bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
SpaceWire Inspired Network-on-Chip Approach for Fault Tolerant System-on-Chip Designs
Authors: Osterloh Björn , Michalik Harald , Fiethe Björn
Published: May 2010

Today FPGAs with large gate counts provide a highly flexible platform to implement a complete System-on-Chip (SoC) in a single device. Specifically radiation tolerant space suitable SRAM-based FPGAs have significantly improved the flexibility of high reliable systems for space applications. Currently the reconfigurability of these devices is only used during development phase. A further enhancement would be using the reconfigurability of SRAM-FPGAs in space, either to statically update or dynamically reconfigure processing modules. This is a major improvement in terms of maintenance and performance, which is essential for scientific instruments in space. The requirement for this enhanced system is to guarantee the system qualification and retain the achieved high reliability. Therefore effects during the reconfiguration process and interference of updated modules on the system have to be prevented. Updated modules need to be isolated physically and logically by qualified communication architecture. In this chapter the advantage of a specialized Network-on-Chip architecture to achieve a high reliable SoC with dynamic reconfiguration capability is presented. The requirements for SoC based on SRAM-FPGA in high reliable applications are outlined. Additionally the influences of radiation induced particles are described and effects during the dynamic reconfiguration are discussed. A specialized Network-on-Chip architecture is then proposed and its advantages are presented.
A High-Performance and Low-Power On-Chip Network with Reconfigurable Topology
Authors: Modarressi Mehdi , Sarbazi-Azad Hamid
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, we present a reconfigurable architecture for network-on-chips (NoC) on which arbitrary application-specific topologies can be implemented. The proposed NoC can dynamically tailor its topology to the traffic pattern of different applications, aiming to address one of the main drawbacks of existing application-specific NoC optimization methods, i.e. optimizing NoCs based on the traffic pattern of a single application. Supporting multiple applications is a critical feature of an NoC as several different applications are integrated into the modern and complex multi-core system-on-chips and chip multiprocessors and an NoC that is designed to run exactly one application does not necessarily meet the design constraints of other applications. The proposed NoC supports multiple applications by configuring as a topology which matches the traffic pattern of the currently running application in the best way. In this chapter, we first introduce the proposed reconfigurable topology and then address the two problems of core to network mapping and topology exploration. Experimental results show that this architecture effectively improves the performance of NoCs and reduces power consumption.
Introduction
Authors: Chis Monica
Published: May 2010

This chapter aims to present a part of the computer science literature in which the evolutionary computation techniques, optimization techniques and other bio-inspired techniques are used to solve different search and optimization problems in the area of software engineering.
Innovative Hybrid Genetic Algorithms and Line Search Method for Industrial Production Management
Authors: Vasant Pandian M.
Published: May 2010

Many engineering, science, information technology and management optimization problems can be considered as non linear programming real world problems where the all or some of the parameters and variables involved are uncertain in nature. These can only be quantified using intelligent computational techniques such as evolutionary computation and fuzzy logic. The main objective of this research chapter is to solve non linear fuzzy optimization problem where the technological coefficient in the constraints involved are fuzzy numbers which was represented by logistic membership functions by using hybrid evolutionary optimization approach. To explore the applicability of the present study a numerical example is considered to determine the production planning for the decision variables and profit of the company.
Object Oriented Software Testing with Genetic Programming and Program Analysis
Authors: Seesing Arjan , Gross Hans-Gerhard
Published: May 2010

Testing is a difficult and costly activity in the development of object-oriented programs. The challenge is to come up with a sufficient set of test scenarios, out of the typically huge volume of possible test cases, to demonstrate correct behavior and acceptable quality of the software. This can be reformulated as a search problem to be solved by sophisticated heuristic search techniques such as evolutionary algorithms. The goal is to find an optimal set of test cases to achieve a given test coverage criterion. This chapter introduces and evaluates genetic programming as a heuristic search algorithm which is suitable to evolve object-oriented test programs automatically to achieve high coverage of a class. It outlines why the object paradigm is different to the procedural paradigm with respect to testing, and why a genetic programming approach might be better suited than the genetic algorithms typically used for testing procedural code. The evaluation of our implementation of a genetic programming approach, augmented with program analysis techniques for better performance, indicates that object-oriented software testing with genetic programming is feasible in principle. However, having many adjustable parameters, evolutionary search heuristics have to be fined-tuned to the optimization problem at hand for optimal performance, and, therefore, represent a difficult optimization problem in their own right.
Heteronormativity Revisited
Authors: Rommes Els
Published: May 2010

The aim of this chapter is to explore to what extent heteronormativity, the norm that man and woman are attracted to each other because of their presumed difference and complementarity, can offer an explanation for the persisting association between masculinity and technological/computer competence. Two aspects of heteronormative gender relations, namely sexual attractiveness and the heteronormative division of labour are particularly explored. The main focus in this chapter is on how technological competence and the gendered division of labour and of sexual attractiveness are represented in mass media. Along with this, some examples of the consequences of these heteronormative imaginaries and ideology for people’s lives will be given. Amongst youth popular soap operas, stereotypical images are repeated of technologically competent men and socially competent women. For some women, this image also seemed to dominate in their personal lives, where they seemed to want to stay away from technologies as soon as there was a man around. Being (hetero)sexually attractive and being computer competent did not go well together in several block buster movies. The adolescents included in this study clearly shared this notion. These two aspects of heteronormativity do seem to strengthen the understanding of why it is so hard for women to choose a career in technology and particularly in computing science.
Approaching Higher Education
Authors: Booth Shirley , Wigforss Eva
Published: May 2010

The chapter tells of two women with low educational qualifications who embark on a journey into higher education by taking a distance course to introduce them to and induct them into academic practices, under the auspices of their trades union. In order to analyse and describe their learning, we look more closely at their contexts for learning, their life-worlds, using the conceptual framework of life-world phenomenology. Learning, in this case, means learning to find their place in higher education, and we place this against a background of the variation of ways in which the whole cohort of students was found to conceptualize the university. Grounded in an analysis of two interviews and written course assignments, we find superficial similarities and deep differences in their journey into higher education, and we give consideration to this from a gendered perspective.
Queen Bees, Workers and Drones
Authors: Hughes Gwyneth
Published: May 2010

Collaborative learning online is increasingly popular and the interaction between learners is documented and discussed, but gender is largely absent from this work. This chapter attempts to remedy this gap by offering a review of a study of undergraduate online collaboration. Using a metaphor of bees in the hive, the chapter explores gendered ‘performance’ in online groups through comparing learners’ behaviours with that of queen bees, workers and drones. The frustrated queens, sub-groups of workers and excluded drones identified in the study do not lead to harmonious and productive working. The study concluded that a shift from face-to-face to online does not necessarily promote shifts in gender performances and that finding new ways of performing gender online might help resolve some of the conflicts arising from learning collaboratively.
Towards a Feminist Manifesto for e-Learning
Authors: Kirkup Gill , Schmitz Sigrid , Kotkamp Erna , Rommes Els , Hiltunen Aino-Maija
Published: May 2010

This chapter argues that the future development of European e-learning needs to be informed by gender theory, and feminist and other critical pedagogies. The authors explore four themes that have been important in gender theory: embodiment, knowledge, power and ethics, and illustrate how these would give a new and more critical perspective for future e-learning developments, and for social progress if they were incorporated into educational policy and practice. The chapter ends with a framework for using this analysis to inform future action, expressed as the first draft of a manifesto.
Managing Cognitive Load in the Design of Assistive Technology for Those with Learning Disabilities
Authors: DaCosta Boaventura , Seok Soonhwa
Published: May 2010

This is the second of three chapters serving as the introduction to this handbook which addresses the relationship between human cognition and assistive technologies and its design for individuals with cognitive disabilities. In this chapter the authors present strategies to manage cognitive load in the design of instructional materials for those with learning disabilities. The authors introduce cognitive load theory, which proposes a set of instructional principles grounded in human information processing research that can be leveraged in the creation of efficient and effective learning environments. They attempt to separate conjecture and speculation from empirically-based study and consolidate more than twenty-five years of research to highlight the best ways in which to increase learning. Altogether, the authors affirm the approach discussed in the last chapter—that technology for learning should be created with an understanding of design principles empirically supported by how the human mind works, particularly when it comes to the design of assistive technologies for individuals with learning disabilities.
Investigating Assistive Technologies using Computers to Simulate Basic Curriculum for Individuals with Cognitive Impairments
Authors: Kinsell Carolyn
Published: May 2010

Providing assistive technologies to cognitively impaired students, in the form of computer-based simulations, may improve the transfer of learning at a greater rate than other training media. The underlying premise for using computer-based simulations is that the cognitively impaired student is no longer the passive learner normally found in traditional classrooms. Instead, the cognitively impaired student becomes an active participant with the simulation and learning. In addition, this type of assistive technology provides the student with an opportunity for repeated exposure and practice at a speed in which the student feels comfortable. This chapter discusses the benefits of using computer-based simulations, defines the theoretical foundations that support the transfer of learning, and presents the processes that facilitate individual acquisition and refinement of knowledge and skills. It concludes with a review of the cognitive elements in the creation of mental models and schema.
Cognition meets Assistive Technology
Authors: Khetrapal Neha
Published: May 2010

This chapter deals with the issue of treating disorders with the help of virtual reality (VR) technology. To this end, it highlights the concept of transdiagnostic processes (like cognitive biases and perceptual processes) that need to be targeted for intervention and are at the risk of becoming atypical across disorders. There have been previous theoretical attempts to explain such common processes, but such theoretical exercises have not been conducted with a rehabilitative focus. Therefore, this chapter urges greater cooperation between researchers and therapists and stresses the intimate links between cognitive and emotional functioning that should be targeted for intervention. This chapter concludes by providing future directions for helping VR to become a popular tool and highlights issues in three different areas: (a) clinical, (b) social and (c) technological. Coordinated research efforts orchestrated in these directions will be beneficial for an understanding of cognitive architecture and rehabilitation alike.
Switch Technologies
Authors: Nankee Cindy
Published: May 2010

The purpose of this chapter is to provide information about the use of switches in the field of assistive technology. Information included in this chapter will benefit assistive technology professionals, case managers, educators, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, rehabilitation counselors as well as students of these professions and consumers. The information will apply to all age groups including birth to six, all levels of primary and secondary education, adulthood and senior services. This chapter will go from assessment to implementation. First this chapter will look at the background information including the what, why, when, and where of switches. Next, this chapter will provide instruction on a variety of assessments available to aid in matching an appropriate switch to a client’s skill set and task requirement. The chapter also discusses types of switches that can access toys, computers, communication devices, environmental controls, recreation, and mobility options. Finally, the chapter presents strategies for successful implementation including the prompt hierarchy, an action plan, data collection, and writing assistive technology into the Individualized Education Program.
A Longitudinal Case Study on the Use of Assistive Technology to Support Cognitive Processes across Formal and Informal Educational Settings
Authors: Johnson Vivian , Price Carol
Published: May 2010

This chapter describes a chronology of increasingly sophisticated technological supports and interventions used across complex formal and informal educational settings with a 10th grade female student who has documented learning challenges. A progression from low technology devices to computerized, high technology assistive devices are employed to provide access to materials and to academic information over a period of 10 years. Understanding both the inner and outer context of this learner’s environment provides the reader with a background to process the progression of the use, improvement, and availability of assistive technology in the life of this user.
Impact of Text-to-Speech Software on Access to Print
Authors: Hodapp Joan B. , Rachow Cinda
Published: May 2010

This chapter discusses the outcomes of Iowa Text Reader Project’s 2006-2007 study that evaluated the impact of Kurzweil 3000 during the second year of implementation. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the text-to-speech (TTS) software as an accommodation to improve student access to core content with fluency and comprehension. Using the Time Series Concurrent and Differential Approach (Smith, 2000), this study examines students’ performance on comprehension passages read with and without the TTS software. A balance of perceptual and objective data measures provides data on other student outcomes. Twenty middle school special education students and nine teachers participated in the 27-week study.
Measure It, Monitor It
Authors: Hodapp Joan B. , Rachow Cinda
Published: May 2010

This chapter addresses the importance of systematic assessment using a variety of tools to evaluate implementation and monitor the outcomes of assistive technology innovations. A variety of the tools and strategies—developed to monitor implementation and change, gather perceptual data, and collect academic outcome data—are discussed. These tools and strategies were developed and tested in the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 Iowa Text Reader Studies. Applications of the tools are featured for various stakeholders, such as teachers, administrators, and researchers. Multiple research designs to determine the impact of assistive technology, including the Time Sequence Concurrent Differential Model, are contrasted.
Evaluating Systemic Assistive Technology Needs
Authors: Estrada-Hernández Noel , Stachowiak James R.
Published: May 2010

This chapter will focus on the impact that teacher knowledge of and comfort with assistive technology has on the use of this technology by students with disabilities and how these factors are identified through conducting needs assessment-based research. This chapter begins with a discussion of what is assistive technology and the role it plays in the life of a person with a disability. This will include a discussion of the idea that the earlier AT is introduced to the individual, the more likely it will continue to be used and the larger effect it will have on the individual’s future education, employment, and independent living needs. Also, this chapter will introduce the concept and application of needs assessment, as well as the benefits of conducting this type of research to improve the quality of AT services. This discussion will be supported by an initial discussion of results and experiences in conducting the Iowa Assistive Technology Needs Assessment focusing on the methods used and limitations encountered while conducting this project. Finally, recommendations for future AT-based research will be provided. By the end of this chapter, readers will understand the pressing issues in AT training for teachers, how to determine what is needed, and what is being done to improve overall AT knowledge and comfort.
Assistive Technology Solutions for Individuals with Learning Problems
Authors: Bryant Brian , Seok Soonhwa , Bryant Diane
Published: May 2010

Assistive technology (AT) assessments involve a dynamic process among the evaluator, the AT user, and the AT device. When accomplished correctly, these assessments are person-centered and ecological, that is, they actively involve the individual being evaluated and incorporate the collection of data from numerous environments in which the person works, learns, and plays. This chapter provides information about how such an AT assessment can be conducted using the Functional Evaluation for Assistive Technology (FEAT; Raskind & Bryant, 2002). Readers are provided with an overview of the importance of person-centered assessments, and then are given a description of each of the FEAT components. A case study is also provided, wherein the process of an effective and efficient AT assessment is described.
Improving Assistive Technology Training in Teacher Education Programs
Authors: Stachowiak James R. , Estrada-Hernández Noel
Published: May 2010

Teacher knowledge of and comfort with assistive technology (AT) has a profound effect on the use of this technology by students with disabilities. Currently, very few teacher preparation programs effectively address AT with their students. This chapter will discuss how to improve AT training at both a preservice and continuing education level for teachers by focusing on the innovative initiatives being undertaken by the Iowa Center for Assistive Technology Education and Research in the preservice teacher education program at the University of Iowa. By the end of this chapter, readers will understand the pressing issues in AT training for teachers and what is being done to create a new generation of AT savvy teachers by improving overall AT knowledge and comfort levels.
Supporting Early Childhood Outcomes through Assistive Technology
Authors: Plunkett Diane , Banerjee Rashida , Horn Eva
Published: May 2010

Assistive technology (AT) makes it possible for young children with disabilities to learn, play, and build relationships. By improving their mobility, communication, and access to their environment, AT allows children with disabilities more freedom and independence. The purpose of this chapter is to guide early childhood professionals with examples and recommendations for the integration of AT in natural environments to meet early childhood outcomes for children up to the age of five. This chapter is organized in three sections. Section 1 briefly discusses the legal background in early childhood services as it applies to AT. Section 2 describes the framework for meeting young children’s needs for AT within the context of early childhood outcomes. Section 3 presents the application of AT in meeting recommended family outcomes. The Additional Readings section to this chapter offers relevant articles and research reports in the area of early childhood and AT.
Assistive Technology's Past, Present and Future
Authors: Kouba Barbara J. , Newberry Brian
Published: May 2010

Even though the term is relatively new, assistive technologies of various types have helped people overcome, achieve, and perform for many years and come in many forms. In fact, many familiar technologies, some that might even be considered mainstream, were in fact initially conceived as assistive devices. Recently, assistive technology has become the subject of legislation including the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act and much more legislation regarding access to and funding for assistive technology is expected. Currently, much attention in the area of assistive technology focuses on the computer, and communications technology, including portable devices, which help individuals use powerful tools for accessing information and communicating with others. The future of assistive technology certainly will continue these areas of development but will also likely begin to adopt newer methods for interfacing various assistive technologies directly with the human sensory system. As has happened in the past, it is expected that many technologies initially created as assistive will be adopted by non-disabled individuals.
Digital Inequity
Authors: Brown Monica R. , Fitzpatrick Michael
Published: May 2010

A major challenge in education is to ensure that ALL students are prepared for the technological advances of the 21st century and beyond. This means that ALL students must have access and use of information/educational technologies (I/ET), including assistive technologies for students with disabilities, in their schools. Unfortunately, there is evidence that indicates that I/ET is not equitably distributed in schools and across all types of students (i.e., students with disabilities and students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds) (Brown, 2004; Brown, Higgins, & Hartley, 2001; Fitzpatrick & Brown, 2008). This chapter will: (a) discuss what access and use looks like for certain at-risk populations (i.e., students with disabilities and CLD students), (b) discuss some of the factors that account for the inequitable access and use of I/ET for those groups, and (c) offer solutions for increasing I/ET access and use for students with disabilities and CLD students.
Cognition and Learning
Authors: Okrigwe Blessing Nma
Published: May 2010

Because of the failure of the behaviorist tradition in developing the full potential of the individual, there is a shift to a cognitive paradigm which emphasizes the process of learning as against methods of teaching. Each of us has the potential to excel if we have the right opportunities at the right time of our development and backed up with a stimulating environment in the process of learning. The effectiveness of any teaching learning process is measured by the extent to which it has met the individual’s needs and expectations. The cognitive view of learning refers to individual’s mode of thinking, remembering or problem-solving, because learners learn in different ways of absorbing information and demonstrating their knowledge. Individualized instruction is a personalized learning which meaningfully involves only the learner working on his own and at his own pace. On a practical level, a personalized learning environment entails flexibility to enable learners to interact with resources when it is most appropriate for them. There is awareness that many learners today are already creating personalized learning environments using digital resources. Without digital technology, meeting individual learner needs will be practically impossible. The implications of the introduction of technologies in homes and schools have created the problem of reinforcing the existing inequalities in the education system of the developed and developing countries. To arrest this situation, there is the need to ensure that access to digital resources is universal. Without a commitment to this goal, the learning landscape will be easily navigable only by those with the relevant economic and cultural resources. The present evolutionary trend in education technology has enhanced mass education making learning to be more individualized. Innovations in teaching and learning have thus been dominated by computer and the Internet.
Collaborating with a (Non)Collaborator
Authors: Kristjánsson Carolyn
Published: May 2010

In a climate of increasing globalization with calls for the development of online learning communities that thrive on diversity, it is important to consider how diversity might influence the nature of interpersonal action and the dynamics of collaboration in computer-mediated education. This chapter considers the case of problematic collaboration in an online graduate program. Discourse analysis grounded in Systemic Functional Linguistics is applied to illustrate how various aspects of stakeholders’ identities can be traced in the discourse related to online collaborative processes. A model of situated multidimensional identity is used to consider how localized constructions of identity may be linked to broader frames of reference. Findings suggest that when stakeholders from a range of backgrounds are drawn together, online collaboration becomes a complex social practice.
Social Change and Social Responsibility
Authors: Remtulla Karim  A.
Published: May 2010

This chapter discusses social change as context and social responsibility as impetus for a socioculturally sensitive research and study of workplace e-learning. Current interventions of workplace elearning, when not accompanied by socio-cultural sensitivity, are destined to falter with respect to adequate workplace adult education and training for a global, diverse workforce. To describe transformation and change happening at work as ‘phenomena’ is an understatement. Workplace transformations and workforce changes are, quite literally, daily events. A dynamic and global workforce lives and works in the global age. Workers now participate in organizations comprising of people who are more experientially and demographically diverse. Consumer tastes and loyalties are incessantly transient. Organizations are also morphing with respect to technologies, processes, jobs, and accountabilities. Against this backdrop, the growing reliance on workplace e-learning as a complete solution based on the goals of cost savings and process efficiencies is increasingly problematic. The assumption of the ubiquity of the technological or financial artefacts of hardware and software, as sufficient to overcome diverse workforce learning needs fundamentally naive. The importance and necessity of broaching workplace e-learning as a socio-culturally negotiated idea, and not as just a technological or financial artefact, now becomes clearer. Social change does impact workplace transformations and workforce changes, which in turn directly influence workplace e-learning outcomes. Social responsibility now also becomes an ‘impetus’ for the socio-cultural sensitivity of workplace e-learning and the benefit of a global and diverse cohort of adult learners contending with workplace transformations, workforce changes, and social changes.
Normative Learning for Normalized Work
Authors: Remtulla Karim  A.
Published: May 2010

This chapter discusses the socio-cultural implications of normative learning for normalized work. Normative learning for normalized work from workplace e-learning happens through informationalization of roles and skills as well as the convergence of rules and competencies, for a knowledge-based workplace. Workplace ‘form’ is relevant for workplace e-learning, both as a space for doing work and ultimately for undertaking workplace adult education and training. Workplace form designs have progressed in tandem with changes in society be they social, cultural, political, technological, or economic. In the early 21st century, as workplace form designs again advance to accommodate diverse, global workforces and information and communication technologies (ICTs), workplace e-learning too is impacted. The manifestation of workplace form into daily organizational life depends on particular types of values, capabilities, and organizational structures. What becomes clear is that each workplace form design (as a space for work and learning) may lead to the development of several organizational structures (as specific sites for work and learning). Each form of workplace design and organizational structure also comes with inherent value propositions that lead to the development of specific capabilities based around the fulfillment of key success factors. Workplace e-learning and workplace adult education and training are becoming progressively more normative as workplace forms and organizational structures evolve and change. This is happening more often and as a direct consequence of the convergence and informationalization of skills and competencies from organizational structural development and value propositions. All these hold certain ramifications for normative learning; normalized work; the global workforce doing the learning and the work; and, workplace e-learning.
Redressing Socio-Cultural Insensitivity
Authors: Remtulla Karim  A.
Published: May 2010

This chapter concerns many of the challenges facing socio-cultural researchers of workplace e-learning when attempting a social critique of workplace elearning. These obstacles include finding a common ground to begin a socio-culturally based research and study of workplace e-learning as well as using an approach that authentically balances ‘distance’ and ‘education’ so that distance education does not become a ‘distant education’. The overwhelming emphasis on the technological artefacts of workplace e-learning are not having the expected impacts on workplace adult education and training to the degree so profoundly anticipated by so many. The research and study of workplace e-learning as a socio-culturally negotiated ‘idea’ may be one such way. To do this, notions of social theory, taxonomy, and the researcher, as they relate to the field of adult education, and for a global workforce of adult learners, now become necessary. The complexity of approaching the diverse field of adult education with respect to social theory is explained, as are some of the challenges of applying the socio-cultural sensitivity taxonomy by using adult education as a backdrop for understanding workplace e-learning. ‘Socio-cultural Sensitivity Taxonomy for Workplace E-learning’ is presented and comprises four basic elements: (a) a context (social change) and an impetus (social responsibility) for a socio-culturally based research and study of workplace e-learning; (b) two outcomes (normalization and universalization) of technological artefactual approaches to workplace e-learning research and study; (c) two dominant cultural paradigms (commodified knowledges and innovative artefact) shaping workplace e-learning historicity in organizations; and, (d) four workplace e-learning scenarios (instrumental instruction, rational training, dehumanizing ideologies, and social integration), that all present socio-cultural impacts for the workforce from socio-culturally insensitive, technological artefactual approaches to workplace e-learning research and study. Figure 1 and Figure 2, originally from the Preface, are re-presented here, more formally.
Infallibility of Innovative Artefacts
Authors: Remtulla Karim  A.
Published: May 2010

This chapter discusses the cultural paradigm of ‘innovative artefacts’ in the workplace. This cultural paradigm is one of two proposed paradigms that shape socio-culturally insensitive, technological artefactual approaches to workplace e-learning research and study. Subsequently, this paradigm also socially reshapes workplace e-leaning historicity for workplace adult education and training, resulting in socio-cultural impacts on the workforce. Technological innovation and business process change dominate workplace transformations. At the same time, any discussion on the socio-cultural impacts of workplace e-learning must also take into account that workplace e-learning is arguably both a technological innovation and as well as a business administration process, all of which affect adult learning in the workplace. Critical theory problematizes these relations between technology and technological progress as well as workplace e-learning. The ‘presumption of neutrality’ is highlighted as it influences the shaping of workplace e-learning and its dubious, shifting, and reversible impacts on the workforce. A focused discourse analysis of the connotations and assumptions that have further shaped e-learning for the workplace over the past decade illustrate workplace e-learning’s changing emphases over the years, from administrational to associational to artefactual, today. The technological artefacts of workplace elearning now deserve closer scrutiny. The similarities and differences between ‘online learning and simulations’, ‘learning objects’, and ‘learning management systems’ are highlighted as each of these technological artefacts, more often than not, is taken as equivalent to and a substitute for learning. The ‘presumption of neutrality’ now also comes to fruition in the ‘infallibility paradox’ for workplace e-learning. For workplace e-learning, adherence to the belief in the infallibility of innovative artefacts leads to two workplace e-learning scenarios: (a) instrumental instruction (see Chapter 7); and, (b) rational training (see Chapter 8).
Managing Context Uncertainty in Smart Pervasive Environments
Authors: Roy Nirmalya , Das Sajal K.
Published: May 2010

The essence of pervasive computing lies in the creation of smart environments saturated with computing and communication capabilities, yet gracefully integrated with human users (inhabitants). Context Awareness is perhaps the most salient feature of such an intelligent computing environment. An inhabitant’s mobility and activities play a significant role in defining his contexts in and around the home. Although there exists optimal algorithm for location and activity tracking of a single inhabitant, the correlation and dependence between multiple inhabitants’ contexts within the same environment make the location and activity tracking more challenging. In this chapter, we discuss a cooperative reinforcement learning and a non-cooperative Nash H-learning approach for location-aware resource management in multi-inhabitant smart homes that attempts to minimize the joint location uncertainty of inhabitants. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework is capable of adaptively controlling a smart environment, significantly reduces energy consumption and enhances the comfort of the inhabitants. We also present open problems in this area.
Effortless Data Capture for Ambient E-Services with Digital Pen and Paper Technology
Authors: Lind Leili , Berglund Aseel , Berglund Erik , Bång Magnus , Hägglund Sture
Published: May 2010

In order to counteract the digital divide and to enable the society to reach all its citizens with various kinds of e-services, there is a need to develop access methods and terminal technologies suited also for groups with weak access to the Internet, not the least elderly and people needing care in their homes. In this chapter, the authors will describe technologies for using digital pen and paper as data input media for e-services and computing applications, refer a number of applications together with studies and evaluations of their usability, and finally comment upon future prospects for integrating digital pen and paper as an effortless technique for data capture, especially in order to counteract and diminish the digital divide. The use of digital pen and paper technologies is exemplified with applications demonstrating its appropriateness in home care for elderly, for free-form recording of data on paper such as maps, and as a remote control for a TV set or other electronic appliances with rich functionality in the home.
A Service for Improving the User Experience in WLANs and WPANs
Authors: Oliveira Ricardo Augusto Rabelo , Loureiro Antonio Alfredo F.
Published: May 2010

In this chapter is presented a framework to a service that acts as a middleware to the applications, providing the information about the wireless network context. The increasing use of wireless communications in mobile devices calls for a new level of resource management. Users with mobile devices accessing wireless hot spots are a commonplace, and, thus, their management is becoming more important.
Experiences in Developing Ubiquitous Applications
Authors: Cano José , Cano Juan-Carlos , Calafate Carlos T. , Manzoni Pietro
Published: May 2010

Ubiquitous computing aims at making our lives easier by creating smart environments that are able to adequately react according to the context, the user, and the available devices. This chapter describes a set of prototype applications developed for a wide set of ubiquitous computing environments. These applications provide solutions to improve different kinds of environments, such as academic, business, museum and hospital environments. Since wireless networks are a key component in pervasive applications, a careful selection must take place to find which one suits better the characteristics required, depending on the objective of each case. In the authors’ case studies they have mainly concentrated on IEEE 802.11 and Bluetooth technologies. The work has enabled them to translate theoretical concepts to real scenarios, while identifying specific needs in different types of ubiquitous computing applications.
System Framework and Protocols for Ubiquitous Computing Based Monitoring of an Oil Platform
Authors: Bhattacharyya Mitun , Kumar Ashok , Bayoumi Magdy
Published: May 2010

This book chapter proposes a system based on the WirelessHART standard for monitoring and controlling oil platforms using sensor networks. The authors propose a hierarchical distributed system where sensor nodes and process components are grouped both functionally and in terms of proximity (i.e., spatially). They harness the existing electrical powering supplies to some of the process components to enhance our network routing protocol. They also propose a component based addressing scheme. Then propose a hybrid routing protocol having proactive paths for high priority data and reactive paths for low priority that can help in load balancing and thus improving the lifetime of the sensor network. Finally, the authors discuss about methodologies for assessing the health (residual energy) of the sensor network system. Related research is discussed at appropriate points.
Low Power Considerations in Ubiquitous Computing
Authors: Tesch Robert , Kumar Ashok , Mason Jamie , Alvarez Dania , Di’Mattia Mario , Luce Shawn
Published: May 2010

Majority of the devices that are used in ubiquitous computing are expected to be as small as possible, be able to perform as many computations as possible, and transmit the results to another device or computer. Such expectations in performance put a pressure on the power budget of such devices. It is a well-known fact that the advances in battery technology are much slower and cannot keep up with the performance demands of tiny gadgets unless new methods of designing and managing hardware and software are developed and used. This chapter will introduce the motivation for low power design considerations by discussing the power limitations of ubiquitous computing devices. Then the chapter will discuss the research directions that are being pursued in literature for reducing power consumption and increasing efficiency of ubiquitous computing systems.
XAC Project
Authors: Tei Kenji , Suenaga Shunichiro , Nakamura Yoshiyuki , Sei Yuichi , Nakazato Hikotoshi , Kaneki Yoichi , Yoshioka Nobukazu , Fukazawa Yoshiaki , Honiden Shinichi
Published: May 2010

In pervasive computing environment (Satyanarayanan, 2001), common context management system, that make context of the real world be shared among the context-aware applications, is required to reduce development cost of each context-aware applications. A wireless sensor network (WSN) will be a key infrastructure for the context management system. Towards pervasive computing, a WSN integrated into context management system should be open infrastructure. In an open WSN should (1)handle various kinds of tasks, (2)manage tasks at runtime, (3)save resource consumption, and (4)adapt to changes of environments. To develop such an open WSN, middleware supports are needed, and our XAC project tries to develop a middleware for the open WSN. The XAC project is a research project to develop a middleware for open WSN. In this chapter, the auhors show research issues related to open WSN from the viewpoints of task description language, runtime task management, self-adaptability, and security.
Pervasive Computing Applications, Technologies, and Challenges for E-Health
Authors: Johnson Thienne , Cardozo Eleri , Gomes Guimarães Eliane
Published: May 2010

The pervasive computing paradigm offers many tools to facilitate health care applications. It allows more robust local and remote monitoring applications, because of many personal acquired contexts that can be used to provide better specialized health services, such as emergency, elderly care, etc. This chapter provides an overview of pervasive environments for eHealth applications. The most common applications and some technologies used to provide pervasive computing environment to collect information for the eHealth applications will be described. Some challenge issues that need research and discussion will be presented, such as security, use of context, user acceptance and performance requirements.
Video Games for Prosocial Learning
Authors: Koo Gene , Seider Scott
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, the authors consider the capabilities video games offer to educators who seek to foster prosocial development using three popular frameworks: moral education, character education, and care ethics. While all three of these frameworks previously considered literature and film as helpful tools, the authors suggest that video games are unique from these other media in the multiple levers through which they can influence the worldview, values, and behaviors of players. Similar to literature and film, video games possess content—plot, characters, conflict, themes, and imagery—with which participants interact. Unlike other media, however, video games scaffold players’ experiences not only via narrative and audio-visual content but by the rules, principles, and objectives governing what participants do. Moreover, many video games possess an ecosystem that impacts players’ interpretation of the game itself—for example, on-line hint guides and discussion groups as well as the opportunity to play in the company of peers in either physical or virtual proximity. The authors consider opportunities and challenges presented by each of these unique facets of video games for fostering the prosocial development of participants.
Family Fun and Fostering Values
Authors: Bryant J. Alison , Drell Jordana
Published: May 2010

This chapter looks at the interplay between video and computer games and values discourse within families. The authors focus on the theoretical models for values discourse within families; the role that video games can play in values discourse within the family; the role that both research and design have in the game creation process; and the future opportunities for engaging values and ethics discourse within the family context through gaming.
Moral Development through Social Narratives and Game Design
Authors: Vikaros Lance , Degand Darnel
Published: May 2010

Morality originates in dispositions and attitudes formed in childhood and early adolescence. Fantasy play and both the perspective taking and interpersonal negotiation of conflicts that it affords, have been causally linked to the development of moral reasoning and a theory of mind. A closer examination of the self-regulated processes involved implicates a number of contributing factors that video games and virtual worlds are well suited to encourage. The authors present recommendations suggesting the ways in which such technology can facilitate moral development by supporting and simulating diverse social interaction in ways leading to the promotion of self-efficacy, critical thinking, and consequential decision making.
Applied Ethics Game Design
Authors: McDaniel Rudy , Fiore Stephen M.
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents a case study of the design and development of two original ethics games entitled Veritas University and Knights of Astrus. Through this case study and a review of relevant literature, the authors explore the content creation of, and theoretical rationale for, the design and development of ethics games. Both games use the Adobe Flash® platform and are geared toward an undergraduate student audience as casual games to be completed in a few hours of gameplay. To ground the development of these games, the authors review contemporary research on identity, cognition, and self in relation to video game environments; they also argue for the need for further research and development in this area. From this literature base and their applied design experiences, the authors offer six guidelines as practical suggestions for aspiring ethics game developers.
Path Planning and Path Tracking of Industrial Mobile Robots
Authors: Blažic Sašo , Guechi El-Hadi , Lauber Jimmy , Dambrine Michel , Klancar Gregor
Published: May 2010

The purpose of this chapter is to give a quick state of the art and to propose some new approaches in the area of path planning and path tracking for the differentially driven wheeled mobile robots. The main part of the chapter is devoted to the methods that ensure stable tracking of the prescribed reference trajectories. Of particular importance are the approaches that result in global stability of the tracking, e.g. Lyapunov-based control and parallel distributed Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy control. The effects of discrete measurements and delay on the control performance are also analysed. The second part of the chapter is devoted to path planning or trajectory design. Here, physical limitations of the robot and obstacle avoidance are treated.