software supports the primary learning objective of understanding how operations management decisions affect customer service, capacity, inventory, and costs.
Using SAP for ERP Applications and Design
Authors: Sarma Mahesh , Yen David C.
Published: May 2011

In order to become globally competitive in today’s dynamic business environment, organi-zations have to come closer to customers and deliver value added services and products in the shortest possible time. The primary business process through which this is achieved is the sales and distribution process. However, the sales and distribution process is just one part of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This chapter will focus on the sales and distribution (SD) process of SAP’s ERP system. This chapter will assist in learning about the basic functions that make up this process and how it affects the other modules in the ERP system. This chapter will also look at the Purchasing process and the materials requirements planning (MRP) process and how all the three processes are linked together to form one complete business process.
Using Open Archives and Learning Objectives for Reusing CSL Contents
Authors: Chagas do Nascimento Rogério Patrício
Published: May 2011

In this chapter the SCORM standards as a mean of creating skills to support the conception and development of e-learning devices (contents and systems) are introduced. It is shown how the SCORM, combined with new technologies/techniques as metadata harvesting, XML family, RSS, and feedreaders, offers a potentially substantive approach to understanding the dissemination of open archives initiatives and learning objects repositories in a variety of contexts. Furthermore, understanding the underlying assumptions and theoretical constructs through the use of the SCORM Model will not only teach the researcher a better way to design and develop CSL contents, but also help in the understanding of storing, distributing, sharing, and reusing CSL contents made by themselves or by other institutions abroad.
Video Annotation in Online Collaborative Discussion
Authors: Khine Myint Swe
Published: May 2011

Computer-supported collaborative learning has become one of the important areas in the education and training field, and online discussion is the predominant mode in the meaning-making process. While many of the software available in online discussion are text-based, recent development in such tools includes the capability of viewing video. This chapter introduces the use of software that allows users to engage in collaborative discussion by attaching notes to video footage. This type of software is relatively new in education applications. This chapter also reports findings from the study and suggests how such tool can be applied to improve the interaction among learners in other training situations in computer-supported learning environments.
User-Centered Design Principles for Online Learning Communities
Authors: Daniel Ben K. , O’Brien David , Sarkar Asit
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines current research on online learning communities (OLCs), with aim of identifying User-Centred Design (UCD) principles critical to the emergence and sustainability of distributed communities of practice (DCoP), a kind of an OLC. This research synthesis is motivated by the authors’ involvement in constructing a DCoP dedicated to improving awareness, research and sharing data and knowledge in the field of governance and international development. It argues that the sociotechnical research programme offers useable insights on questions of constructability. Its attention in particular to participatory design and human-computer interaction are germane to designing User-Centered online learning communities. Aside from these insights, research has yet to probe in any systematic fashion the factors affecting the perfromance and sustainability of DCoP. The chapter concludes with a discussion of User-Centred Design (UCD) principles for online learning community to support the construction and deployment of online learning communities.
Dynamic TV
Authors: Belli Andrea , Geymonat Marina , Perrero Monica , Simeoni Rossana , Badella Monica
Published: May 2011

This chapter proposes a way to exploit the ongoing convergence between the worlds of broadcasting and Telco in order to find an added value for the audience. We propose Dynamic TV, a concept based on the idea that this scenario may enhance the user TV-watching experience by providing not only a more comprehensive choice (content accessible via the broadband channel are virtually infinite) but most important, a way to take the user from a pure passive TV consumption to a more interactive, on demand, nonlinear experience. The maturity of the current technologies and standards for convergence has been investigated by implementing a prototype in a digital terrestrial television (DTT)/Internet protocol television (IPTV) environment of the Dynamic TV concept. Our conclusion is that both standards and technologies need some effort in order to allow a real service of this kind to be offered on the market.
Ambient Media and Home Entertainment
Authors: Lugmayr Artur , Pohl Alexandra , Müehhäueser Max , Kallenbach Jan , Chorianopoulos Konstantinos
Published: May 2011

This chapter glimpses the future of modern ambient HE systems. Experts in the field of ambient media discuss and contribute to four major lines of the future development of ambient media: (1) social implications, (2) converging media, (3) consumer content, and (4) smart devices.
Guidelines for Designing Easy-to-Use Interactive Television Services
Authors: Ahonen Ari , Turkki Laura , Saarijärvi Marjukka , Lahti Maria , Virtanen Tytti
Published: May 2011

Ease of use is a key factor driving the adoption of interactive services in digital television (DTV). To facilitate the development of easy-to-use services and to distribute information among the industry players and the academia, the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications and the National Technology Agency of Finland commissioned a usability study on 11 DTV services. This paper presents the most topical results of these usability studies. First, we discuss the practical experiences of evaluating differing interactive television (iTV) services. Second, we present 39 guidelines for ensuring the ease of use of interactive services. These guidelines apply to services that are transmitted in the traditional broadcast system, but they also provide a good basis for designing services in Internet protocol television (IPTV).
From ‘Flow' to ‘Database'
Authors: Suni Ravio
Published: May 2011

This chapter compares several basic statistical indicators of broadcast (traditional) television viewing and Internet protocol television (IPTV) use in Estonia and show how the structural difference between the two types of television results in different consumption models. The main conclusion is that the structure of the content to a large extent determines the uses of media. Flow-type media (broadcast television) appears to support routine and unconscious media use, while the use of database-like media (Internet television) could be characterised as being more purposeful and conscious. The study opens new perspectives on audience research and might be inspiring for further research and analyses focussing in detail on the use of IPTV.
Creating Strategic Information for Oranizations with Structured Text
Authors: Penteado Roberto , Boutin Eric
Published: May 2011

The information overload demands that organizations set up new capabilities concerning the analysis of data and texts to create the necessary information. This chapter presents a bibliometrical approach for mining on structured text and data tuned to the French school of information science. These methodologies and techniques allow organizations to identify the valuable information that will generate better decisions, enabling and capacitating them to accomplish their mission and attain competitive advantages over the competition. The authors think that information treatment and analysis is the most critical organizational competence on our information society and that organizations and universities should take measures to develop this new field of research.
Rule Discovery from Textual Data
Authors: Sakurai Shigeaki
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces knowledge discovery methods based on a fuzzy decision tree from textual data. It argues that the methods extract features of the textual data based on a key concept dictionary, which is a hierarchical thesaurus, and a key phrase pattern dictionary, which stores characteristic rows of both words and parts of speech, and generate knowledge in the format of a fuzzy decision tree. It also discusses two application tasks. One is an analysis system for daily business reports and the other is an e-mail analysis system. Furthermore, the author hopes that the methods will provide new knowledge for researchers engaged in text mining studies, facilitating their understanding of the importance of the fuzzy decision tree in processing textual data.
A Multi-Agent Neural Network System for Web Text Mining
Authors: Yu Lean , Wang Shouyang , Lai Kin Keung
Published: May 2011

With the rapid increase of the huge amount of online information, there is a strong demand for Web text mining which helps people discover some useful knowledge from Web documents. For this purpose, this chapter first proposes a back-propagation neural network (BPNN)-based Web text mining system for decision support. In the BPNN-based Web text mining system, four main processes, Web document search, Web text processing, text feature conversion, and BPNN-based knowledge discovery, are involved. Particularly, BPNN is used as an intelligent learning agent that learns about underlying Web documents. In order to scale the individual intelligent agent with the large number of Web documents, we then provide a multi-agent-based neural network system for Web text mining in a parallel way. For illustration purpose, a simulated experiment is performed. Experiment results reveal that the proposed multi-agent neural network system is an effective solution to large scale Web text mining.