bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Algorithm for Secure Hybrid Cloud Design Against DDoS Attacks
Authors: Bhardwaj Akashdeep , Goundar Sam
Published: March 2020

This article describes how cloud computing has become a significant IT infrastructure in business, government, education, research, and service industry domains. Security of cloud-based applications, especially for those applications with constant inbound and outbound user traffic is important. It becomes of the utmost importance to secure the data flowing between the cloud application and user systems against cyber criminals who launch Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. Existing research related to cloud security focuses on securing the flow of information on servers or between networks but there is a lack of research to mitigate Distributed Denial of Service attacks on cloud environments as presented by Buyya et al. and Fachkha, et al. In this article, the authors propose an algorithm and a Hybrid Cloud-based Secure Architecture to mitigate DDoS attacks. By proposing a three-tier cloud infrastructure with a two-tier defense system for separate Network and Application layers, the authors show that DDoS attacks can be detected and blocked before reaching the infrastructure hosting the Cloud applications.
A Privacy Protection Approach Based on Android Application's Runtime Behavior Monitor and Control
Authors: Wu Fan , Sun Ran , Fan Wenhao , Liu Yuan'An , Liu Feng , Lu Hui
Published: March 2020

This article proposes a system that focuses on Android application runtime behavior forensics. Using Linux processes, a dynamic injection and a Java function hook technology, the system is able to manipulate the runtime behavior of applications without modifying the Android framework and the application's source code. Based on this method, a privacy data protection policy that reflects users' intentions is proposed by extracting and recording the privacy data usage in applications. Moreover, an optimized random forest algorithm is proposed to reduce the policy training time. The result shows that the system realizes the functions of application runtime behavior monitor and control. An experiment on 134 widely used applications shows that the basic privacy policy could satisfy the majority of users' privacy intentions.
A Steganalytic Scheme Based on Classifier Selection Using Joint Image Characteristics
Authors: Zhu Jie , Guan Qingxiao , Zhao Xianfeng , Cao Yun , Chen Gong
Published: March 2020

Steganalysis relies on steganalytic features and classification techniques. Because of the complexity and different characteristics of cover images, to make steganalysis more applicable toward detecting stego images in real applications, we need to train different classifiers so as to match different images according to their characteristics. Selection of classifiers according to characteristics of images is the key point to improve accuracy of steganalysis. In our work, we study the methods of classifier selection based on characteristics of images including image size, quantization factor, or matrix. Besides, we also discuss other characteristics, such as texture, cover source, which makes an appreciable difference to steganalysis.
Social Media and the Use of Discursive Markers of Online Extremism and Recruitment
Authors: Torok Robyn
Published: March 2020

This chapter examines the shift toward the use of social media to fuel violent extremism, what the key discursive markers are, and how these key discursive markers are used to fuel violent extremism. The chapter then addresses and critiques a number of radicalisation models including but not limited to phase based models. Discursive markers are covered under three broad narrative areas. Narratives of grievance are designed to stimulate strong emotive responses to perceived injustices. Based on these grievances, active agency is advocated in the form of jihad as a path that one should follow. Finally, a commitment to martyrdom is sought as the goal of these discursive markers.
GPS Patents and Their Effects on Our Future and Rights
Authors: Margulis Chloe S. , Galli Brian J.
Published: March 2020

The interest in GPS technology has led to the filing of many GPS patents. Although not all the filed patents result in the production of final products, there has been a rise in the question of GPS Technology and its ethical values in relation to privacy, rights, and government surveillance. Aside from covering the above issue, this paper will also discuss the branching of from GPS technology, development, and ethical implications to GIS mapping and RFID tagging in modern society. The main dilemma addressed will focus on the legality of taking people's locations in patented applications, devices, and programs, and using them for various needs, whether the user is aware or unaware of this. Will this be considered an infringement on personal rights and liberties, specifically pertaining to the Fourth Amendment?
Computer Forensic Investigation in Cloud of Things
Authors: Surendar A.
Published: March 2020

Digital data transformation is most challenging in developing countries. In recent days, all the applications are functioning with the support of internet of things (IoT). Wearable devices involve the most insightful information, which includes individual healthcare data. Health records of patients must be protected. IoT devices could be hacked, and criminals use this information. Smart cities with IoT use information technology to collect, analyze, and integrate information. Smart reduces the network traffic using the ground sensors, micro-radars, and drones monitor traffic to the traffic controller based on that signals are designed. The data collected includes the images and convey information to smart vehicles, which in turn, if data are hacked, may affect many people. Smart city includes important features such as smart buildings, smart technology, smart governance, smart citizen, and smart security. Cyber threat is a challenging problem, and usage of apps may increase malware that affects various customers.
DistProv-Data Provenance in Distributed Cloud for Secure Transfer of Digital Assets with Ethereum Blockchain using ZKP
Authors: Gouru Navya , Vadlamani NagaLakshmi
Published: March 2020

The importance and usage of the distributed cloud is increasing rapidly over a traditionally centralized cloud for the storing and exchanging of digital assets between untrusted parties in many business sectors. Storing the digital assets in the distributed cloud is considered superior to traditional cloud computing in terms of environmentally friendly, cost, security and other technical dimensions. In this article, a contemporary architecture DistProv is proposed where an open source distributed cloud IPFS is used to store and transfer the digital assets between the consignor and consignee. These two are untrusted parties exchanging sensitive documents secured by cryptographic algorithms with permission-based access verified by ethereum smart contracts using zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) and simultaneously publishing the provenance data about the digital asset as a transaction on the blockchain. This article also discusses on verifying the integrity of the digital assets and authentication of the consignor and thus preserving a strong CIA triad.
Punching Above Their Digital Weight
Authors: Martins Ralph Peter
Published: March 2020

This article describes how in recent years, Iran has joined the top ranks of the world powers in cyberspace and has demonstrated the ability to leverage cyberwarfare as a significant tool in its arsenal for pursuing its national security goals. While this increase in cyber power is relatively recent, some of the incidents and events that serve as the catalyst for the sudden digital surge go back decades. The reasons for these increased capabilities revolve around historic means of power projection, defense and preservation of the principles of the Iranian Revolution, response to Western aggression and Iranian nationalism. This article explores these ideological drivers and events to provide context for their trajectory and analysis of their likely implications.
Toward Approaches to Big Data Analysis for Terroristic Behavior Identification
Authors: Kostyuchenko Yuriy V. , Yuschenko Maxim
Published: March 2020

Paper aimed to consider of approaches to big data (social network content) utilization for understanding of social behavior in the conflict zones, and analysis of dynamics of illegal armed groups. Analysis directed to identify of underage militants. The probabilistic and stochastic methods of analysis and classification of number, composition and dynamics of illegal armed groups in active conflict areas are proposed. Data of armed conflict – antiterrorist operation in Donbas (Eastern Ukraine in the period 2014-2015) is used for analysis. The numerical distribution of age, gender composition, origin, social status and nationality of child militants among illegal armed groups has been calculated. Conclusions on the applicability of described method in criminological practice, as well as about the possibilities of interpretation of obtaining results in the context of study of terrorism are proposed.
Russian Active Measures and September 11, 2001
Authors: Hotchkiss Michael Bennett
Published: March 2020

The Cold-War era English-language promoters of Nostradamus (Orson Welles and Erika Cheetham) had strong Leftist-Marxist connections including ties to the Cambridge 5 spy ring. Nostradamus was the top search anomaly of Sept 11, 2001. Interest was driven by a surge in emails and text messages via the internet. This behavior is discussed in relation to known cyber threats from 2001. Similar spikes in Nostradamus searches (Google Trends) emanated from Poland (April 2010), Ukraine (March 2014), and in Hungary (August 2015). Nostradamus mirrors proven Russian disinformation operations, such as those that today implicate 9/11 as being an “inside job” by the US government, or that the CIA killed JFK, or that the CIA engineered the AIDS virus. Noting the use of Nostradamus by both the Allies and the Axis powers as a psychological warfare tool in World War 2, the case is made that it was the Russians carrying out an “information attack” on 9/11 that is consistent with Russian cyber warfare and active measures strategy and that they may have used similar techniques elsewhere since 2001.
Countering Online Violent Extremism
Authors: Cheong Damien D.
Published: March 2020

State action is an important form of strategic communication and therefore, significant to Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) initiatives on and offline. While non-state actors often use state action (and sometimes inaction) to incite and legitimise violence against the state as well as its citizens, generating this sort of negative sentiment does not require instigation. This is especially the case when the action(s) of a state are deemed so unacceptable and repulsive that a public backlash automatically ensues. As many violent extremists (including lone wolves) have been radicalised as a result of such controversies, it is necessary for positive state action to be carried out as well as widely publicised at the macro and micro levels. This is envisaged to counter negative narratives as well as address real world issues that push individuals towards violent extremism.
Managing Organized Crime
Authors: Musotto Roberto , Di Fatta Davide , Vesperi Walter , Morabito Giacomo , D'Aleo Vittorio , Lo Bue Salvatore
Published: March 2020

This chapter describes the way in which organised crime networks are structured and operate. Every general manager, no matter which kind of business he/she deals with, has to transform the daily chaos of events and decisions into an orderly way of sizing up the firm's position in its environment. At first, this chapter focuses on organised crime networks: how they are shaped and how they differ from others business. Secondly, how such a structure protects itself from exterior threats and how it moves and operates in a market among other legal and illegal firms and networks.
Digital Forensics in the Context of the Internet of Things
Authors: Kirmani Mariya Shafat , Banday Mohammad Tariq
Published: March 2020

The pervasive nature of IoT, envisioned with the characteristics of diversity, heterogeneity, and complexity, is diluting the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds. IoT being widely distributed qualifies it as the breeding ground for cyber-attacks. Although remarkable work is being done to ensure security in IoT infrastructure, security vulnerabilities persist. The IoT infrastructure can either be used as a direct target in a cyber-attack or exploited as a tool to carry a cyber-attack. In either case, the security measures in IoT infrastructure is compromised. The enormous IoT data is sensitive that can act as a gold mine to both the criminals for illicit exploitation or investigators to act as digital witness. IoT forensics help the investigators to acquire intelligence from this smart infrastructure to reconstruct the historical events occurred. However, due to sophisticated IoT architecture, the digital investigators face myriad challenges in IoT-related investigations using existing investigation methodologies and, hence, demand a separate dedicated forensic framework.
Tourism, Terrorism, Morality, and Marketing
Authors: Tarlow Peter E.
Published: March 2020

A short time after the January 2015 Paris attacks, the city was quiet, perhaps too quiet. Associated press reporters noted that the tourists have simply gone. In a mid –January news article by Thomas Adamson perhaps summed up the situation best when it stated: “Among the tourists who were still braving visits, many took comfort in the extra security presences. With 10,000 troops deployed across the country including 6,000 in the Paris region alone, the security operation put in motion after the attacks is the most extensive in French soil in recent history The (Bryan Texas) Eagle, page A-3, January 19, 2015). The dearth of tourists however was short lived, as the French were able to assure the world that they had taken full control of the situation, employed some ten thousand troops to sensitive locales, and have given the impression that the terrorist attacks were an anomaly. The terrorism attacks in many parts of Europe remind us that terrorism is as much about purposeful negative marketing as it is about death and destruction.
Cyber Hygiene in Health Care Data Breaches
Authors: George Jomin , Emmanuel Aroma
Published: March 2020

This article describes how data breaches have become the norm, as highlighted by the significant number of breaches experienced by healthcare providers. These breaches have led to the scrutiny of cybersecurity technologies, protocols and strategies applied in the health care sector. As such, this article will explore the cyber security available in health care that is used and can be used to deter data breaches. Health care sectors are currently looking on different technologies and strategies to prevent and secure the patient information from data hackers. But some of these techniques have been effective, and some have not.
A Region of Association and Turbulence
Authors: Pant Meha
Published: March 2020

The areas in and around India have always had a close association in building up of events which with time have attained historical and cultural prominence. In this study of cultural association the today's neighboring countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan have served as a passage of the influx of various cultures into the Indian subcontinent. The end of the Cold War highlighted the new threats which had emerged, not bound in the notions of safeguarding the integrity and sovereignty; they were way beyond territorial demarcations. These new threats were transnational in form with a much larger impact on the masses of the state. The rise and fall of Taliban in Afghanistan and the Anti India Islamic forces in Pakistan with the rise of India as a new regional power has led to new perspectives in concerns for the diplomatic and bilateral relations between these countries. What remains to be pointed is the level of porosity of borders and the ancient passes which have been routes for trade and inter cultural affiliations among these countries. The period of 2009-2015 was marked by various incidents which rocked the subcontinent bringing in strategic concerns to a new level. This article would study the historical linkages and cultural affiliations which binds the area of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India into a deeper relationship. Along with dwelling into the political scenario defined by bilateral and diplomatic ties which has taken up an important place in the times of changing perspectives of war and conflict.
Jus in Bello and the Acts of Terrorism
Authors: Islam Mohammad Saidul
Published: March 2020

Terrorism is a big threat to international peace and security. The rapid and substantial development of terrorist groups across the globe has highly complicated the application and implementation of the international humanitarian law. People have been facing this heinous violent act from time immemorial, but recently it has increased enormously. This study presents the legal and conceptual reasoning and justifications of the act of terrorism as an armed conflict. It also examines whether it is an international armed conflict or non-international armed conflict where the international humanitarian law can be applied.
The Effects of Money Laundering (ML) on Growth Application to the Gulf Countries
Authors: Issaoui Fakhri , Hassen Toumi , Wassim Touili
Published: March 2020

The strategic goal of this paper is to study the effects of the prevention policies against money laundering on growth in the gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE and Oman) from 1980 to 2014. Thus, the logistic regression (logit model) had given three fundamental results. The first had shown that the main policies in matter of fight against money laundering (anti money laundering law AMLL, suspicious transaction reporting STR, the criminalizing of terrorist financing CTF) have had positive effects on the increasing of probabilities to realize more growth. The second is that the said policies have had positive effects on the increasing of the degree of openness of the whole sample. The third is that the variable (proximity) had a positive and significant effect on anti-money laundering policies.
Managing Terrorism in Africa
Authors: Gyamfi Gerald Dapaah
Published: March 2020

Terrorism has contributed significantly to the unstable and unavoidable conflict and threat to security to many countries in the twenty-first century globally. In this qualitative case study, the author explores the causes and devastating effects of terrorism on the continent of Africa. The study used purposive sampling method to select and interview eight executive police officers from the Kofi Annan International Peace Training Centre (KAIPTC) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS). The researcher also assessed issues of policing in Africa relating to terrorism using archival records kept at criminal investigations departments, empirical studies, and other records on the menace published by renowned experts. The study reveals that socialization and radicalism through some interventions are the major causes of terrorism in Africa. The study recommends that international bodies led by the United Nations should support the policing efforts to curb the menace of terrorism in Africa.
Islamic Extremists in Africa
Authors: Dawson Maurice , Adeboje Wale
Published: March 2020

Security is a growing concern on the African continent as the Regional Economic Communities (REC) move toward economic integration. Furthermore, these regions collectively make up the African Union (AU) which has an objective to promote peace, security, and stability on the African continent. In recent years, Africa has been plagued with political uprisings, civil wars, extremists, corrupt politicians, and the battle for natural resources. In particular, Kenya and Nigeria are facing Islamic extremists that threaten the foundation of multiple nations. In both countries, they are using military force to combat these threats. This chapter provides insight into these West and East African nations and their means to provide security assurances to their citizens.
Cloud Risk Resilience
Authors: Mahesh Akhilesh , Suresh Niranjali , Gupta Manish , Sharman Raj
Published: March 2020

Cloud computing has been instrumental in transforming the way we store, access and process data. With mobility being the primary objective of the current market, cloud computing offers exactly that. Cloud offers convenient access to a shared pool of computing resources that can be configured and deployed with minimal effort which is used to deliver computing services over the internet. Exercising these advantages come with a plethora of security risks that need to be addressed. The security issues in cloud are complex due to the nature of implementation and regulations that govern them. In this article, we examine existing research on cloud risk and the various frameworks to manage risk. The objective is to map the risk with the audit control and technology that will help in mitigating the risk. We analysed the various cloud security solutions and came up with a list that best help in the effective management of the cloud risk and security issues.
Management Approach of Risk Analysis in Information Security
Authors: Petrescu Anca Gabriela
Published: March 2020

This article describes how the ease of access to information and communication technologies is practically a prerequisite for the functioning of modern society. Taking the competitive market into consideration, the protection of the information infrastructure for a company, could mean that company has a competitive advantage. This article is relevant to better understand how the actors involved in information and communication technologies could develop new models of information systems and risk management strategies. The results of this research show that each manager must handle threats, because otherwise the organization's objectives cannot be met. Given that uncertainty is a fact of life, then the uncertainty response should become a permanent managerial concern.
Determinants of Terrorism in South Asia
Authors: Das Ramesh Chandra , Mukherjee Sovik
Published: March 2020

Terrorist activities in the post-Paris Peace Treaties have emerged as one of the most perilous agendas that are troubling the world economies and political figures in securing their nations and regions. Several socio-economic factors were evidenced to be the crucial factors in determining terrorist activities all around the world. The present article strives to identify the significance of several socio economic factors, namely, refugee population, access to good sanitation facilities, youth unemployment rate, percentage of education expenditure to GDP, percentage of military expenditure to GDP, per capita GDP and political stability in the panel of seven South Asian countries and China for the period 2002-2016. By applying both static and dynamic panel models, the article observes that all of the selected variables explain the terrorism index with expected signs. The article thus prescribes that the governments of the selected countries should concentrate on allocating their budgets on the improvements of sectors underlying the associated indicators.
On Experience of Social Networks Exploration for Comparative Analysis of Narratives of Foreign Members of Armed Groups
Authors: Kostyuchenko Yuriy V. , Yuschenko Maxim , Artemenko Igor
Published: March 2020

This article contains a comparison of narratives of foreign members of armed groups of The Islamic State of Iraq; the Levant; the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics in Syria and Ukraine. This data was collected in 2015-2016 using social networks and telecommunications which are presented in the article. The probabilistic and stochastic methods of analysis and classification of data from social networks were used for the identification of active members of illegal armed groups, and for analysis its number, composition and dynamics in active conflict areas. Some structural, figurative and lexical features of 83 stories are discussed. Key similarities, anomalies and differences are determined. Ways of information dissemination using social networks and traditional media are described. Role of narratives is shown. Conclusions are proposed.
The Next Generation of Scientific-Based Risk Metrics
Authors: Watkins Lanier , Hurley John S.
Published: March 2020

One of the major challenges to an organization achieving a certain level of preparedness to “effectively” combat existing and future cyber threats and vulnerabilities is its ability to ensure the security and reliability of its networks. Most of the existing efforts are quantitative, by nature, and limited solely to the networks and systems of the organization. It would be unfair to not acknowledge that for sure some progress has been achieved in the way that organizations, as a whole, are now positioning themselves to address the threats (GAO 2012). Unfortunately, so have the skill sets and resource levels improved for attackers--they are increasingly getting better at achieving the unwanted access to organizations' information assets. In large part the authors believe that some of this is due to the failure by methods to assess the overall vulnerability of the networks. In addition, significant levels of threats and vulnerabilities beyond organizations' networks and systems are not being given the level of attention that is warranted. In this paper, the authors propose a more comprehensive approach that enables an organization to more realistically assess its “cyber maturity” level in hope of better positioning itself to address existing and new cyber threats. The authors also propose the need to better understand another missing critical piece to the puzzle--the reliability and security of networks in terms of scientific risk-based metrics (e.g., the severity of individual vulnerabilities and overall vulnerability of the network). Their risk-based metrics focus on the probability of compromise due to a given vulnerability; employee non-adherence to company cyber-based policies; insider threats. They are: (1) built on the CVSS Base Score which is modified by developing weights derived from the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to make the overall score more representative of the impact the vulnerability has on the global infrastructure, and (2) rooted in repeatable quantitative characteristics (i.e., vulnerabilities) such as the sum of the probabilities that devices will be compromised via client-side or server-side attacks stemming from software or hardware vulnerabilities. The authors will demonstrate the feasibility of their method by applying their approach to a case study and highlighting the benefits and impediments which result.
Can a Teaching Method Guarantee Success in L2 Learning?
Authors: Muradás-Sanromán Macarena
Published: March 2020

In a rapidly globalizing world, the need to learn languages is more than evident. Professional growth, intercultural communication, and personal enrichment are among the great benefits they offer. Therefore, the important efforts throughout history to find a perfect method which guarantees success in language learning should come as no surprise. Nevertheless, none of the proposals has achieved desired results. Consequently, it is necessary to reflect on the following question: can a teaching method really guarantee success in L2 learning? This chapter analyzes in depth the wide range of factors which influence the learning process, in order to understand better who learns, how, and why. This new approach promotes an individualized and autonomous learning process, and the quest for a unique, infallible teaching method becomes senseless.
Factors Influencing Primary Teachers' Conceptualisations of Literacy
Authors: Fernández-Fernández Raquel
Published: March 2020

This chapter tries to discover how primary school teachers understand what literacy is and to what extent this conceptualisation is influenced by factors indicated by previous literature, such as training, previous experiences, or beliefs (see Korthagen, 2001; and Pozo et al., 2006), while also considering whether working in a bilingual context or being a bilingual teacher may be influential to produce certain types of definitions. Data was gathered using an online questionnaire directed to teachers in Years 3 and 4 in the Madrid Autonomous Community. The responses from the participants (n=115) were categorised and analysed using SPSS. The findings indicate that most definitions rarely fulfil the requirements to be considered complete or entirely accurate. Results also show that only age is a significant variable in producing better definitions. Finally, the study recommends reshaping and offering appropriate teacher training on literacy to update teachers' knowledge and ultimately boost leads to better learning in the classrooms.
Second Language Instruction
Authors: Erdener Doğu
Published: March 2020

Speech perception has long been taken for granted as an auditory-only process. However, it is now firmly established that speech perception is an auditory-visual process in which visual speech information in the form of lip and mouth movements are taken into account in the speech perception process. Traditionally, foreign language (L2) instructional methods and materials are auditory-based. This chapter presents a general framework of evidence that visual speech information will facilitate L2 instruction. The author claims that this knowledge will form a bridge to cover the gap between psycholinguistics and L2 instruction as an applied field. The chapter also describes how orthography can be used in L2 instruction. While learners from a transparent L1 orthographic background can decipher phonology of orthographically transparent L2s –overriding the visual speech information – that is not the case for those from orthographically opaque L1s.
Fostering Cultural Awareness for a Global Competence
Authors: Cuccurullo Daniela , Cinganotto Letizia
Published: March 2020

The currency of intercultural education has risen worldwide in response to increased diversity within societies resulting from migration and global flows of populations. As intercultural education becomes a core responsibility of schooling, the attention to fostering students' cultural awareness grows even faster. The school and all the educational agencies must find the most suitable tools to adequately address the complex multiculturalism of the third millennium to promote the students' ability to understand one another across and beyond all types of cultural barriers. How can we, as teachers and educators, stimulate reflexivity about cultural identities and intercultural relations? How can we foster interaction, dialogue, mutual recognition, and enrichment of any individual, in respect of the different identities of the other? This chapter offers a reflexive analysis of the efficacy of using frameworks and autobiographical narratives for enhancing students' intercultural awareness.
Teacher Education and Intercultural Awareness
Authors: Bernal Miriam Jiménez
Published: March 2020

In a globalized world, where countries and cultures are interrelated, plurilingualism seems to have turned into the only option. Bilingual Education programs, thus, have spread their roots from Preschool to Tertiary Education stages, to train citizens to speak more than one language and be able to live and work anywhere in the world. However, intercultural communication and the awareness and skills necessary to develop it successfully have not always been paid such a close attention. This chapter presents a panoramic view of the situation of MA studies in Bilingual Education in Spain and, focusing on one of them, tries to describe needs that need to be met and the actions that can be taken to foster intercultural awareness in the new generations of teachers.
Literacies of the Body
Authors: Robbie Sheila
Published: March 2020

Education is at a transitional point: multicultural, multilingual environments are the norm and diversity a defining feature. Classrooms embrace a culture of change, enriched by people who experience the world differently - conceptually, linguistically, and emotionally, with different world visions, values, beliefs, socio-cultural and socio-economical experiences. A new understanding of identities in multicultural contexts requires pedagogies that teach and practise intercultural competence. With specific reference to (1) the author's research on the embodied learning of literacies through drama, sociodrama and empathy, and (2) the projects of The Empathy Reactive Media Lab (eRMLab), an interdisciplinary academic research lab which investigates virtual reality and its educational potential with reference to empathy, this chapter draws on diverse academic research from the fields of education, the arts, psychology, medicine, image processing, and computer vision, to examine present and future pedagogies which foster intercultural competence and the development of literacies.
Learning of English as a Foreign Language and Gifted and Talented Students
Authors: Trillo-Luque Mª del Carmen , Vilches-Vilela María Josefa , Quintero-Ordoñez Belén , Fuentes-Gómez Fernando , Sánchez Dauder María
Published: March 2020

The current outlook regarding the provision of educational services for students with high intellectual abilities has changed significantly in Spain. This has led to a greater visibility of these students in the educational environment and a greater awareness on the part of teachers of their existence. According to the literature, it is evident that this group of students needs curricular proposals that are coherent with their pace of learning. In this regard, a proposal is presented based on the results obtained in an ad hoc questionnaire on the perception that parents (N=45) have of the English as a second language (ESL) education received by their children. Initial indications reveal the need to promote the implementation of less traditional methodologies in the classroom that are more appropriate to the characteristics of high ability students. The use of Lesson Plan by SymbalooEDU, gamification, and m-learning with Escape Room are proposed as a teaching alternative.
Bilingual Education From Learner Perspectives
Authors: Ramírez-Verdugo M. Dolores , Gerena Linda
Published: March 2020

The European Commission call to promote early foreign language learning among citizens in member states has led to a major paradigm shift in national and regional educational systems across Europe. The most extended option to make this shift effective has been applying bilingual education models which involve teaching academic subjects in foreign languages. Among those models, the so-called content and language integrated learning (CLIL) approach has been largely implemented in several countries and regions such as Madrid. This chapter gauges students' attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs on bilingual educational programs in Madrid. The findings revealed important issues related to curricular content, methodology and strategies, challenges, and successes of bilingual programs as perceived by students.
Investigating Learner Autonomy and 21st Century Skills in Blended Tech-Enhanced Language Learning
Authors: Ahmed Farhana
Published: March 2020

This chapter reports on a study that examines learners' beliefs towards technology use with specific focus on the development of learner autonomy in a blended context within a post-secondary English for academic purposes (EAP) program. The growth of post-secondary EAP programs along with the researchers' awareness and interest in leveraging technological tools in support of student-centered learning motivated this research. Findings reveal students' overall positive attitude towards technology use and adoption of some 21st century skills in learning English. When innovative pedagogical methods are supported by intervention in learning, a heightened critical awareness and movement towards learner autonomy was observed among students through fostering of some 21st century competencies. The chapter concludes with recommendations for teacher education in tech-enhanced pedagogy, teacher-intervention in educating students about the rationale for technology use, leveraging students' digital resources and ongoing critical and reflective teaching practices.
Students' Perceptions Toward an International Telecollaboration Project Through an Engineering-Themed Online Simulation in a Language-Learning Setting
Authors: Coll-García Juan Francisco
Published: March 2020

This chapter investigates student perceptions toward an international collaboration that involved an online role-play simulation, Engineers Without Borders (EWB). Forty-two undergraduate students enrolled in an engineering course at a university in the United States were paired with 56 engineering students based at a university in Spain. The simulation was designed and developed not only to foster problem-solving skills, but also to provide opportunities for participants to develop communication skills, teamwork, and professionalism. The simulation also provided opportunities for EFL students to communicate in English and develop their intercultural skills through the use of a variety of electronic collaboration tools. This chapter reports on participant feedback and highlights the benefits of the computer-based nature of the telecollaboration.
Developing a Model for Entrepreneurship Competencies
Authors: Popescu Cristina Raluca Gh.
Published: March 2020

These days, there is little doubt that entrepreneurial competencies—such as, taking initiative and being creative, planning and managing organizations' activities, showing persistence in problem solving processes as well as realizing the goals for which companies were established—are one of businesses' most important tools. Consequently, the following questions come naturally into the discussion: What is it that most of the successful entrepreneurs have in common? Is it education, risk affinity, experience, networks, family money, race, gender or, simply put, pure luck? Starting from the assumption that the vast majority of these people have, as common denominator, a cross-section of attributes and skills: firstly, this scientific study has the purpose of developing a model for entrepreneurship competencies, focusing on: innovation, knowledge management and intellectual capital; and secondly, this complex research has the aim of building an inclusive entrepreneurship model, tackling three main organizational targets: efficiency, productivity and performance.
Exploring the Income of the Czech Entrepreneurs
Authors: Dvouletý Ondřej
Published: March 2020

Although individuals mostly pursue an entrepreneurial career from non-economic reasons, it is also interesting to see how well they perform in their business financially. This book chapter exploits two recent waves (2010, 2015) of the European Survey on Working Conditions (EWCS) and compares earnings of the Czech self-employed, concerning characteristics including job creation, gender, age, education, and number of working hours. The obtained findings from paired t-tests and correlations show that Czech self-employed with employees (job creators) earn on average by 14.6% more when compared to solo self-employed. Gender-differences in earnings have also been found in the case of the Czech entrepreneurs. Solo self-employed women earn on average less when compared to males. The highest earnings were observed in the age group of 31-40 years, and self-employed with higher levels of education also earn, on average more. This book chapter contributes to the regional knowledge on entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic.
Competencies, Skills, and Goals Needed for Social Enterprises
Authors: Palová Zuzana , Šebestová Jarmila
Published: March 2020

Competencies, skills, and goals are a significant part of social enterprises. They carry out the social mission, but the founders and providers need a set of skills which could help them to be successful in those beneficial projects. The aim of this chapter is to define the rightest competence of the founders of social enterprises in the case of the Czech Republic. These competencies will be a combination of competencies suitable for the profit and non-profit sectors. Finally, the evaluation model of triple benefits is suggested and evaluated. This model is based on the primary research evaluation, and on the social return of investment ratio (SROI). There is a place to improve this situation and evaluate the efficiency of triple benefit by the real societal impact in the region as was proposed in this chapter; on the other hand, effectiveness is built on significant factors based on field study, which support networking, willingness to make social innovations and other activities.
Perspectives of the Entrepreneurial Education in the European and National Contexts
Authors: Heinz Krystyna , Nenička Lubomír , Chylková Martina
Published: March 2020

The following chapter presents the views of students who participated in the International Project Entrepreneurship and Communication in Multicultural Teams (ECMT+) within Erasmus+. The chapter focuses on the comparison of outcomes related to participants' self-reflective evaluation in the form of a self-reflective diary and an interview in two rounds of the ECMT Intensive Programs held in Wildau, Germany, in 2018 and in Roanne, France, in 2019. The goal of the chapter is to make contributions to university curricula development in terms of introducing “learning by doing” related to the selected topics identified by the Intensive Programs participants within the post-evaluation of the project. Comparing the reflection expressed in self-reflective diaries in 2018 and 2019, in the latter, it can be observed that the students are able to analyze their attitudes and reflections in a more complex way than in the former one.
Digital Technologies and Youth Work
Authors: Cooper Trudi , Brooker Miriam Rose , Tierney Hilary , Sutcliffe John
Published: March 2020

Within this chapter the authors explore the implications of ‘digital disruption' for key youth work concepts like friendship, relationship, trust, and community and how changing everyday understandings of these concepts can be, or should be, adopted into youth work theorisation and praxis. Secondly, the authors discuss Freirean critical dialogue and the development of critical consciousness, and how this is challenged by the targeted disinformation found in social media. We argue that micro-targeted disinformation has profound implications for the practice of critical pedagogy. Finally, the authors provide an overview of the opportunities presented by digital technologies, particularly when integrated with existing methods, and some examples of successful practice.
Enhancing Learning Through Digital Technology in the Practice of Youth Work
Authors: Meng Lee Kwan , Ismail Ismi Arif , Mohamed Nor Aini
Published: March 2020

The goal of youth work is to facilitate and contribute to the positive development of young people, as well as to resolve issues that are problematic to them. In the process of this growth and development, their learning is paramount, particularly in the nonformal form of learning. While learning has to be anchored on classical learning theories and concepts, the advent of digital technology has caused a paradigm shift in the learning approaches of youth learning. How they relate to each other is what this article is about. It examines the theoretical concepts of learning, what these digital tools and platforms are, and how they relate to each other. Nevertheless, youth workers have to be equipped with a foundation of youth development before they can effectively use these digital tools to facilitate learning. Digital technology tools with their platforms are merely a medium for learning, not part of the end process of learning, and youth workers have to differentiate the specific role of these digital tools.
Digitisation of Youth Work and an Evaluation of Social Media as a Tool in Meeting the Profession's Core Principles in a UK Context
Authors: Gaspard Luke , Olaitan Paul
Published: March 2020

While some commentators have rightly questioned characterisations of the 20th century as the ‘Century of the child,' sociologists have gone as far as claim a more accurate title would be that of the ‘Century of child neglect.‘ In this respect, numerous provisions from the late Victorian period onward, many enacted through legislation, within the fields of social care, youth justice, education, and welfare all help to characterise the immense strides made in drawing the care and interests of children and young people more centrally into the focus and attention of policymakers and society more widely. These developments build on positivistic ideas of societal causation: that the structure of society, and in particular inequality, neglect and oppression, were contributory factors in the behaviours and vulnerabilities that people express and experience, and social welfare responses needed to aim to ameliorate such structural impositions. This chapter considers how digital technologies, specifically within the form of social media, figures as a form of youth engagement and outreach.
Mobile Phone and Practice of Youth-Adult Partnership in Malaysia
Authors: Fadzil Mohd. Fauzi Bin
Published: March 2020

The technological aspect of human relations, in the context of youth and adult partnerships, has not yet been addressed. For this reason, using the Youth-Adult Partnership (Y-AP) framework, this book chapter examines the role of mobile phone communications in the development of six constructs — authentic decision-making, natural mentors, reciprocal activity, character, compassion, and community connectivity. In this chapter, the Y-AP constructs, in tandem with the mobile phone, act as a series of human-technology interactions that can be used by youth workers to understand the dynamics of the relationship between youth and adults. The main role of this chapter is also to provide a structure that can provide guidance and understanding of the role of Malaysian youth workers when dealing with technology as a forum for collaboration between youth and adults.
A Metaheuristic Approach and Mathematical Programming for Packing Objects in a Rectangular Container
Authors: Torres-Escobar Rafael , Marmolejo-Saucedo Jose Antonio , Litvinchev Igor
Published: March 2020

The problem of packing non-congruent circles within bounded regions is considered. The aim is to maximize the number of circles placed into a rectangular container or minimize the waste. The circle is considered as a set of points that are all the same distance (not necessarily Euclidean) from a given point. An integer programming model is proposed using a dotted-board approximating the container and considering the dots as potential positions for assigning centers of the circles. The packing problem is then stated as a large scale linear 0–1 optimization problem. Binary decision variables are associated with each discrete point of the board (a dot) and with each object. Then, the same grid is used to prove a population-based metaheuristic. This metaheuristic is inspired by the monkeys' behavior. The resulting binary problem is then solved by using Gurobi Solver and Python Programming Language as Interface