bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Energy-Efficient Cache Invalidation in Wireless Mobile Environment
Authors: Joshi R. C. , Misra Manoj , Chand Narottam
Published: May 2011

Caching at the mobile client is a potential technique that can reduce the number of uplink requests, lighten the server load, shorten the query latency and increase the data availability. A cache invalidation strategy ensures that any data item cached at a mobile client has same value as on the origin server. Traditional cache invalidation strategies make use of periodic broadcasting of invalidation reports (IRs) by the server. The IR approach suffers from long query latency, larger tuning time and poor utilization of bandwidth. Using updated invalidation report (UIR) method that replaces a small fraction of the recent updates, the query latency can be reduced. To improve upon the IR and UIR based strategies, this chapter presents a synchronous stateful cache maintenance technique called Update Report (UR). The proposed strategy outperforms the IR and UIR strategies by reducing the query latency, minimizing the disconnection overheads, optimizing the use of wireless channel and conserving the client energy.
Database Queries in Mobile Environments
Authors: Marsit N.
Published: May 2011

The technological evolution of networks together with the development of positioning systems has contributed to the emergence of numerous location-based services. Services related to this expanding area will become of major technical as well as economical interest in the coming few years. This aroused a great deal of interest from the scientific community at large and specifically from those studying these services and their diverse requirements and constraints. One of the direct consequences in the database field is the appearance of new types of queries (mobile queries issued from mobile terminals and/or requesting information associated with moving objects such as vehicles). Our objective in this chapter is to present a comprehensive survey of the field of research work related to mobile queries, with particular attention to the location issue.
Relating Mobile Computing to Mobile Commerce
Authors: Godbole Nina
Published: May 2011

In today’s digital economy and the extended enterprise paradigm, mobility is on the rise. It is important to perceive mobility as an opportunity, rather than a threat. Although m-commerce is still at its infancy, it serves as an extension to e-commerce sites—it has been regarded as a value-added service. However, there are many issues and challenges while reaping full benefits of mobile computing solutions for m-commerce. This is because mobility and mobile computing is replete with many challenges on the business front, technical challenges as well as social challenges. This chapter undertakes discussion on understanding mobility and categories of mobile user types, understanding the meaning of m-commerce. Typical applications that support the m-commerce paradigm are illustrated through case studies. The chapter ends with a discussion on legal implications of mobile technology, and future directions for mobile commerce and mobile computing. The key message is that mobility is not just about connectivity—it is about function it provides and the way organizations work in today’s digital economy.
Mobile CRM
Authors: Lee Chean
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides an introduction of using Mobile CRM to reach, acquire, convert and retain consumers. Firstly, a definition of the term CRM is provided and the author also gives an insight on extending CRM to the wireless world. Having presented the benefits of mobile data services and their benefits to businesses in terms of customer relations and marketing, however, businesses still faced the challenges on delivering the promise to consumers. More importantly, the adoption of mobile services is still low in business and consumer segments. The author identifies content appropriateness, usability issues, personalization, willingness to pay, security and privacy as major challenges for businesses, and then, recommends businesses to start segmenting their mobile consumers into: Mobile Tweens, Mobile Yuppro and Senior Mobile users and the understanding of demographics, social and behavioural issues of these three consumer groups as initial step in Mobile CRM, before finally recommending the use of viral marketing as a mechanism to market mobile services. This is followed by matching relevant services to consumers create positive usability experience and always build a critical mass but develop a customer at one time.
Identified Customer Requirements in Mobile Video Markets - A Pan-European Case
Authors: Brodt Torsten
Published: May 2011

Due to a significant cost advantage, mobile multicasting technology bears the potential to achieve extensive diffusion of mobile rich media applications. As weak performance of previous mobile data services suggests, past developments have focused on technology and missed customer preferences. Mobile multicasting represents a radical innovation. Currently, little insight on consumer behaviour exists regarding such services. This chapter presents results of qualitative and quantitative field research conducted in three countries. It provides a continuous customer integration approach that applies established methods of market research to the creation of mobile services. Means-end chain analysis reveals consumers’ cognitive reasoning and conjoint analysis drills down to the importance of service attributes. Desire for self confidence and social integration are identified key motivators for consumption of mobile media. Services should aim for technological perfection and deliver actual and entertaining content. Interestingly, consumers appreciate reduced but tailored contents and price appears not to be a superseding criterion.
Mobile Computing - An Enabler in International Financial Services
Authors: Rao N. Raghavendra
Published: May 2011

Information and telecommunication technologies are the major stimulus for changes in trade and commerce. Recent convergence of the above technologies has become possible due to the rapid advancements made in the respective technology. This convergence is termed as information and communication technology (ICT) and considered as a new discipline. The new discipline has made cross border commerce in the present globalization scenario a reality. This chapter talks about a model for financial services sector in international market under the new discipline. The model explains the creation of knowledge based financial services system incorporating the sophisticated concepts of information technology. Further, it provides an access to the system with devices which can be used under wireless communication environment, across the globe.
Job Search at Naukri.com
Authors: Swami Sanjeev
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents the case study of a successful dot-com venture in India, Naukri.com, in the job search market. We begin by providing an overview of job search methods in both general and the specific Indian contexts. The advent and growth of the e-recruitment market is also discussed. We then provide background information for Naukri.com by focusing on its business model, growth, organizational structure and human resource management. The product/service offerings of Naukri.com for recruiters and job-seekers are discussed next. We then provide a critical analysis of the consumers of the company and its competitors. We conclude by assessing Naukri.com’s marketing strategy during initial (1997-2000) and recent (2001-2004) time periods.
Application of Text Mining Methodologies to Health Insurance Schedules
Authors: Tsoi Ah Chung , To Phuong Kim , Hagenbuchner Markus
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes the application of a number of text mining techniques to discover patterns in the health insurance schedule with an aim to uncover any inconsistency or ambiguity in the schedule. In particular, we will apply first a simple “bag of words” technique to study the text data, and to evaluate the hypothesis: Is there any inconsistency in the text description of the medical procedures used? It is found that the hypothesis is not valid, and hence the investigation is continued on how best to cluster the text. This work would have significance to health insurers to assist them to differentiate descriptions of the medical procedures. Secondly, it would also assist the health insurer to describe medical procedures in an unambiguous manner.
Literacy by Way of Automatic Speech Recognition
Authors: Gluck Russell , Fulcher John
Published: May 2011

The chapter commences with an overview of automatic speech recognition (ASR), which covers not only the de facto standard approach of hidden Markov models (HMMs), but also the tried-and-proven techniques of dynamic time warping and artificial neural networks (ANNs). The coverage then switches to Gluck’s (2004) draw-talk-write (DTW) process, developed over the past two decades to assist non-text literate people become gradually literate over time through telling and/or drawing their own stories. DTW has proved especially effective with “illiterate” people from strong oral, storytelling traditions. The chapter concludes by relating attempts to date in automating the DTW process using ANN-based pattern recognition techniques on an Apple Macintosh G4™ platform.
On Agent Societies
Authors: Trajkovski Goran
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we propose a model for a multi-agent society, based on expectancy and interaction. Based on results on imitations, we proposed a multi-agent version of the Interactivist-Expectative Theory of Agency and Learning (IETAL) theory—Multi-agent Systems in Interactive Virtual Environments (MASIVE).
On MASim
Authors: Trajkovski Goran
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we overview our simulation environment (Multi-Agent Systems Simulations [MASim]) that we developed, with the intention of studying behaviors in smaller societies of agents. We will give a gallery of selected recorded behaviors and brief comments on each.
On a Robotic Platform for MASIVE-Like Experiments
Authors: Trajkovski Goran
Published: May 2011

This chapter overviews a robotic platform developed at our Cognitive Agency and Robotics Laboratory (CARoL, n.d.) for the purpose of carrying out Interactivist-Expectative Theory of Agency and Learning (IETAL) and Multi-Agent Simulated Interactive Virtual Environments (MASIVE)-like experiments in a realistic environment. Performing IETAL and MASIVE-like experiments with a robotic agent(s) requires specialized agent(s) in a specialized environment. The solution overviewed here is done on a shoestring budget and is easy to replicate and modify.
On the POPSICLE Experiments
Authors: Trajkovski Goran
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents an empirical investigation executed with the purpose of calibrating parameters of the Interactivist-Expectative Theory of Agency and Learning (IETAL) and Multi-Agent Simulated Interactive Virtual Environments (MASIVE) simulations. The experiment aims to understand the use of inborn schemes in humans, their use of context, as well as imitation in two-person teams. Variations were performed in order to implement observations from previous versions of the experiment.
Cognitively Informed Systems
Authors: Alkhalifa Eshaa M.
Published: May 2011

Cognitively informed systems as introduced by Alkhalifa (2005b) is a perspective that encourages system designers to consider the findings of cognitive science as informative to the design of their systems. This relies on an underlying assumption that the presentation, interaction abilities, as well as the system structure, are likely to achieve more efficient communication if the design is aligned with the expectations of the human cognitive machine. In other words, this perspective deals with issues such as how to best present materials for the perceptual system to isolate the required differences and focus on the correct points in the image, how to offer sufficient interaction to enhance learning, or how to elicit different levels of cognitive engagement with the system. This chapter offers a survey of the main areas of the field and examples are given of how these areas can inform particular aspects of future system design. A case study is also presented as support to this perspective. The main conclusion thatcan be drawn is that this new perspective is not only practical but also worthwhile.
A User-Centered Approach to the Retrieval of Information in an Adaptive Web Site
Authors: Gena Cristina , Arissono Liliana
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes the user-centered design approach we adopted in the development and evaluation of an adaptive Web site. The development of usable Web sites, offering easy and efficient services to heterogeneous users, is a hot topic and a challenging issue for adaptive hypermedia and human-computer interaction. User-centered design promises to facilitate this task by guiding system designers in making decisions, which take the user’s needs in serious account. Within a recent project funded by the Italian Public Administration, we developed a prototype information system supporting the online search of data about water resources. As the system was targeted to different types of users, including generic citizens and specialized technicians, we adopted a user-centered approach to identify their information needs and interaction requirements. Moreover, we applied query analysis techniques to identify further information needs and speed up the data retrieval activity. In this chapter, we describe the requirements analysis, the system design, and its evaluation.
From Engineer to Architecture? Designing for a Social Constructivist Environment
Authors: Lee Karen
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines the design requirements of a social constructivist virtual learning environment. It uses the example of teaching expertise to practitioners to demonstrate the practical application of the cognitive theories underpinning a community of practice, with the objective of providing an insight into some of the complex issues involved in creating such an environment. It is argued that the analogy of designer as architect is most appropriate, reflecting a move from task-centred courseware to learner-centred situated environments.
Neural Networks in ECG Classification
Authors: Camps-Valls G. , Guerrero-Martinez J. F.
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, we review the vast field of application of artificial neural networks in cardiac pathology discrimination based on electrocardiographic signals. We discuss advantages and drawbacks of neural and adaptive systems in cardiovascular medicine and catch a glimpse of forthcoming developments in machine learning models for the real clinical environment. Some problems are identified in the learning tasks of beat detection, feature selection/extraction, and classification, and some proposals and suggestions are given to alleviate the problems of interpretability, overfitting, and adaptation. These have become important problems in recent years and will surely constitute the basis of some investigations in the immediate future.
Introduction to the Web Portfolio
Authors: DiMarco John
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the concept of the portfolio and defines the electronic portfolio and Web portfolio. In print, electronic form, and through the Web, the portfolio has become a standard tool for success in many disciplines. In the future, the Web portfolio will be part of the success of people in all disciplines, not just those who traditionally utilize portfolios, such as artists and teachers. The chapter frames the Web portfolio as a tool for persuasion and lifelong learning. I introduce many different concepts, cases, and relevant information from literature and Web reviews. I want to stimulate your ideas about the Web portfolio so I provide some interesting uses of the Web portfolio within academic settings.
Visual Design
Authors: DiMarco John
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores visual design and the methods used to develop Web site storyboards and screen creation. This process is a critical step in the Web portfolio design process because it enables visual persuasion and allows for a cohesive composition throughout the product. Many Web portfolio sites are poorly designed visually. The reasons surrounding this are too many to be discussed fully in this text. However, we will take a proactive approach and explain the qualities that are important in good visual design of Web pages. In addition, we will look at some bad Web portfolio design attributes to get a sense of what is not quite effective when it comes to visual persuasion. The notion of bad design is subjective, but also, design has objective, measurable attributes that lead to visual quality. Many bad designs come from non-art and non-visual disciplines. Technology experts may be poor designers because they focus too much on technology bells and whistles and less on the user. However, design is emergent and eventually everyone can get better with practice and exposure to design. I hope this chapter will act as a catalyst for people who already have a Web portfolio to assess the quality of their design. I would like the new readers to begin to build good habits in their actions as visual and communication designers. Regardless of discipline, when you create a Web portfolio you become a designer. You are developing an information product that serves to solve a communication problem. Therefore, you are playing the role of information designer, communication designer, and graphic designer. These are roles which you must take seriously because they affect persuasion and appearance. Making your Web portfolio site look good is as important as feeling good about it, because if it looks good and you feel good about it, you’ll tell people about it. Remember, the goal of the Web portfolio is to promote you and your accomplishments, so looks count.
Cases and Interviews
Authors: DiMarco John
Published: May 2011

As I examined hundreds of Web sites promising electronic or Web portfolio data for this text, and performed observations and interviews with dozens of students and colleagues, I discovered some exemplary cases of Web portfolio usage. The Web portfolio phenomena and the rise in electronic portfolio development within all disciplines have prompted academic institutions to develop Web portfolio programs and to push these programs towards faculty and students. My general observations are that the institutions that make serious efforts to develop and manage a sound electronic portfolio program are getting good results. Right now, it is not conceivable for an institution to be able to have 100 percent of their student and faculty populations to have Web portfolios. At Penn State University, in the Dutton E-Education Institute, they are trying by providing 500 MB of Web portfolio space to all undergraduate students while enrolled. The institute recently reported in December 2004 that one in three undergraduate students activate their Web portfolio and use it for academic reflection and professional purposes. The Dutton Institute and Penn State’s e-portfolio initiative are highlighted further in this chapter. During interviews with students and faculty members who have created Web portfolios, I discovered some interesting themes that included fear of copyright infringement, technical worries, and lack of process knowledge. These themes encompass problems and positive events that shaped each Web portfolio authors experiences and these are also discussed later in the chapter. Also in this chapter, a Web-based e-portfolio program proposal sample is included to give you a head start on creating a proposal for your institution or program. The sample is based on criteria for new technology proposals distributed by an academic vice president at a four-year university. It is not meant to be a one-size-fits-all proposal. It is meant to give structure to developing an initial program concept. Proposal adaptation based on discipline, industry, and curriculum would certainly be needed. Finally, electronic portfolios are widely seen in the discipline of education. This chapter provides observations of teacher Web portfolios which include all levels of educators from elementary through higher education. These cases seem to have exemplary qualities that fit the teacher Web portfolio and can be transcended into the creation of Web portfolios in any discipline. The goal of examining these cases is to identify important components in the Web portfolios of teachers that represent evidence of professional development, project and skill sets, and persuasion. These teacher Web portfolio cases are effective models for use in any discipline.
The Different Views of Software Quality
Authors: Wong Bernard
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines the different definitions of quality and compares the different models and frameworks for software quality evaluation. It will look at both historical and current literature. The chapter will give special attention to recent research on the Software Evaluation Framework, a framework for software evaluation, which gives the rationale for the choice of characteristics used in software quality evaluation, supplies the underpinning explanation for the multiple views of quality, and describes the areas of motivation behind software quality evaluation. The framework has its theoretical foundations on value-chain models, found in the disciplines of cognitive psychology and consumer research, and introduces the use of cognitive structures as a means of describing the many definitions of quality. The author hopes that this chapter will give researchers and practitioners a better understanding of the different views of software quality, why there are differences, and how to represent these differences.
Improving Quality through the Use of Agile Methods in Systems Development
Authors: Kendall Julie E. , Kendall Kenneth E. , Kong Sue
Published: May 2011

We introduce, define, and elaborate on agile development methods and how quality information systems are created via the values and practices of people using agile approaches. Key differences among agile methods, the SDLC, and other development methodologies are covered and suggestions for improving quality in IS through agile methods are given. We recommend adopting the principles of agile methods, encouraging more education about the values of agile approaches, including more types of people in the development of agile systems; adopting agile methods for a variety of organizational cultures; and renaming agile methods to signify the value system inherent in the approach.
Engineering Mobile Group Decision Support
Authors: Kronsteiner Reinhard
Published: May 2011

This chapter investigates the potential of mobile multimedia for group decisions. Decision support systems can be categorized based on the complexity of the decision problem space and group composition. The combination of the dimensions of the problem space and group compositions in mobile environments in terms of time, spatial distribution, and interaction will result in a set of requirements that need to be addressed in different phases of decision process. Mobility analysis of group decision processes leads to the development of appropriate mobile group decision support tools. In this chapter, we explore the different requirements for designing and implementing a collaborative decision support systems.
Software Engineering for Mobile Multimedia
Authors: Mostefaoui Ghita Kouadri
Published: May 2011

Research on mobile multimedia mainly focuses on improving wireless protocols in order to improve the quality of services. In this chapter, we argue that another perspective should be investigated in more depth in order to boost the mobile multimedia industry. This perspective is software engineering which we believe it will speed up the development of mobile multimedia applications by enforcing reusability, maintenance, and testability. Without any pretense of being comprehensive in its coverage, this chapter identifies important software engineering implications of this technological wave and puts forth the main challenges and opportunities for the software engineering community.
Content-Based Video Streaming Approaches and Challenges
Authors: Ahmad Ashraf M.A.
Published: May 2011

Video streaming poses significant technical challenges in quality of service guarantee and efficient resource management. Generally, it is recognized that end-to-end quality requirements of video streaming application can be reasonably achieved only by integrative study of advanced networking and content processing techniques. However, most existing integration techniques stop at the bit stream level, ignoring a deeper understanding of the media content. Yet, the underlying visual content of the video stream contains a vast amount of information that can be used to predict the bit-rate or quality more accurately. In the content-aware video streaming framework, video content is extracted automatically and used to control video quality under various manipulations and network resource requirements.
An Overview of Electronic Attacks
Authors: Chen Thomas M. , Davis Chris
Published: May 2011

This chapter gives an overview of the major types of electronic attacks encountered today and likely to continue into the foreseeable future. A comprehensive understanding of attackers, their motives, and their methods is a prerequisite for digital crime investigation. The range of possible cyber attacks is almost unlimited, but many attacks generally follow the basic steps of reconnaissance, gaining access, and cover-up. We highlight common methods and tools used by attackers in each step. In addition, attacks are not necessarily directed toward specific targets. Viruses, worms, and spam are examples of large-scale attacks directed at compromising as many systems as possible.
Computer and Network Forensics
Authors: Sitaraman Sriranjani , Venkatesan Subbarayan
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces computer and network forensics. The world of forensics is well understood in the non-digital world, whereas this is a nascent field in the digital cyberworld. Digital evidence is being increasingly used in the legal system such as e-mails, disk drives containing damaging evidence, and so on. Computer forensics deals with preserving and collecting digital evidence on a single machine while network forensics deals with the same operations in a connected digital world. Several related issues and available tools are discussed in this chapter.
Digital Forensic Tools
Authors: Richard III , Roussev Vassil
Published: May 2011

Digital forensics investigators have access to a wide variety of tools, both commercial and open source, which assist in the preservation and analysis of digital evidence. Unfortunately, most current digital forensics tools fall short in several ways. First, they are unable to cope with the ever-increasing storage capacity of target devices. As capacities grow into hundreds of gigabytes or terabytes, the traditional approach of utilizing a single workstation to perform a digital forensics investigation against a single evidence source, such as a hard drive, will become completely intractable. Further, huge targets will require more sophisticated analysis techniques, such as automated categorization of images. We believe that the next generation of digital forensics tools will employ high-performance computing, more sophisticated evidence discovery and analysis techniques, and better collaborative functions to allow digital forensics investigators to perform investigations much more efficiently than they do today. This chapter examines the next generation of digital forensics tools.
Information Systems/Information Technology Outsourcing in Spain
Authors: Doldán Tie Felix R. , Huertas Paula Luna , Martínez Lopez Francisco Jose , Sanchez Carlos Piñeiro
Published: May 2011

The practice of information systems/information technology (IS/IT) outsourcing is a major issue which has received much attention, as shown by the extensive literature on the topic. However, most works on outsourcing have focused on theoretical topics, and there are but a few empirical, quantitative studies. This chapter presents an empirical study of IS/IT outsourcing in Spain, which has been conducted along the lines of prior research carried out in different countries, and which focuses on the types, functions and targets of outsourcing contracts. We also attempt to examine the influence that this practice may have on the organizations’ management structure. A survey carried out on 530 Spanish firms has shown that 50% of Spanish large firms have outsourced part of their IS/IT, whereas outsourcing is practiced by 20% of medium-sized enterprises. Finally, it has been observed that the most frequently outsourced activities in Spain are hosting and Internet-related services.
Modeling Confidence for Assistant Systems
Authors: Kaschek Roland
Published: May 2011

An intelligent assistant system is supposed to relatively autonomously aid a master in problem solving. The way of doing so that is favored in this chapter involves master-assistant communication that leads to the assistant being exposed to a goal the master wants to achieve. The assistant—if that is possible—then creates problem solution procedures, the implementation of which is supposed to result in the goal being achieved. The assistant then chooses an implementation that can be expected to fit well its master dispositions. An assistant thus needs to know parts of its master’s cognitive structure and to be capable of reasoning about it. The chapter proposes to use models as composite verdictive entities by means of which a master may refer to a domain of individuals. The concept of judgment is assumed to be the simple verdictive entity out of which models are composed. Models are used for representing cognitive states of masters. In particular, model extensions are considered, that is, models that are closed with respect to predicate negation of judgments, conjunction of judgments, and conditional judgments. The concept of confidence is formalized and applied to model extensions for deriving quantitative assertions about judgments. It is briefly discussed how the proposed theory of confidence in judgments can be used in intelligent assistant systems.
Memetic Approach to the Location-Based Ad Hoc Federation of Intelligent Resources
Authors: Tanaka Yuzura
Published: May 2011

The current Web is a mine of tools and services and the gate to ubiquitous computing environments with a huge number of highly distributed mobile and embedded intelligent resources. Their advanced reuse in assistance systems that support whole processes of our tasks requires federation of resources, that is, both discovery of appropriate resources from a certain scope of resources, and their interoperation and coordination for the required demand. Such a scope and the demand may dynamically change. This chapter focuses on such cases in which both change dynamically, and the change of demand cannot be predicted. Assistance systems for such cases must be able to support us to instantaneously perform federation of Web resources in an ad hoc way. They require new technologies for ad hoc federation of Web resources, and for restricting the scope of discovery in accordance with dynamically changing situations. This paper proposes the use of meme media technologies for ad hoc federation of intelligent resources over the Web. It also proposes the Wiki piazza architecture that works as a repository and lookup service, and combines this service with a location reference service to propose a way of restricting the scope of discovery using location-dependent contexts. These technologies enable location-based ad hoc federation of intelligent resources over the Web and ubiquitous computing environments.
From E-Learning Tools to Assistants by Learner Modelling and Adaptive Behavior
Authors: Jantke Klaus , Igel Christoph , Sturm Roberta
Published: May 2011

Humans need assistance in learning. This is particularly true when learning is supported by modern information and communication technologies. Most current IT systems appear as more or less complex tools. The more ambitious the problems in the application domain are, the more complex are the tools. This is one of the key obstacles to a wider acceptance of technology enhanced learning approaches (e-learning, for short). In computer science, in general, and in e-learning, in particular, we do need a paradigmatic shift from tools of a growing complexity to intelligent assistants to the human user. Computerized assistants that are able to adapt to their human users’ needs and desires need some ability to learn. In e-learning, in particular, they need to learn about the learner and to build an internal model of the learner as a basis of adaptive system behavior. Steps toward assistance in e-learning are systematically illustrated by means of the authors’ e-learning projects and systems eBuT and DaMiT. These steps are summarized in some process model proposed to the e-learning community.
International Capital Movements, Currency Crisis, and ICT Innovation
Authors: Takaya Sadayoshi
Published: May 2011

This chapter investigates the effects generated by the currency crisis. The countries experienced the currency turmoil confronted financial crisis, economic deterioration, and increase of unemployment. This chapter empirically examines the effect of currency depreciation on the real GDP and the unemployment rates in those countries by employing the structural vector autoregressive model, which attempts to clarify whether identified supply or demand shocks can be caused by exchange rate depreciation. This study suggests currency crisis might generate demand shock, to result in harmful impacts to real economy in those countries. Those could be considered as negative effects of the ICT innovation.
The Role and Future of Local Currency and IT
Authors: Kurihara Yutaka , Fukushima Akio
Published: May 2011

The use of local currency has been spreading gradually since the 1990s. It has been introduced by nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and similar groups in some countries around the world. Welfare, nursing and nonpaying work, such as childrearing, are among the most popular reasons for introducing local currency. Recently, one local currency has appeared related to preventing environmental problems and protective and nursing industries. In some countries, local currencies have supported expectations for economic recovery. Promoting the spread of local currency is thought to be important. Information technology (IT) has contributed to the spread of local currency and may create new areas of usage and value. Various problems accompany the spreading use of local currencies. Local currency will not create major obstacles to economic activity as long as the sizes of transactions do not increase greatly, so governments and financial authorities have little reason to prohibit its use unless the currency issue authority in the country is seriously threatened. The exchange of digital value through IT (e.g., IC cards and the diffusion of the local currency) has significant value but also increases risks. To promote efficiency and convenience in local currency by introducing IT, governments, public administrations and municipalities should cooperate with a strategy for the information and communication technology (ICT) development. Alliances among many institutions should be considered.
M-Government Initiatives at the Local Level
Authors: Casaló Luis V. , Flavián Carlos , Guinalíu Miguel
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the concept of m-government and its implications for both citizens and public institutions. Although m-government is currently in an initial phase of development, its potential in the relationship between the public sector and the citizen is obvious because of, for example, the large number of mobile phone users among the public. In addition, the development of m-government initiatives generates a good number of bene?ts for the public sector that operates it as well as for the public, who experience improved accessibility to electronic public services. Because of this, this chapter analyses m-government initiatives developed by the Zaragoza City Council (Spain) in order to describe its bene?ts, implications for the relationship between the City Council and the citizen, and the future perspectives of these initiatives. We have speci?cally chosen a country like Spain due to the fact that mobile telephone usage is widespread and, at the same time, local government level has been chosen as the citizen participates more in the relationship with the public sector when it is at the local level.
Process Integration Through Hierarchical Decomposition
Authors: Manzer A.
Published: May 2011

A mechanism is presented to construct an enterprise process by integrating component processes. This approach supports the formation of value-added chains based on process models. Process representations in logical as well as physical levels are offered in a hierarchy as a graphical tool to support process integration. An enterprise represents a complex process that needs to be constructed within an engineering approach. Such construction is a matter of integration if component processes are made available by smaller enterprises. Process integration is supported by task-system formalism that may especially prove useful in the analysis of the preservation of process attributes during integration. Approaches using the decomposition of the problem definition have matured for various engineering disciplines in an effort to match definition pieces with previously built sub solutions. Among these disciplines, the techniques used in software engineering are exploited as this domain is closer to business process construction than the others.
Visual Environment for Supply Chain Integration Using Web Services
Authors: Jiménez-Pérez G.
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a software tool to simplify application integration among enterprises. The visual environment provides facilities to display in a graphical interface the structure of databases and applications. By clicking in the appropriate tables, functions, and fields, enterprises could specify the data sources needed for integration. The details of the applications are extracted from WSDL and metadata definitions. Once the fields for every access are specified, integration code is automatically generated in either Java or C#. The chapter describes the visual tool and its use for automatic supply chain integration from metadata or WSDL descriptions. It describes how users specify the data elements and the integration links and how the code integrating the specified elements is automatically generated. The generated code uses Web services standards to integrate the specified sources.
ePortfolios
Authors: Acosta Teresa , Liu Youmei
Published: May 2011

This chapter focuses on how ePortfolios: (1) shift the locus of control from instructor to student, (2) change curriculum design, and (3) develop social capital. Our contention is that as ePortfolio use gains momentum, the curricula will be scrutinized by persons both in and out of academia, and will evolve to adapt. As business, industry, the arts, government, and so forth influence and shape what is to be assessed, social capital (Bourdieu, 1986) is created, thus opening doors for new graduates entering their profession. Therefore, ePortfolios are not only tools for assessing learning and teaching, but more importantly they promote reform of the traditional educational system, bridge the divide between the academy and society, and develop social capital for the best interest of the global community.
The Learning Landscape
Authors: Tosh David , Werdmuller Ben , Chen Helen L. , Light Tracy Penny , Haywood Jeff
Published: May 2011

Adoption of ePortfolio tools in higher education has been implemented in individual courses, departments, schools, and across institutions to demonstrate evidence of more authentic student work, show student progress over time, and represent collections of best work. New technologies have enhanced the learning affordances of ePortfolios to include its usefulness as a tool to support integration, synthesis, and re-use of formal and informal learning experiences. The challenge for educators is to develop new pedagogical approaches to encourage students to recognize and extend the value of ePortfolio software beyond simple course applications and outside the context of their undergraduate education. This chapter describes the learning landscape model, a conceptual framework which promotes a view of “learning” that supersedes the rigid structure of degree outlines and requirements by taking advantage of a variety of technologies to incorporate overlapping experiences through social networking among faculty, mentors, peers, and employers and resources.
ePortfolios
Authors: Carmean Colleen , Christie Alice
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores research on ePortfolios from the perspective of defining, evaluating, and demonstrating value to enduring learning. It makes a case for the public/private container and the value to the learner of digital artifact creation, self-reflection, and presentation. It explores the use and challenges of ePortfolios in instruction and makes a case for the ePortfolio as an effective tool for knowledge creation. Finally, the authors examine the question of assessment in implementation of an enterprise ePortfolio: the value of learner assessment, peer and public assessment, and the need for institutional assessment of the ePortfolio.
The Promise of the Student Electronic Portfolio
Authors: Plater William M.
Published: May 2011

The development and pervasive adoption of student electronic portfolios have the potential to transform higher education at both the institutional and national sector levels. While much depends on the continued expansion of the ePortfolio’s technological capabilities, its transformative power derives from allowing students, faculty, and institutions to actually do what heretofore they have only imagined: enable each student to have a personally managed, meaningful, coherent, integrated lifelong record of learning that demonstrates competence, transcends educational levels, and is portable across institutions of learning—formal and informal. The ePortfolio is lifelong learning co-owned and co-managed by the individual student.
Mining for Meaning
Authors: Riedinger Bonnie
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines the challenges and benefits of using reflection in ePortfolios, and reviews strategies for teaching and encouraging deep reflection. It includes a brief history of the use of reflection in portfolios, summaries of the main types of reflection, and general approaches for the development of student reflection. Barriers to successful reflection, such as inexperienced students and faculty, student fear and distrust of reflection, formulaic responses, and time constraints will be examined, and solutions will be proposed. The effects of the ePortfolio on reflection and the possibilities offered by technological advances and new software also will be reviewed. The chapter argues that faculty must carefully construct reflection learning objectives if they expect meaningful summative or formative assessment to take place. The author hopes that the discussion of prompts, scaffolding, cycling, and other mining techniques will help instructors transform reflection theory into practice.
ePortfolio Decisions and Dilemas
Authors: Gibson David
Published: May 2011

This chapter combines existing ideas and metaphors from recent portfolio literature into a new framework for thinking about the decisions and dilemmas of ePortfolios. It argues that since the definition of “ePortfolio” covers a spectrum of approaches to the challenge of documenting and assessing student knowledge and skills, the wide array of differing audiences and purposes of assessment leads to many decisions about a portfolio system’s mix of content and message ownership, review and validation processes, and expectations about media. In addition, the unique role of technology in the mediation of action and learning adds to the dilemmas inherent in decision making about the system’s artifacts. It is hoped that the framework offers a new analytical perspective and a set of questions to guide people in building more effective ePortfolio systems.
Purpose, Audience, and Engagement in Spelman College's eFolio Project
Authors: Price Margaret
Published: May 2011

This chapter reports on the pilot phase of a longitudinal study that tracks Spelman College’s transition from a paper-based First-Year Writing Portfolio to an electronically based one. It presents data from interviews with students, faculty, and administrators, as well as surveys administered to a pilot section of students composing eFolios. These data indicate that the transition will require a re-evaluation of the First-Year Writing Portfolio’s current conception of audience and purpose. Further, they indicate that assigners of eFolios should discuss audience and purpose directly with all stakeholders in the eFolio composition process, including students, administration, and faculty, since these elements may be differently conceptualized by different individuals and/or across different contexts.
Supporting the Portfolio Process with ONNI - The Learning Journal
Authors: Haapaniemi Tommi , Karvonen Pasi
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the use of an electronic learning journal in the portfolio process and the construction of a digital portfolio. The authors discuss the problems that have arisen during the learning and tutoring process of various traditional (paper) learning journals. The problems of traditional learning journals and their tutoring have been the following: (1) low extent of tutoring and evaluation during the process; (2) when the learning journal is the object of external assessment, it is not used as a tool for profound reflection (private vs. public dimensions of the learning journal); and (3) there has been a lack of a user-friendly tools with which to construct a Web-based learning portfolio. In this chapter the authors discuss the basic elements of ONNI–The Learning Journal, as well as how this electronic tool can help in solving the problems mentioned above. ONNI is presently being experimented on at the University of Kuopio, but it will also be developed to become a tool for every Finnish college student and to better support learning from peers as well as lifelong learning.
Tracking Capability Using Web-Based ePortfolios in UK Schools
Authors: Wharfe Will , Derrick Karim
Published: May 2011

MAPS, the Managed Assessment Portfolio System (see http://www.maps-ict.com), is a Web-based ePortfolio system that was developed to help both teachers and learners, initially with a focus of helping to raise standards in the teaching and learning of information and communications technology in the UK. MAPS has since developed into a system covering all stages and subjects of school education, and is now being used in further education contexts. This chapter plots the progress of MAPS from an initial sketch idea to its present form: supporting over 57,000 student portfolios. The authors then draw out a number of lessons learned from such extensive use. The chapter finishes with a look at forthcoming ePortfolio issues and consideration of the requirements of lifelong learning ePortfolios.
Creating a Strategy for the Implementation of the QUT ePortfolio
Authors: Emmett David , Harper Wendy , Hauville Kim
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) ePortfolio project as an example of a successful collaboration and integration strategy within a higher education context. Following extensive piloting and testing, the portfolio was released to all students and staff late in 2004, and by May 2005 in excess of 10,000 portfolios had been commenced. This chapter will present insights into this project which reveal some key collaboration and integration strategy decisions that were taken by both the university and the portfolio design team. In order to support these insights, preliminary student, academic, and employer feedback is provided based on research carried out from 2003 to 2005. The authors hope that this chapter will provide insights that will enable other institutions to enjoy similar success.