bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Website Accessibility for the Blind
Authors: Frank Jonathan
Published: May 2010

On September 5, 2006, a legal precedent was set for web accessibility in the U.S. Federal judge Marilyn Patel sustained discrimination claims by the National Federation for the Blind against Target Corporation, one of America’s largest retailers. She established that websites must be fully accessible to the blind under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Past research has indicated that organizations doing business on the Web have largely ignored W3C guidelines for making their sites accessible. This study examines web accessibility of e-health providers under the lens of Corporate Social Responsibility. A model is developed linking accessibility behavior to a provider’s propensity to engage in CSR activities, the types of medical services offered, complexity of visual web content, and perceived threat of litigation resulting from an inaccessible site. Fifteen websites of eHealth providers were analyzed using IBM’s aDesigner accessibility tool for the six years before and two years since the commencement of the Target litigation. Results suggest that accessibility of sites has showed significant improvement since the Target case began. A comparison with a benchmark group of companies with a reputation for corporate social responsibility revealed marked differences between the eHealth providers and the top CSR companies.
Analyzing and Tracking the Evolution of Rehabilitation Treatment for Patients with Locomotory Deficiencies
Authors: Carstoiu Dorin , Cernian Alexandra
Published: May 2010

The main concern of the work presented in this manuscript was setting up a complex system for the individualized management of mobility recovery for patients with neuromuscular and orthopaedics pathology through interdisciplinary research. Our goal is to aggregate information from multiple hardware devices into a single data acquisition and processing system with direct applicability in the human motility analysis, namely gait analysis. The authors combine high performance image acquisition techniques with the acquisition of clinically interpretable data. The purpose is setting up a complex database (medical, imagistic, biomechanical) and developing conceptual models for interpreting the available data, with direct applicability in choosing the adequate treatment and evaluating its efficiency. Since the authors are dealing with a system with open architecture, another aspect which concerned them was the security of the system. Consequently, they propose combining the conventional smart used for identification with biometric characteristics, namely fingerprints, substantially preventing unauthorised access to the confidential information
Innovative Curriculum in Distance Learning
Authors: Peters Gail S. , Carey Kate M.
Published: May 2010

Ohio is an undereducated state with 21.1% of its adult population holding a bachelor’s degree or higher. This chapter illustrates the innovative curriculum in a free, online course that shows significant promise as one strategy to raise the educational attainment of adults. This case study enables readers to look at fundamental instructional and delivery issues in providing distance learning to adults. Successes and weaknesses of the program may help other states address the needs of returning adult learners.
From Traditional Teaching to Online Learning
Authors: Magano José , Carvalho Carlos V.
Published: May 2010

In Portugal, like in most Western countries, most higher education institutions are already using elearning platforms. However, this does not mean that these institutions are now offering distance education programmes but rather that they are using these tools as content repositories to support normal f2f academic disciplines. Therefore effective e-learning adoption is still limited to episodic, non systematic, initiatives. This chapter presents the e-learning initiative of the Higher Institute of Business Science and Tourism (ISCET). This initiative is relevant, precisely because it represents a holistic and revolutionary approach. All the students of ISCET were involved and there was a provision of online environments for the entire body of subjects offered in ISCET. The evaluation of the experimental stage setup the path to a systematic approach to distance education in the institute and provided valuable clues for other institutions that want to replicate ISCET’s e-learning initiative.
Making a Difference with Mobile Learning in the Classroom
Authors: Najmi Anjum , Lee Jennifer
Published: May 2010

As technology continues to advance and computers become smaller, faster, and more powerful educational institutions are being confronted with multiple, external factors that are driving them towards change (e.g., rapid developments in information and communication technology that are part of everyday life, and changing characteristics of learners). We have come a long way from the earlier versions of the desktop computer to mini mobile computing devices of PDAs, iPods and stylish smart phones of today. In this chapter, the authors will examine how past generations of learning theories and practices have shaped the genealogy of mobile learning. Next, they focus on the implications, potentials, current practices, and challenges of mobile learning, with the intent to answer the question of how mobile learning can make a difference in the K-16 classroom.
Blending Synchronous and Asynchronous Interactivity in Online Education
Authors: Malik Kamna
Published: May 2010

Online education is characterized by conflicting variables of time, space and interactivity. In response to the market pressure for time and space flexibility, interactivity between student-student and studentteacher usually suffers. Literature reports lack of interaction as the prime reason for reduced quality in online and hybrid courses. This chapter emphasizes the need to balance time, space and interactivity through appropriate blending of tools of interactivity so as to maximize learning as well as business outcomes. Experience related to blended use of various synchronous and asynchronous tools of interaction is shared.
Alternative Realities
Authors: Gregory Sue , Reiners Torsten , Tynan Belinda
Published: May 2010

As students increasingly engage with alternative social networking (or realities) there is a scope for educators to explore whether they pose opportunities for rethinking learning and teaching spaces. The authors argue that there is a requirement to shift away from mapping traditional thinking about what constitutes a learning experience when considering virtual worlds. This chapter draws upon two case studies that have provided two distinctly different learning designs for Logistics students and pre-service teachers. These cases, alongside a comprehensive review of the use of virtual worlds in education will draw out issues and factors which need to be considered when pursuing virtual worlds as learning spaces. Specifically, discussion and recommendations will have a focus on pedagogical, organisational, equity and access, cultural, economic and social factors relevant to the use of virtual worlds in distance education.
Positioning the Learning Organization for a Successful Distance Education Strategy
Authors: Fuchs Monique , Cheney Stephanie
Published: May 2010

Compared to traditional educational offerings, Distance Education requires a significantly different business model involving factors such as learning culture, target audience, infrastructure, course and content development, support models, and others. The following perspective is put forth in an effort to illustrate particular concerns that may affect internal operations, perceptions, and attitudes as well as external reception and market positioning of distance education offerings. Recommendations and solutions will be discussed that center around organizational systemic anchoring and faculty development as a critical success factor. All of these pieces will help to provide a framework that could be utilized in building a successful, and more importantly, sustainable distance education strategy and associated process. Emerging developments in the realm of distance education will be presented and provide an outlook of how this educational field may change and evolve in the near future.
Evolution of Personal Wireless Broadband Services from 3G to 4G
Authors: Routray Sudhir K.
Published: May 2010

The chapter covers the basic conceptual model of the 4G system and the operations of its physical systems. It starts from the very basics of the wireless communication services, and then the author goes though the different standards of the systems which provide wireless broadband services, like the 3G, and other wireless broadband systems, like WiMAX etc. The author then looks through the 3GP project and its visions, then goes through the 3GPP2. The vision and the achievements of the 3GPP LTE are then discussed including the 4G and its successor systems. After that the authors turn towards the technical ideas behind the wireless broadband services like the 3G and 4G. 4G system architecture and its features are looked into, the differences between the 3G and 4G are discussed, and then the whole chapter is concluded with the impact of the 4G system on the present mobile communication scenario.
Potential Scenarios and Drivers of the 4G Evolution
Authors: Aravantinos Elias , Fallah M. Hosein
Published: May 2010

Nowadays, the mobile Internet communications can play a significant role in the Telecommunications Sector, resolving certain issues and bottlenecks of personal communications, with most European countries close to 100% penetration and a global projection of 4 billion mobile users by 2011. As we are moving to the next generation, we are still lacking the precise definition of the architecture and the successful deployment path of the 4G technology. Several theories have been developed looking at different standards and aiming to select and develop the most promising one. In this paper the authors are introducing and presenting a study that aims to explain a new concept of “4G readiness” revealing long run national strategies for 4G deployment and suggesting some critical metrics that could describe the future of the mobile broadband environment. They describe the methodology, assumptions and discuss the expected results based on similar studies such as the e-readiness study.
Next Generation Broadband Services from High Altitude Platforms
Authors: Mohammed Abbas , Yang Zhe
Published: May 2010

In this chapter the authors investigate the possibility and performance of delivering broadband services from High Altitude Platforms (HAPs). In particular, the performance and coexistence techniques of providing worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) from HAPs and terrestrial systems in the shard frequency band are investigated. The WiMAX standard is based on orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) and multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) technologies and has been regarded as one of the most promising 4G standards to lead 4G market and deliver broadband services globally. The authors show that it is possible to provide WiMAX services from an individual HAP system. The coexistence capability with the terrestrial WiMAX system is also examined. The simulation results show that it is effective to deliver WiMAX via HAPs and share the spectrum with terrestrial systems.
Collaborative Technologies and Innovation in SMEs
Authors: Meroño-Cerdan Angel L. , Soto-Acosta Pedro , Lopez-Nicolas Carolina
Published: May 2010

This study seeks to assess the impact of collaborative technologies on innovation at the firm level. Collaborative technologies’ influence on innovation is considered here as a multi-stage process that starts at adoption and extends to use. Thus, the effect of collaborative technologies on innovation is examined not only directly, the simple presence of collaborative technologies, but also based on actual collaborative technologies’ use. Given the fact that firms can use this technology for different purposes, collaborative technologies’ use is measured according to three orientations: e-information, e-communication and e-workflow. To achieve these objectives, a research model is developed for assessing, on the one hand, the impact of the adoption and use of collaborative technologies on innovation and, on the other hand, the relationship between adoption and use of collaborative technologies. The research model is tested using a dataset of 310 Spanish SMEs. The results showed that collaborative technologies’ adoption is positively related to innovation. Also, as hypothesized, distinct collaborative technologies were found to be associated to different uses. In addition, the study found that while e-information had a positive and significant impact on innovation, e-communication and e-workflow did not.
Can Virtual Worlds Support E-Collaboration and E-Commerce? A Look at Second Life and World of Warcraft
Authors: Kock Ned
Published: May 2010

Recent years have seen the growing use of virtual worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraft for entertainment and business purposes, and a rising interest from researchers in the impact that virtual worlds can have on patterns of e-collaboration behavior and collaborative task outcomes. This chapter looks into whether actual work can be accomplished in virtual worlds, whether virtual worlds can provide the basis for trade (B2C and C2C e-commerce), and whether they can serve as a platform for credible studies of e-collaboration behavior and related outcomes. The conclusion reached at is that virtual worlds hold great potential in each of these three areas, even though there are certainly pitfalls ahead.
Future Media Adoption in Learning and Teaching
Authors: Schaffert Sandra , Schwalbe Christina
Published: May 2010

A lot of effort is put into studies to find more elaborated forecasts of future media adoption in learning and teaching. In this chapter, some methods of futurology, such as the Delphi method or the scenario technique, will be sketched. Afterwards, this current study design will be critically considered from the perspective of cultural studies. For this, the terms of media and culture will be introduced and Debray’s approach of mediology and the adaptation on education will be discussed. Through this, we aim to illustrate that the current study designs could be enhanced by a bigger awareness of the insights of the cultural studies and their adaptations for education, the pedagogical media theory. The presented approach does not explicitly deal with the processes of adoption of new educational media systems on a practical level. But pedagogical media theories and studies on cultural and social changes and media provide a basic framework for various specific approaches dealing with the future of technology enhanced learning. Just as we can hardly understand how it feels to live in an oral culture, we are not able to imagine how we will think, act and communicate in the future of the evolving new “mediosphere”.
Students, Internet, eLearning and Web 2.0
Authors: Schulmeister Rolf
Published: May 2010

An investigation into the students’ use of internet services, media types and e-learning preferences tried to find out if students today are interested in the use of Web 2.0 methods for learning. More than 2.000 students participated in the survey conducted by the international architecture company DEGW and the author. The data of the survey are compared to the results of a parallel study by HIS GmbH that was answered by 4.400 students. The results of both studies throw a critical light on the popular discussion about the net generation or the so-called digital natives and may lend themselves to a more cautious or careful introduction of Web 2.0 methods in teaching and learning accompanied by instructional and tutorial assistance.
How to Improve Media Literacy and Media Skills of Secondary School Teachers in Order to Prepare Them for the Next Generation of Learners
Authors: Weiß Silke , Bader Hans Joachim
Published: May 2010

Students in schools should acquire media literacy, and the development of new media can promote self-directed learning and so enhance the quality of the learning process. It has been assumed that teachers lack sufficient media literacy. Therefore, we developed a new chemistry teacher in-service training based on blended-learning. These courses should familiarize teachers with the application of new media and acquaint them with their students’ world, the world of the so-called “digital natives”. Three studies were performed to explore its acceptability, suitability and effectiveness. Participants’ ratings on self-report measures of self-rated skills and perceived competence improved significantly after the training. Participants had more favorable attitudes towards the use of electronic media than subjects from a control group. Among participants the attitudinal measure “perceived competence” predicted the use of blended-learning at 6-month follow up. It is concluded that attitudes play an important role for promoting teachers’ media literacy and their intention to apply new media in teaching. In addition to training programs focusing on skills and knowledge, future interventions should target on teachers attitudes.
Technology Infused Service Learning
Authors: Holland Janet
Published: May 2010

It seems like everyone is so busy today, it is easy to miss opportunities to reach out and make a positive difference. Though we are all experiencing the impact of tight economic times there is one lesson we are learning internationally: by putting our minds and actions towards mutual goals we all can benefit. What better way to live, learn, and work together than to share our knowledge and skills to improve our communities, both the one we live in immediately, and the one we thrive in globally. When we leave behind a legacy, will it be one of teaching service to our students to improve both academic learning and making valuable contributions to our communities for generations to follow? With the prevalence of computer-based technologies and the desire of youth to be digitally connected, it is an optimal time to share technology knowledge and skills for service learning opportunities.
Digital Game-Based Learning
Authors: Kickmeier-Rust Michael D. , Mattheiss Elke , Steiner Christina , Albert Dietrich
Published: May 2010

Computer games are an incredibly successful technology; due to the dynamic and active nature they are perhaps even more successful and appealing than TV or movies. Facing this success and the significant amount of time young people spend on playing computer games, it is a compelling idea of educators, developers, and researchers to utilize this technology for educational purposes. In this chapter we focus on the emerging technology of digital educational games, we attempt to give a brief summary of the state-of-the-art, and we emphasize leading-edge research in this genre. Moreover, we discuss the psycho-pedagogical foundations of “good” educational computer games. Finally, we provide an outlook to the future of educational technologies.
Web 2.0 Meets Conference
Authors: Bernhardt Thomas , Kirchner Marcel
Published: May 2010

Admittedly the usual conference format stays in opposite to the thoughts of participation and equality in Web 2.0. The EduCamp is a special BarCamp for trends in teaching and learning. It is focused on the educational context and considers important topics like E-Learning 2.0 in schools, universities or business and many others. The main intention of an EduCamp will become obvious which aims on conversations and discussions about different problem areas, searching and finding solutions together and exchanging on application scenarios or appropriate tools for education. It is based on a new concept that finally offers potentials for developing a conference culture with improved participation.
Mobile Learning
Authors: Mengel Sandro , Kuszpa Maciej , de Witt Claudia
Published: May 2010

Mobile learning extends the media dissemination of knowledge and learning in extremely varying educational contexts with mobility and independence of location. The chapter describes possibilities of mobile learning for situation-oriented, personalised and collaborative learning. It explains on the one hand existing conceptions and application scenarios with regard to learning theory backgrounds, and on the other thematises possibilities of Web 2.0 for mobile learning. In doing this, it presents in particular didactical scenarios for mobile learning situations in the context of learning on the job.
Learning in an Active, Collaborative Space
Authors: Notari Michele P. , Honegger Beat Döbeli
Published: May 2010

Based on the implications of technological progress and socioconstructivist learning theory, trends are being developed for tools to promote learning in the information society of the 21st century. The future promises a massive increase in information and its ubiquitous availability, along with an increase in computer-mediated communication. It is particularly important to understand that the communication requests placed on the individual and the range of available communication channels will increase in coming years. Tools must therefore be conceptualized to manage the communication and information glut of the future in an “intelligent” way permitting a collaborative way of learning. Looking ahead, lifelong, rather informal and problem-based learning could become significantly more important than formal learning. The characteristics of wikis will be presented as a possible representative example and explored based on the above criteria. The chapter concludes with prognoses on the nature of ICT-supported learning in coming years.
Principles of Effective Learning Environment Design
Authors: Quinton Stephen R
Published: May 2010

New thinking on the design and purpose of learning solutions is needed where the focus is not only on what to learn, but also the strategies and tools that enhance students’ capacity to learn and construct knowledge. The vision underpinning this chapter is to extend the notion of advanced learning environments that support learners’ to construct and apply knowledge to include the capacity to understand how and why they learn as individuals. Whenever conceptual change occurs as a result of active cognitive processing, higher order thinking emerges, which is further enhanced through discursive interaction with other individuals and groups. A shift in the focus of learning from the passive accumulation of information and knowledge to learning as a life changing experience that is augmented by active, collaborative engagement in the learning process provides direction as to how the complex tasks of learning and creative knowledge construction can be supported in the design of advanced learning environments. The purpose of this chapter is not to argue the need for ‘virtual’ learning environments – the literature abounds with positive endorsement for such applications. Instead, the strategies and factors that afford learners greater opportunities to engage in rewarding, productive learning experiences are examined with a view to laying down the groundwork and design principles to inform the development of a model for devising educationally effective, multi-modal (face-to-face and online) learning environments.
Evolution of QoS Control in Next Generation Mobile Networks
Authors: Albaladejo Alberto Díez , Gouveia Fabricio , Corici Marius , Magedanz Thomas
Published: May 2010

Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMNs) constitute the evolution of mobile network architectures towards a common IP based network. One of the main research topics in wireless networks architectures is QoS control and provisioning. Different approaches to this issue have been described. The introduction of the NGMNs is a major trend in telecommunications, but the heterogeneity of wireless accesses increases the challenges and complicates the design of QoS control and provisioning. This chapter provides an overview of the standard architectures for QoS control in Wireless networks (e.g. UMTS, WiFi, WiMAX, CDMA2000), as well as, the issues on this all-IP environment. It provides the state-of-the-art and the latest trends for converging networks to a common architecture. It also describes the challenges that appear in the design and deployment of QoS architectures for heterogeneous accesses and the available solutions. The Evolved Core from 3GPP is analyzed and described as a suitable and promising solution addressing these challenges.
Scaling Concepts between Trust and Enforcement
Authors: Schmidt Andreas U. , Leicher Andreas , Cha Inhyok
Published: May 2010

Enforcement and trust are opposite concepts in information security. This chapter reflects on the paradigm shift from traditional concepts of access control and policy enforcement toward de-centralised methods for establishing trust between loosely connected entities. By delegating parts of enforcement tasks to trusted elements dispersed in a system, the system can establish transitive trust relationships. This is the most advanced evolution of the organisational method of separation of duties within IT security. The technological basis for trust in systems – trusted computing platforms – is described on conceptual levels allowing comparison with other top-level security concepts and mapping to application domains. Important applications in modern information systems and networks are exhibited.
Establishing Software Integrity Trust
Authors: Wu Yongzheng , Yap Roland H.C. , Ramnath Rajiv , Halim Felix
Published: May 2010

Malware causes damage by stealing confidential data or making other software unusable. Ensuring software trustworthiness is difficult because malware may disguise itself to appear benign or trusted. This chapter explores the problem of making software more trustworthy through the use of binary integrity mechanisms. The authors review the problem of devising an effective binary integrity protection, and discuss how it complements other operating system security measures. They analyze design factors for binary integrity and compare existing systems. The authors then present a prototype which exemplifies a mandatory binary integrity mechanism and its integration within an operating system. Their system, BinAuth, demonstrates a practical, lightweight in-kernel binary authentication system for Microsoft Windows. A system like BinAuth shows that mandatory authentication is practical on complex commodity operating system like Windows. To deal with various constraints in the user’s environments, BinAuth uses a flexible scheme which does not mandate public key infrastructure (PKI) although it can take advantage of it. The authors also combine the authentication with a simple software-ID scheme which is useful for software management and vulnerability assessment.
Trust Management in Ad Hoc Networks
Authors: de Sousa Júnior Rafael Timóteo , Puttini Ricardo Staciarini
Published: May 2010

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are wireless networks whose mobile nodes exchange information without the help of a predefined network infrastructure. MANET services, such as auto-configuration and ad hoc routing, must be provided in a distributed and self-organizing manner, by collaboration between network nodes and requiring each participant to both provide its own resources and exploit others’ resources. As the nodes may, continually and at any time, appear, disappear or move around within the network, the structure of a MANET is constructed dynamically and the network topology is subject to frequent and unforeseeable changes. In this situation traditional security solutions are insufficient to exhaustively address all security requirements. The distinctive characteristics of ad hoc networks imply the need for distributed collaboration solutions that are based on some form of trust. In this chapter, the authors survey the modes of utilization of trust as means for providing, with network security mechanisms or as an alternative to them, the necessary services in MANETs.
Privacy and Trust Issues in Context-Aware Pervasive Computing
Authors: Abi-Char Pierre E. , El-Hassan Bachar , Mokhtari Mounir
Published: May 2010

The growing evolution of information and communication technology (ICT) systems towards more pervasive and ubiquitous infrastructures contribute significantly to the deployment of services anywhere, at anytime and for anyone. To provide personalized services in such infrastructures, we should consider both user’s privacy and security requirements and context-awareness environment. This can be really achieved owing to context awareness systems which allow us to benefit from sensing and mobile technologies to derive more accurate data about the user and his/her location. While the availability of contextual information may introduce new threats against security and privacy, it can also be used to improve dynamic, adaptive and autonomic aspects of security, and user privacy. Moreover, context-aware information offers new opportunities for the establishment of trust relationship among involved entities (e.g., users, devices, and platforms). As context awareness represents new challenges and new opportunities regarding privacy, trust and security of users in pervasive computing environments (PCE), the main purpose of this chapter aims to survey each of the involved issues to understand and address the interdependencies among them.
Efficient and Effective XML Encoding
Authors: Werner Christian , Buschmann Carsten , Brandt Ylva , Fischer Stefan
Published: May 2010

Compared to other middleware approaches like CORBA or Java RMI the protocol overhead of SOAP is very high. This fact is not only disadvantageous for several performance-critical applications, but especially in environments with limited network bandwidth or resource-constrained computing devices. Although recent research work concentrated on more compact, binary representations of XML data only very few approaches account for the special characteristics of SOAP communication. This chapter will discuss the most relevant state-of-the-art technologies for compressing XML data. Furthermore, it will present a novel solution for compacting SOAP messages. In order to achieve significantly better compression rates than current approaches, the compressor described in this chapter utilizes structure information from an XML Schema or WSDL document. With this additional knowledge on the “grammar” of the exchanged messages, this compressor generates a single custom pushdown automaton, which can be used as a highly efficient validating parser as well as a highly effective compressor. The main idea is to tag the transitions of the automaton with short binary identifiers that are then used to encode the path through the automaton during parsing. The authors’ approach leads to extremely compact data representations and is also usable in environments with very limited CPU and memory resources.
Peer-to-Peer Search Techniques for Service-Oriented Computing
Authors: Liu Lu , Russell Duncan , Xu Jie
Published: May 2010

Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks attract attentions worldwide with their great success in file sharing networks (e.g., Napster, Gnutella, BitTorrent, and Kazaa). In the last decade, numerous studies have been devoted to the problem of resource discovery in P2P networks. Recent research on structured and unstructured P2P systems provides a series of useful solutions to improve the scalability and performance of service discovery in large-scale service-based systems. In this chapter, the authors systematically review recent research studies on P2P search techniques and explore the potential roles and influence of P2P networking in dependable service-based military systems.
Making Scientific Applications on the Grid Reliable Through Flexibility Approaches Borrowed from Service Compositions
Authors: Karastoyanova Dimka , Leymann Frank
Published: May 2010

The current trend in Service Oriented Computing (SOC) is to enable support for new delivery models of software and applications. These endeavours impose requirements on the resources and services used, on the way applications are created and on the QoS characteristics of the applications and the supporting infrastructure. Scientific applications on the other hand require improved robustness and reliability of the supporting Grid infrastructures where resources appear and disappear constantly. Enabling business model like Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and guaranteeing reliability of Grid infrastructures are requirements that both business and scientific application nowadays impose. The convergence of existing approaches from SOC and Grid Computing is therefore an obvious need. In this work we give an overview of the state-of-the-art of the overlapping research done in the area of SOC and Grid computing with respect to meeting the requirements of the applications in these two areas. We show that the requirements of business applications that already exploit service-oriented architectures (SOA) and the scientific application utilizing Grid infrastructures overlap. Due to the limited extent of cooperation between the two research communities the research results are either overlapping or diverging in spite of the similarities in requirements. Notably, some of the techniques developed in each area are needed but still missing in the other area and vice versa. We argue therefore that in order to enable an enterprise-strength service-oriented infrastructure one needs to combine and leverage the existing Grid and Service middleware in terms of architectures and implementations. We call such an infrastructure the Business Grid. Based on the Business Grid vision we focus in this work on presenting how reliability and robustness of the Business Grid can be improved by employing approaches for flexibility of service compositions. An overview and assessment of these approaches are presented together with recommendations for use. Based on the assumption that Grid services are Web services, these approaches can be utilized to improve the reliability of the scientific applications thus drawing on the advantages flexible workflows provide. This way we improve the robustness of scientific applications by making them flexible and hence improve the features of business applications that employ Grid resources and Grid service compositions to realize the SaaS, IaaS etc. delivery models.
The Role of Learning Styles and Technology
Authors: Collins Royce Ann
Published: May 2010

Learning style research has informed effective classroom teaching strategies for decades. Technology has allowed faculty and students to move the learning environment from the four-walled classroom to a fluid global virtual space. Knowledge gained through the application of learning style research to the online instruction has enhanced practice; however, research demonstrating the alignment of learning styles with current technological resources has been limited. Learning styles and their interrelationship with technology and adult learners is as important today as initial learning style research was in the six decades after its beginnings in the 1940s. Education today must meet the needs of students who are more comfortable in electronic environments as well as those who need the four-walled classroom. The ability to use learning style research to accomplish both will lead to enhanced student learning and a more productive experience.
Prevalent Andragogical Instructional Preferences and Technologies
Authors: Maughan George R. , Mupinga Davison M.
Published: May 2010

As developed countries face skilled worker shortages and their workforce becomes more diverse, education and training of adults has taken center stage. Changing workforce demographics, global economies, and advances in technology commonly influence what, when, and how to teach adults. This chapter provides an overview of contemporary andragogical instructional techniques and seeks to describe examples of their application through electronic delivery. Due to the emerging body of literature on some adult instructional techniques, efforts will be made to discriminate between techniques solidly grounded in theory, and those which show promise.
Power Conservation Techniques in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Alsaify Baha , Shen Haiying
Published: May 2010

This chapter discusses power conservation problems in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). The problem arises from the fact that WSNs have limited energy since sensors are powered with small batteries (due to the sensor size constraints). Currently, some energy-efficiency methods focus on reducing energy consumption by designing sensor hardware. Other methods enable sensors to communicate with each other in an efficient manner by developing new communication protocols. Some communication protocols need to have extra information such as sensor locations for determining the best possible relays to deliver data to a Base Station. In this chapter we will first provide a survey on current power conservation methods. We will then discuss the efficiency and effectiveness of these methods, and propose possible solutions. Finally, we conclude the chapter with concluding remarks and open issues.
Middleware Support for Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Heimfarth Tales , Pignaton de Freitas Edison , Wagner Flávio Rech , Larsson Tony
Published: May 2010

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are gaining visibility due to several sophisticated applications in which they play a key role, such as in pervasive computing and context-aware systems. However, the evolution of WSN capabilities, especially regarding their ability to provide information, brings complexity to their development, in particular for those application developers that are not familiar with the technology underlying and needed to support WSNs. In order to address this issue and allow the use of the full potential of the sensor network capabilities, the use of a middleware that raises the abstraction level and hides much of the WSN complexity is a promising proposal. However, the development of a middleware for WSNs is not an easy task. Systems based on WSNs have several issues that make them quite different from conventional networked computer systems, thus requiring specific approaches that largely differ from the current solutions. The proposal of this chapter is to address the complexity of middleware made for sensor networks, presenting a taxonomy that characterizes the main issues in the field. An overview of the state-of-the-art is also provided, as well as a critical assessment of existing approaches.
Distributed Group Security for Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Hernández-Serrano Juan , Vera-del-Campo Juan , Pegueroles Josep , Soriano Miguel
Published: May 2010

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are made up of large groups of sensor nodes that usually perform distributed monitoring services. These services are often cooperative and interchange sensitive data, so communications within the group of sensor nodes must be secured. Group key management (GKM) protocols appeared, and were broadly studied, in order to ensure the privacy and authentication throughout the group life. However, GKM for WSNs is already challenging due to the exposed nature of wireless media, the constrained resources of sensor nodes, and the need of ad-hoc self-organization in many scenarios. In this chapter we present the basis of GKM and its state-of-the art for WSNs. We analyze the current non-resolved topics and we present a GKM proposal that solves some of these topics: it minimizes both the rekeying costs when the group membership changes and the routing cost within the group.
Visualizations of Wireless Sensor Network Data
Authors: dAuriol Brian J. , Lee Sungyoung , Lee Young-Koo
Published: May 2010

Wireless sensor networks can provide large amounts of data that, when combined with pre-processing and data analysis processes, can generate large amounts of data that may be difficult to present in visual forms. Often, understanding of the data and how it spatially and temporally changes as well as the patterns suggested by the data are of interest to human viewers. This chapter considers the issues involved in the visual presentations of such data and includes an analysis of data set sizes generated by wireless sensor networks and a survey of existing wireless sensor network visualization systems. A novel model is presented that can include not only the raw data but also derived data indicating certain patterns that the raw data may indicate. The model is informally presented and a simulation-based example illustrates its use and potential.
In Favor of a Model of Didactic Ergonomics
Authors: Bertin Jean-Claude , Gravé Patrick
Published: May 2010

This first chapter will introduce the didactic ergonomics approach and present the related computer-mediated language learning model. We will first consider how to tackle the problem of describing reality in all its complexity, as originally developed by Edgar Morin (1990). The initial review of theories will contribute to a better understanding of the nature of complexity and will eventually lead us to advocate a multi-referenced approach to learning. We will then proceed to define the concept of didactic ergonomics (Bertin 2000, 2001). We will show how the original didactic ergonomics model we suggest is articulated with current CALL research and how it can help bridge the gap between theoretical description and actual practice in the field.
Changing Contours of Indian Investment Abroad
Authors: Singh Lakhwinder , Jain Varinder
Published: May 2010

Emerging growth dynamism of Indian economy in rapidly globalising world is highly recognised and commented by a large body of researchers during the recent period. In fact, the Indian planning has made long concerted effort to develop strategic and competitive capabilities in the agents of production. During the recent periods, these capabilities have started paying. Such trends became more lucid with the strengthening of Indian capital especially abroad as the Indian capital has initiated collaborations and mergers with the global players. This chapter provides insights into such achievement of the Indian economy. Besides providing a review of theory and practice of emerging multinationals from developing countries, this chapter examines India’s outward foreign direct investment in an evolutionary perspective. In its endeavor the study, besides tracing the emerging pattern of India’s outward foreign direct investment, hints at the facilitating role of state policy to encourage the outflow of foreign direct investment.
Governance-Based Regional Development and E-Government
Authors: Sobaci Mehmet Zahid , Parlak Bekir
Published: May 2010

The notion of new regional development is built on the model of governance in Turkey. E-government has some serious potential of contributing to the implementation of this new notion of regional development. In this context, the aim of this chapter is to discuss the current state of the concept of regional development in Turkey and to analyze the contributions of e-government to the notion and applications of new regional development. Within this framework, initially, paradigmatic shift in regional development is analyzed. And then, the role and effect of e-government is explicated within the triangular relationship between development, good governance and e-government in socio-economic development. Subsequently, the notion of regional development in Turkey and its application is introduced from a historical perspective and the very recently adopted notion of new regional development is explained. Finally, the potential contributions of the e-government applications to this new notion of regional development in Turkey are analyzed.
Identification of Nonlinear Systems Using a New Neuro-Fuzzy Dynamical System Definition Based on High Order Neural Network Function Approximators
Authors: Boutalis Yiannis S. , Christodoulou M. A. , Theodoridis Dimitris C.
Published: May 2010

A new definition of adaptive dynamic fuzzy systems (ADFS) is presented in this chapter for the identification of unknown nonlinear dynamical systems. The proposed scheme uses the concept of adaptive fuzzy systems operating in conjunction with high order neural networks (HONN’s). Since the plant is considered unknown, we first propose its approximation by a special form of an adaptive fuzzy system and in the sequel the fuzzy rules are approximated by appropriate HONN’s. Thus the identification scheme leads up to a recurrent high order neural network, which however takes into account the fuzzy output partitions of the initial ADFS. Weight updating laws for the involved HONN’s are provided, which guarantee that the identification error reaches zero exponentially fast. Simulations illustrate the potency of the method and comparisons on well known benchmarks are given.
Back-Stepping Control of Quadrotor
Authors: Das Abhijit , Lewis Frank L. , Subbarao Kamesh
Published: May 2010

The dynamics of a quadrotor is a simplified form of helicopter dynamics that exhibit the same basic problems of strong coupling, multi-input/multi-output design, and unknown nonlinearities. The Lagrangian model of a typical quadrotor that involves four inputs and six outputs results in an underactuated system. There are several design techniques are available for nonlinear control of mechanical underactuated system. One of the most popular among them is backstepping. Backstepping is a well known recursive procedure where underactuation characteristic of the system is resolved by defining ‘desired’ virtual control and virtual state variables. Virtual control variables is determined in each recursive step assuming the corresponding subsystem is Lyapunov stable and virtual states are typically the errors of actual and desired virtual control variables. The application of the backstepping even more interesting when a virtual control law is applied to a Lagrangian subsystem. The necessary information to select virtual control and state variables for these systems can be obtained through model identification methods. One of these methods includes Neural Network approximation to identify the unknown parameters of the system. The unknown parameters may include uncertain aerodynamic force and moment coefficients or unmodeled dynamics. These aerodynamic coefficients generally are the functions of higher order state polynomials. In this chapter we will discuss how we can implement linear in parameter first order neural network approximation methods to identify these unknown higher order state polynomials in every recursive step of the backstepping. Thus the first order neural network eventually estimates the higher order state polynomials which is in fact a higher order like neural net (HOLNN). Moreover, when these NN placed into a control loop, they become dynamic NN whose weights are tuned only. Due to the inherent characteristics of the quadrotor, the Lagrangian form for the position dynamics is bilinear in the controls, which is confronted using a bilinear inverse kinematics solution. The result is a controller of intuitively appealing structure having an outer kinematics loop for position control and an inner dynamics loop for attitude control. The stability of the control law is guaranteed by a Lyapunov proof. The control approach described in this chapter is robust since it explicitly deals with unmodeled state dependent disturbances without needing any prior knowledge of the same. A simulation study validates the results such as decoupling, tracking etc obtained in the paper.
Interactive Whiteboards
Authors: Miller Dave , Glover Derek
Published: May 2010

This chapter reviews the literature that has charted the progress of the use of interactive whiteboards within schools, predominantly within the UK. It is concerned, firstly, with the way in which change is introduced, managed and supported. The literature has also shown the progress from presentation and motivation issues to a consideration of the pedagogic possibilities of the integration of the interactive whiteboard in teaching situations. This involves an understanding of interactivity in educational contexts. This chapter also investigates the value for money issues implicit in the use of technology in pedagogic change and considers discussions related to technology and educational effectiveness.