bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Competing E-Purse Systems
Authors: de Vries Henk J.
Published: February 2011

Electronic purse systems can be an alternative for cash payments as well as PIN payments or credit card payments. For retailers as well as banks, this is attractive for reasons of cost and speed. One common system seems feasible, but in The Netherlands there have been two competing systems for several years. The common banks started with one system, but one of these banks introduced a competing system. This resulted in a costly battle. In the end, the banks decided to return to one system. This case can be seen as a battle between two standards, and standardization theory can be used to analyze it. The challenge for each stakeholder is to make a decision without knowing what the other stakeholders will do. In this case, we take the perspective of the bank that initiated the competing e-purse system.
European International Freight Forwarders
Authors: Lehman Hans
Published: February 2011

This case study is about information systems in one of the largest freight forwarding companies in Europe, here named Spedition Chur AG (SCA)1. With a long tradition of computers, data processing, and information systems on a global level, SCA has used information technology extensively since the 1960s. Over the years, their systems have become a truly strategic resource; many of the services SCA offers today are based solely on information management — the physical side of the transport business has taken a back seat and is often outsourced. The problems and issues SCA is dealing with now are the dichotomy of its IT strategy: how to coordinate a stringently standardized core of systems with its critically important but highly individualized system-to-system interfaces with its key customers. Furthermore, the rapid change in technology and the very wide range and reach of its operations now means that the global implementation of new information systems often cannot be completed before the technologies underlying them have become obsolescent. The case describes the development of the systems that underlie the business success and sets out the governance and management structures that make this possible.
Developing a Learning Organization Model for Problem-Based Learning
Authors: Vat Kam Hou
Published: February 2011

This case describes the initiative to develop a learning organization model to support the pedagogy of problem-based learning (PBL) as an approach to conduct teaching in the author’s undergraduate curriculum development. Specifically, an organizational scenario is described to support introducing the PBL method of course delivery. This is based on an action research depiction on some of the experiences and issues involved in conceiving and developing a Web-based course-support environment called REAL (Rich Environment for Active Learning). Our case then deliberates on the idea of setting up a Center for PBL Research as an important mechanism of institutional innovation. This center could be considered as an essential effort to encourage individual organizational units within the university to provide suitable electronic services toward the realization of a virtual university. The dilemma of this effort, however, remains the emergent changes of organizational behavior in education, which is essentially subjective, eclectic, individual, context-specific, and often one-off, making it traditionally the most difficult to support with technology.
ERP Implementation in Higher Education
Authors: Okunoye Adekunle , Frolick Mark , Crable Elaine
Published: February 2011

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems long have been known as systems that bring integration to numerous business activities within complex organizations. However, in today’s contemporary organizations, ERP systems are becoming a standard information system, irrespective of size and nature of the business. This case focuses on the implementation of an ERP system in higher education. The case covers the key stages of implementation. Particular emphasis is placed on the selection of the ERP system and the organizational dynamics involved. The implementation of the first two modules and the views of users are discussed. The depth of the case can enable managers to understand the complexity of an ERP system selection and the organizational issues involved. The analysis of the case sheds light on the activities involved in ERP projects and what to expect during the implementation stage.
Building an Online Undergraduate Module from a Graduate Module
Authors: Darbyshire Paul , Sandy Geoffrey A.
Published: February 2011

Online teaching has not as yet penetrated too deeply into the undergraduate culture, and most successful programs are targeted towards vocational learning or postgraduate courses. This case study details the experiences of translating a successful online teaching paradigm used in a fully online postgraduate degree to an undergraduate degree program. The main objective of this case study is to determine the appropriateness of using the postgraduate model at undergraduate level by examining the performance of three separate undergraduate groups studying a re-designed online undergraduate subject. As the graduate model is based on a semi-Socratic paradigm of initial discussion questions and follow-on weekly discussions, it was not at all clear that such a paradigm would be applicable at the undergraduate level. Given the limited working experience of undergraduates, a translation of the paradigm could loose its effectuality on the target student population. Yet the changing demographics of students suggests an online subject based on this paradigm may be successful.
The Use of Information Technology in Teaching Accounting in Egypt
Authors: Dahawy Khaled , Kamel Sherif
Published: February 2011

The use of information and communication technology has become an integral component and a vital tool in teaching accounting. Over the last few decades, the blend of using state-of-the-art technologies has improved the effectiveness and efficiency of the learning process. Respectively, some predict that physical campuses will decay and crumble in the near future with the continuous growth of borderless societies and the diffusion of extended enterprises leading to a hybrid model for knowledge delivery that extends beyond distance and time barriers. The main emphasis of this case is to study the deployment of technology in teaching accounting in Egypt, using the case of Becker Professional Review in providing trainees with the required training that enables them to pass exams and get professional certification using emerging information technology tools and techniques. The case demonstrates how information technology adaptation can provide a platform for knowledge dissemination and demonstrates a model that can be replicated in similar environments.
Better Securing an Infrastructure for Telework
Authors: Butcher-Powell Loreen Marie
Published: February 2011

The XYZ Hardware Company, Inc. infrastructure features high volumes of sensitive and confi- dential corporate data relevant to internal and external transactions. From 1999 to the middle of 2004, XYZ has utilized the Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability EvaluationSM (OCTAVESM) Model version 1e to protect its network. The OCTAVESM Model has proven to be helpful for XYZ by identifying over 198 potential security breaches. However, in 2004, when XYZ began to enhance its existing network infrastructure to include telework, 210 security breaches occurred. These breaches cost the company over $350,000 in lost profits between July and December of 2004. To safeguard their network, upper management wanted to invest the money in a series of generalized training including working ethics, virus scanning, and backing up files. However, instead, XYZ’S chief information officer (CIO) invested over $100,000 in research in order to modify their existing protection strategy, to better safeguard their new telework infrastructure by identifying its specific strengths and weakness in an effort to create more concentrated and specialized training at the root of the problem.
Designing for Service-Oriented Computing
Authors: Vassiliadis Bill
Published: February 2011

This case describes major management and technology issues which arise when designing advanced Service-Oriented architectures in distributed networked environments used for e-learning. The diversity of the specific organizational setting, the innovation of the technology and context of the project poses many challenges including new methodologies for documenting development plans, feasibility studies, risk and human resource management policies.
E-Learning Quality
Authors: Mena Marta
Published: February 2011

The evaluation issue has acquired a significant importance in the last years and has increased the concern about the analysis of the educational practices’ quality. This article deals with the concept of quality and asks about the different aspects that define it. It develops certain criteria that allow assessing a good e-learning practice. The first aspects that are necessary to define are: (a) the pursued purpose and (b) the Institution’s structural configuration. Good practice evidences are: a direct relation between the program proposal and the intervention context; coherence between theory and practice; presence of interactive and multimedia materials together with permanent interaction; strategies and devices especially designed to support learning; appropriate technology; permanent evaluating research; and a clear human resources policy.
E-Learning University Networks
Authors: Pérez Elena Verdú , Pérez María Jesús Verdú
Published: February 2011

The achievement of coordination activities and the creation of university networks are considered to be fundamental mechanisms to bring together the different higher education systems as well as to promote synergies between less developed regions and more developed ones. ODISEAME (Open Distance Inter-University Synergies between Europe, Africa, and Middle East) is an interdisciplinary and intercultural e-learning project whose main goal is to create a Euro-Mediterranean network of universities for the cooperation in the design and development of tele-learning experiences. This four-year project ended in June of 2006 with its final phase when several multilingual and multicultural learning experiences were carried out in an efficient way. These experiences were developed in all the official languages of the participant countries, as well as in English, using a Web-based multilingual virtual space. This article describes the ODISEAME project and the e-learning experiences derived from it and presents some conclusions from their evaluation. It finally shows the importance of university networks in the process of establishing the European higher education area.
A Culturally Appropriate, Web-Based Technology for Anonymous Data Collection for Public Health Research in Culturally Diverse Populations
Authors: Douma Michael , Gamito Eduard J.
Published: February 2011

This case study describes how a Web-based technology helped a small nonprofit cancer education and research organization collect data anonymously from Native American cancer survivors from across the North American continent. The system described herein, known as the Privacy Broker System, is adaptable to different cultures and languages. The Privacy Broker System made cancer education and research, which was previously infeasible due to high costs and regulatory constraints, possible.
Patients, Caregivers, and Telehome-Based Care Systems
Authors: Tsigrogianni Katerina G. , Tarnanas Ioannis A.
Published: February 2011

The Personal Health Assistant Project (PHA) is a pilot system implementation sponsored by the Kozani Region Governors’ Association (KRGA) and installed in one of the two major public hospitals of the city of Kozani. PHA is intended to demonstrate how a secure, networked, multipurpose electronic health and food benefits digital signage system can transform common TV sets inside patient homes or hospital rooms into health care media players and facilitate information sharing and improve administrative efficiency among private doctors, public health care providers, informal caregivers, and nutrition program private companies, while placing individual patients firmly in control of the information at hand. This case evaluation of the PHA demonstration is intended to provide critical information to other decision makers considering implementing PHA or related digital signage technology at other institutions and public hospitals around the globe.
The Selection of a New Student Administration System at University of Southland
Authors: Todorova Nelly , Falls-Anderson Julie
Published: February 2011

This decision case describes the process of requirements definition and selection of a new student administration MIS to replace the existing legacy system. It provides a detailed account of the initiation of the project and how decisions have evolved. The case focuses on the interests and roles of internal stakeholders and the effect of unexpected external events. Finally, the case describes the evaluation process to select a vendor which best suits the needs of the university. The vendor proposals have been evaluated and a decision is imminent after 4 years of delay, indecision, and disagreement among the parties involved. The culmination of years of work now rests on the selection of the proposal which best suits the needs of the University of Southland.
Using RFID to Track and Trace High Value Products
Authors: Symonds Judith A. , Parry David
Published: February 2011

Certain businesses call for a high level of traceability to track high value products. This case study of City Healthcare,1 New Zealand, focuses on the complex management issues related to the initial decisions to use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology on such a product, instead of a barcode. RFID devices are effectively tiny memory storage devices that can be read and sometimes written to from a distance using radio waves through an appropriate interrogation device. RFID devices have been touted as a replacement for barcodes in supply-chain applications. Issues and challenges investigated here include the ability of RFID to replace barcodes, business benefit from technology investment, technology adoption, and the role of external regulations in the adoption process.
E-Commerce Opportunities in the Nonprofit Sector
Authors: Abuhamdieh Ayman , Kendall Julie E. , Kendall Kenneth E.
Published: February 2011

To what extent does having a Web presence reflect on an organization’s e-commerce operations? Will a mere brick-and-mortar organizational Web site guarantee online success? This case presents the experience of the New York Theatre Group (NYTG), a nonprofit performing arts organization, in integrating e-commerce in its business practices. The case begins with a very broad overview of the nonprofit sector, the performing arts industry, its delivery channels, and the theatrical production process in general. Then attention turns to NYTG itself in terms of its history, organizational structure, its market segmentation, market trends, and forecasted growth. The strategic planning at NYTG, and the programs put in place to help it achieve its objectives and mission, are detailed. A survey that maps the demographic attributes of NYTG’s patrons and subscribers is discussed. The case concludes with the current e-commerce challenges facing NYTG in particular and the nonprofit performing arts organizations in general.
Technological Innovation in a College
Authors: Fullmer Patricia
Published: February 2011

The purpose of this case study was to understand the issues and factors involved in the implementation of a technological innovation in an institution of higher education. The business office of a four-year college attempted to replace a by-hand paper requisition entry process with an online process without the assistance of the information technology department. The initial implementation in 2004 was stopped and a consultant, the author, was engaged to investigate and develop recommendations to modify the implementation. Archival information consisting of reports, meeting minutes, participant-observation field notes and interview and survey results were used to review the implementation process. The college has purchased two online requisition systems for online requisitions and pilot tested a third online requisition system during the summer of 2006 through 2007 in three departments. The online requisition system is seen as the gateway for the college into e-commerce.
A Maturity Based Qualitative Information Systems Effectiveness Evaluation of a Public Organization in Turkey
Authors: Ozkan Sevgi , Cakir Murat , Bilgen Semih
Published: February 2011

Among the top issues of information systems (IS) management is measuring and improving IS effectiveness. In that, the concept of IS effectiveness is widely accepted throughout IS research as the principle criterion for evaluating information systems. IS effectiveness is defined as the extent to which a given information system actually contributes to achieving organizational goals.. As the society moves from the industrial era to the information age,,is role in any organization shifts from efficiency to effectiveness. This case study presents an IS effectiveness evaluation methodology applied on a public organization. The paper supports in general the claim that the use of a systematic IS effectiveness evaluation approach can improve organizational performance.
The Rationale Behind Strategic Alliances in Application Service Provision
Authors: Sofiane Tebboune D.E.
Published: February 2011

Application service provision, which consists of deploying, managing, and remotely hosting software applications through centrally located servers, is emerging as a new form of application outsourcing that is attractive to many sectors. Partnering in this context has gained major importance among practitioners and researchers. Although this article demonstrates the importance of strategic alliances for the development of the ASP model, the included cases display relatively contradicting ideas, where in one of the two illustrated cases strategic alliances were not part of the business model. This article establishes a discussion on the pre-formation phase of strategic alliances, focusing on the rationale behind entering strategic alliances, and offers a set of guidelines for ASPs to consider when entering the partnering arena.
A Centrist Approach to Introducing ICT in Healthcare
Authors: Finnegan David J. , Currie Wendy L.
Published: February 2011

The challenge to provide a nation-wide healthcare service continues unabated in the 21st century as politicians and managers drive through policies to modernize the UK National Health Service (NHS). Established around 60 years ago to offer free healthcare at the point of delivery to all citizens, the NHS now accounts for the largest portion of public expenditure after social security, with total spending around £84 billion in 2006/2007. Over the past 3 decades, the political agenda within healthcare has moved from one of professional dominance, where clinicians and their representative bodies dominated the leadership and management of healthcare organisations, to one where politicians have imposed new ideas in the form of market mechanisms and the “new public management” which extend the use of private sector firms. The political justification for these reforms is to make the NHS more efficient and cost effective and to develop an ethos of patient choice.
Building Enterprise Network Infrastructure for a Supermarket Store Chain
Authors: Choi Beomjin , Tsai Nancy , Jones Tom
Published: February 2011

Enterprise network infrastructure has served as a vehicle on which data and information can be transferred between functional units regardless of their location. Creating the network infrastructure that enables firms and organizations to adapt to rapidly changing business needs has never been more important than now. Building the enterprise network infrastructure requires careful planning, effective design, and appropriate strategies for successful implementation. The current case study examines how a regional supermarket store chain in the retail food industry develops its enterprise network infrastructure to outperform its larger competitors. A detailed description of the evolution of the company’s enterprise network infrastructure is presented to show how the strategy of network infrastructure development has aligned with the organization’s growth strategy for the past two decades. The current case study highlights critical success factors for firms to build an effective enterprise network infrastructure that include IS planning firmly tied to critical business goals, strategic collaboration with technology vendors, and careful evaluation and selection of network services and technical details.
Politics Hinders Open Standards in the Public Sector
Authors: Dedeke Adenekan
Published: February 2011

In 2003, Eric Kriss, of the Executive Office of the Governor of Massachusetts, advised all employees that the Executive Branch would begin a transition of its information technology resources into open standards. The intent of the plan was the standardization of the IT infrastructure and the improvement of interoperability across agencies. The Executive Office later extended the open standards policy to electronic documents. In the quest to make documents accessible across agencies, Open Document Format (ODF) was declared to be the preferred format for storing data. This decision provoked a serious conflict between Microsoft and the Executive Branch after it became clear that proprietary open document formats, such as the one that was being offered by Microsoft, were declared to be unacceptable. This case explores the decisions that the champions made, the role that politics played in the process and the impact of these decisions on the ODF implementation.
Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation in an Institution of Higher Learning
Authors: Hayes Randall B. , Utecht Kathleen M.
Published: February 2011

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software systems are implemented in major corporations because of their unique design which enables the integration of information across the functional areas of a business. Implementations of ERP software, such as SAP or Oracle, are most commonly documented in the manufacturing sector. This case study, however, describes the implementation of ERP in an institution of higher learning. In particular, issues pertaining to implementing SAP in a university structure, measuring the return on an ERP investment in an educational institution, and managing organizational change are discussed.
Reorganization of Software Application Hosting and its Relation to E-Government
Authors: Johansson Björn , Lindh Jörgen
Published: February 2011

This article reports a case of a decision-making process in a Swedish local government reorganizing hosting of software applications. One question raised is, how the attempt of improving governance and being more of an e-government, influences hosting decisions. The case findings suggest that organizations planning to decentralize decision-making in order to make better decisions and to increase ability of being an e-Government need to centralize parts of the IS-work. The article suggests different reasons for why an organization starts the process of reorganizing and how these reasons are connected to e-Government. The reorganization improved the governance so the executive committee could make correct decisions, in line with the government’s ambition to become more of an e-Government and providing better services for its citizens. However, the question remains if decided option, to centralize and coordinate software applications hosting and ICT, was the best option or if another outcome would be preferable.
eInsurance Project
Authors: Järvinen Raija , Salonen Jarno , Ahonen Aki , Kivistö-Rahnasto Jouni
Published: February 2011

This case study covers two R&D projects called eInsurance 1 and eInsurance 2, which are concerned with electronic insurance. This case emphasizes project organization, its activities and roles, together with the results of the projects. In addition, the structure and innovation level of the projects are analyzed and the challenges involved in launching the concepts into insurance markets are presented. The most important outcomes of the projects are novel service concepts, and valuable information of consumer expectations that corporate partners utilized in their R&D activities. For research partners, the projects brought ideas, how to organize future projects in new ways, and how to combine academic and business expertise successfully.
Privacy Preserving Clustering for Distributed Homogeneous Gene Expression Data Sets
Authors: Li Xin
Published: February 2011

In this paper, the authors present a new approach to perform principal component analysis (PCA)-based gene clustering on genomic data distributed in multiple sites (horizontal partitions) with privacy protection. This approach allows data providers to collaborate together to identify gene profiles from a global viewpoint, and at the same time, protect the sensitive genomic data from possible privacy leaks. The authors developed a framework for privacy preserving PCA-based gene clustering, which includes two types of participants such as data providers and a trusted central site. Within this mechanism, distributed horizontal partitions of genomic data can be globally clustered with privacy preservation. Compared to results from centralized scenarios, the result generated from distributed partitions achieves 100% accuracy by using this approach. An experiment on a real genomic data set is conducted, and result shows that the proposed framework produces exactly the same cluster formation as that from the centralized data set.
Can Firms Develop a Service-Dominant Organisational Culture to Improve CRM?
Authors: Burton Jamie
Published: February 2011

CRM is more than the tactical application of technology solutions; it is a broader strategic approach to managing customer relationships (Payne and Frow, 2005) in order to create value. This article will review the challenges of creating the right organizational context to manage the value exchange, in order to create the right level of value for the customer in the application of CRM. One of the reasons CRM initiatives have failed in the past has been a focus only on the value that the firm can gain from a relationship, without consideration of the benefits in terms of customer experience and their perception of value. With recognition that the customer plays an active role in service models and subsequently the work triumphed by Lusch and Vargo (2004; 2006a; 2008) around the importance of a service-dominant logic (S-DL) for marketing, it has been increasingly recognized that the customer’s perception of value-in-use is facilitated by relationships with customers. However, traditionally managers have been trained to think from a product-dominated perspective and to create value offerings for (not with) the market. If application of service-dominant logic is to lead to firms developing competitive advantage through more effective co-creation of customer-perceived value, then firms need to attempt to ‘manage’ their organizational climate in order to support delivery of effective CRM solutions with a culture that enables and encourages staff to work to develop relationships that create value with customers that encourage those customers to stay in those relationships. Relevant literature across a number of research paradigms is reviewed and an agenda for future research is discussed.
Adoption of Electronic Payment Services by Iranian Customers
Authors: Keramati Abbas , Hadjiha Bahar , Taeb Rose , Mojir Navid
Published: February 2011

The objective of this paper is to investigate customers’ adoption of Electronic payment services. This study contributes to existing e-payment and adoption research by presenting a detailed description of factors that enhance and inhibit electronic payment adoption. The proposed conceptual model has been developed based on TAM, diffusion of innovation and PCI models, and adding the factors of security, cost, perceived risk, culture, trust, service quality and network externalities. The model has been examined by using a questionnaire within the Iran context. Based on obtained results, practical implications and suggestions for Iran banks and financial institutions are discussed.
Providing Cryptographic Security and Evidentiary Chain-of-Custody with the Advanced Forensic Format, Library, and Tools
Authors: Garfinkel Simson L.
Published: February 2011

This article presents improvements in the Advanced Forensics Format Library version 3 that provide for digital signatures and other cryptographic protections for digital evidence, allowing an investigator to establish a reliable chain-of-custody for electronic evidence from the crime scene to the court room. No other system for handling and storing electronic evidence currently provides such capabilities. This article discusses implementation details, user level commands, and the AFFLIB programmer’s API.
Voice Over IP
Authors: Slay Jill , Simon Matthew
Published: February 2011

With the tremendous growth in popularity and bandwidth of the Internet, VoIP technology has emerged that allows phone calls to be routed over Internet infrastructure rather than the traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) infrastructure. The issues faced by law enforcement authorities concerning VoIP are very different from that of traditional telephony. Wiretapping is not applicable to VoIP calls and packet capturing is negated by encryption. This article discusses experimental work carried out to explore methods by which electronic evidence may be collected from systems where VoIP conversations play an important role in suspected criminal activity or communications. It also considers the privacy issues associated with the growing use of VoIP.
Methods to Identify Spammers
Authors: Eggendorfer Tobias
Published: February 2011

Unsolicited commercial email has become a major threat for email communication. Although the degree of sophistication of spam filters has increased over time, such filters still produce high rates of false positives and false negatives, thereby reducing the reliability of email and introducing communication risks on their own. Due to more and more complex filtering methods implemented, the hardware requirements for mail servers are increasing to avoid the risk of denial of service situations. Therefore, some authors point out that mail filtering has reached its limits and ask for more preventive solutions to fight spam. One way to prevent email abuse would be to significantly increase the risk of a spammer being sued for damage compensation or, if legislation permits, for criminal offence. This approach believes in an assessment of risk and expected revenue by a the offender. But by hiding their real identity, spammers are very successful in evading prosecution. This paper discusses several methods to identify spammers and analyses under which circumstances those methods might be valid evidence in court.
Spam Image Clustering for Identifying Common Sources of Unsolicited Emails
Authors: Zhang Chengcui , Chen Xin , Chen Wei-Bang , Yang Lin , Warner Gary
Published: February 2011

In this article, we propose a spam image clustering approach that uses data mining techniques to study the image attachments of spam emails with the goal to help the investigation of spam clusters or phishing groups. Spam images are first modeled based on their visual features. In particular, the foreground text layout, foreground picture illustrations and background textures are analyzed. After the visual features are extracted from spam images, we use an unsupervised clustering algorithm to group visually similar spam images into clusters. The clustering results are evaluated by visual validation since there is no prior knowledge as to the actual sources of spam images. Our initial results show that the proposed approach is effective in identifying the visual similarity between spam images and thus can provide important indications of the common source of spam images.
A Simplified Scheduling Algorithm for Cells in ATM Networks for Multimedia Communication
Authors: Lee Ming-Chi , Hou Chun-Liang , Lee Shie-Jue
Published: February 2011

Distance learning involves multimedia communication of different traffic types with different Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. Scheduling is one of the key disciplines for fulfilling such requirements. Carry-Over Round Robin (CORR) is a scheduling mechanism for cells in Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks, having a great advantage of operational simplicity over other scheduling disciplines. However, it requires two traversals of the admitted connections and maintenance of a sorted connection list, resulting in a detriment to the fairness of bandwidth allocation and simplicity in implementation. We propose a modified scheme of CORR. Operations are simplified and thus complexity in implementation is reduced. Furthermore, fairness in bandwidth allocation is more strongly enforced without introducing any harm to delay. The proposed scheme can be useful for multimedia communication in distance learning where different traffic types with different service-quality requirements are involved.
Mathematics Education over the Internet Based on Vega Grid Technology
Authors: Xu Zhiwei , Li Wei , Fu Hongguang , Zeng Zhenbing
Published: February 2011

This paper presents research work conducted at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, on the Vega Grid technology and dynamic geometry technology, and how the two can integrate to provide a dynamic geometry education system based on grid technology. Such an approach could help solve the interconnect problem, the performance problem and the intellectual property problem for Internet-based education systems.
Data Mining and Case-Based Reasoning for Distance Learning
Authors: Shen Ruimin , Han Peng , Yang Fan , Yang Qiang , Huang Joshua Z.
Published: February 2011

Web-based learning enables more students to have access to the distance-learning environment, and provides students and teachers with unprecedented flexibility and convenience. However, the early experience of using this new learning means in China exposes a few problems. Among others, teachers accustomed to traditional teaching methods often find it difficult to put their courses online, and some students, especially the adult students, find themselves overloaded with too much information. In this paper, we present an open framework to solve these two problems. This framework allows students to interact with an automated question answering system to get their answers. It enables teachers to analyze students’ learning patterns and organize the web-based contents efficiently. The framework is intelligent due to the data mining and case-based reasoning features, and user-friendly because of its personalized services to both teachers and students.
A Wireless Rural Education and Learning System Based on Disk Oriented MPEG Streaming Multimedia
Authors: Venkataram Pallapa , Rajavelsamy R. , Chaudhari Shashikant , Ramamohan T. R. , Ramakrishna H.
Published: February 2011

The Internet is enabling us to address some educational challenges, bringing learning to students instead of bringing students to learning. It is allowing for the creation of learning communities that defy the constraints of time and distance as it provides access to knowledge that was once difficult to obtain. This is true in the classroom, on the college campus, and in the corporate training rooms. In this paper, we describe the design of a Rural Education and Learning System in a wireless multimedia environment which runs on a cost-effective computer system. The education system may be classified as a multiple clients and a single server system where each client runs in a class-room where students are free to select the subject of their choice. The client is also facilitated with VCR operations and guaranteed data delivery by using the MNSP (Multimedia Network Service Platform) at the server and at the clients end. The system has been implemented in 5, 10, 20 classroom environments with 50 different subjects teaching materials. It has been observed that the response to each of the user’s requirements, like subject material requirement retrieval and VCR operation, etc., are quite good. We have also made a field trial in a five-classroom school in a rural area, which has been quite encouraging.
Model-Based System Development for Asynchronous Distance Learning
Authors: Chen Shu-Ching , Li Sheng-Tun , Shyu Mei-Ling
Published: February 2011

The innovation and diversification of development in multimedia technology and network infrastructures have brought a significant impact to education, especially for distance learning. This paper presents a model-based asynchronous distance learning system development that consists of a presentation semantic model called the multimedia augmented transition network (MATN) model and an asynchronous distance learning system called the Java-based Integrated Asynchronous Distance Learning (JIADL) system. The MATN model is powerful in modeling the synchronization and quality-of-service (QoS) for distance learning multimedia presentations. The JIADL system can support diverse asynchronous distance learning services by integrating RealPlayer and Java technology to augment the superiority of both models. A course sample is used to illustrate and validate the effectiveness of the system. How to use the MATN model to model the diversity requirements of a distance learning multimedia presentation is also discussed. Furthermore, the initial experimental results show that our system is cost effective and has a wide range of applications.
An Efficient Approach for Analyzing User Behaviors in a Web-Based Training Environment
Authors: Yen Show-Jane
Published: February 2011

Mining frequent traversal patterns is to discover the consecutive reference paths traversed by a sufficient number of users from Web logs in a Web environment where users can travel from one object to another through the corresponding hyperlinks. Previous approaches for mining frequent traversal patterns only consider the forward references, such that the information about backward references will be lost. In this paper, we propose an efficient algorithm to discover the non-simple frequent traversal patterns. The non-simple frequent traversal patterns include forward and backward references, and are used to suggest potentially interesting traversal path to the users, which are useful, especially, in a Web-based training environment. The experimental results show that the discovered patterns can present the complete browsing paths traversed by most of the users and our algorithm outperforms other algorithms in discovered information and execution times.
Experiences in Collaborative Distributed Learning Across Geographies and Heterogeneous Student Populations in a Graduate Engineering Course
Authors: DaSilva Luiz A.
Published: February 2011

This article discusses the use of distance learning technology to build an effective learning community across geographies and heterogeneous student populations. We contend that this is done most effectively by combining both synchronous and asynchronous methods. We describe our experience teaching a graduate course where we adopted an approach of strongly encouraging interaction during and after lecture and requiring students to collaborate in geographically dispersed groups, utilizing the appropriate technologies to enable this collaboration. The paper presents students’ reactions and lessons learned regarding the use of technology in course delivery and collaboration across geographies.
On the Design and Application of an Online Web Course for Distance Learning
Authors: Zhang Yu J.
Published: February 2011

Web course design and implementation are very important in effective distance learning. Such a work is related to a number of issues and needs considerable attentions. In this paper, a feasible framework for developing web courses and some of our experimental results along the design and application of a particular online course are discussed. It first addresses several major designing considerations to match the expected features with different factors in developing online web courses for distance learning, takeing into consideration various distinctions between online courses and traditional courses; it then introduces the structure and components more suitable for self-learning. In addition, the tools for developing online web courses play a significant role and have important influences over the developed courses. Based on some analytical discussions and real experimental results, different developing tools are compared in speed of loading, the file size generated, as well as security and flexibility. The comparison results are not only employed in the present development for improving the flexibility of the new web course, but also usable for developing other courses. Finally, the principles proposed and the tools selected have been concretely integrated in the implementation of a particular web course, which has been conducted with satisfactory results.
A Design of Realtime and Interactive Distance Education Environment
Authors: He Aiguo , Zhang GuoZhen , Cheng Zixue
Published: February 2011

This article systematically discusses the design of a distance educational supporting platform, RIDEE, for performing real-time and interactive distance educational activities over a high-speed network, by summarizing the requirements for RIDEE and giving its hardware and software architecture. Several core parts and subsystems of RIDEE had been developed. RIDEE’s effectiveness has been verified by experiments and a regular distance lecture course. This article also describes RIDEE’s implementation and the application results.
Instructors' Experiences with Using Groupware to Support Collaborative Project-Based Learning
Authors: Day John , Lou Hao , Van Slyke Craig
Published: February 2011

Today’s business schools are looking for effective approaches to leverage technology to facilitate distributed learning and support collaborative group projects. Faculty need tools, methods, and best practices that can be adapted to support various learning models and learning objectives across academic disciplines. The application of groupware technology, Lotus Domino discussion databases, to support collaborative project-based learning is explored. From the instructor’s perspective, a variety of uses for discussion databases are described, including supporting course logistics, supporting student teams, and extending learning beyond the classroom. Recommendations for effective implementation include technical support issues, use of team databases, maintaining contact with remote students, and faculty time commitments.
Bluetooth Scatternet Using an Ad Hoc Bridge Node Routing Protocol for Outdoor Distance Education
Authors: Chang Yao-Chung , Lin M.T. , Chao Han-Chieh , Chen Jiann-Liang
Published: February 2011

In recent years, the prevalence of Internet and wireless technology has promoted mobile communications as a major research area. For future distance education purposes (Instructional Technology Council), to be able to access course materials anytime/anywhere will become a key issue, especially when students are not in the classroom, but are within a museum or a field investigation process; using an Ad hoc mechanism to access the real-time brief or introduction can definitely improve their learning interests greatly. One of the topics is IEEE802.11, which includes the Wireless LAN and Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) infrastructure (Perkins, 2000). MANET has no fixed infrastructure, but is capable of dynamic changing network architectures, such as PDAs, cellular phones, and mobile computers. Bluetooth (The Official Bluetooth SIG) possesses a smaller radio range, low power, and low costs. The Bluetooth Scatternet is a specific case of MANET (IETF MANET Working Group). In this paper we propose a Bridge Node Routing Protocol (BNRP) based on a revised Distributed Topology Construction Protocol (DTCP), into which a shortcut mechanism is added for better performance. The BNRP uses bridge nodes to preserve effective transmissions and achieve better Bluetooth Scatternet performance, and it can apply for outdoor distance education environment anytime and anywhere.
Educative Distributed Virtual Environments for Children
Authors: Poppvici Dorin-Mircea , Gerval Jean-Pierre , Chevaillier Pierre , Tisseau Jacques , Serbanai Luca-Dan , Gueguen Patrick
Published: February 2011

This paper presents a distributed virtual reality environment for children called EVE—Environnements Virtuels pour Enfants. The virtual environment architecture is reactive agents based. The FCM-like dynamic action planning mechanism assures agent’s adaptability to its environment changes. This virtual environment supports cooperation among members of a dispersed team engaged in a concurrent context. By the means of their avatars, special cases of agents, users are allowed to interact and to give decisions using cooperative mechanisms. A user-friendly interface enables teachers to create their own stories that fit with children’s pedagogical requirements and generate new virtual environments according to the teacher’s specifications. The implementation is based on DeepMatrix as environment server, VRML and Java as languages and Cortona VRML plug-in from ParallelGraphics. It is actually running on the Internet: http://eve.enib.fr
Visual Language-Based System for Designing and Presenting E-Learning Courses
Authors: Costagliola Gennaro , Ferrucci Filomena , Polese Giuseppe , Scanniello Giuseppe
Published: February 2011

In this chapter we present a system supporting instruction designers in the design and deployment of e-learning courses. The system includes integrated modules for several authoring activities, such as the definition of knowledge content objects, and the creation of assessment and self-assessment tests. The distinguishing characteristics of the proposed system is that it is based on a suite of visual languages, enabling the modelling of different aspects of the construction process for Web-based distance courses. The languages include a Learning Activity Diagram, which extends UML Activity Diagrams to make them suitable for modelling distance course structures; a Self-Consistent Learning Object language used to define knowledge contents; and a Test Maker Language for specifying assessment and self-assessment tests. The use of visual languages provides an intuitive and friendly system user interface that allows instruction designer to easily compose and analyze the distance course structure and keep track of the knowledge acquisition process individually for each learner.
An Architecture for a Federated Education System
Authors: Miliszewska Iwona , Horwood John
Published: February 2011

This article presents the development and software architecture of a conceptual and operational collaborative distance education model. Promotion of educational expertise, especially through expansion of specialization, is of increasing importance. Within the educational sphere, big universities tend to dominate the market at the expense of smaller ones. For small universities, the key to their survival could also be specialization within disciplines, coupled with collaboration among universities. Intra-discipline specialization would promote development of quality services, and interuniversity collaboration would enable a wide offering of these services. The proposed paradigm would require the development of a suitable model to support it. The model proposed in this article is a federation of independent universities that are loosely coupled to facilitate collaboration and the sharing and exchanging of information. The federated model, supported by agent-based communication over the Internet, can operate across geographical, cultural and organizational boundaries while promoting integration within those boundaries.