bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Technical and Legal Concerns about Global Card Payments
Authors: Barrio Fernando
Published: May 2011

Well into the first decade of the twenty-first century, it is fair to say that card payments are the cyberspace payment method by definition and, therefore, in order not to deter the development of commercial transactions carried out by electronic means, they should be accepted globally in the same or similar manner, which also means that the technology and rules applicable to them should be the same or closely harmonized. However, as this chapter tries to explain, while there are some characteristics that have made cards’ acceptance truly global in scope, there have been historical, economic and regulatory forces that resulted in different jurisdictions favoring the use of different technologies and different legal architectures for the deployment and control of cards as a means of payment, which may both obstruct the possibility of extending the benefits derived from the use of card payments and avoid the extension of the negative features associated with their utilization.
Doing International Business Online for the Small and Medium Enterprise
Authors: Edwards Sam
Published: May 2011

This chapter is designed to address the primary difficulties small and medium enterprises face when doing business online with international partners. The guidance provided in this chapter is primarily for at owners of small and medium enterprises rather than legal professionals. The two main problems inhibiting online transactions are a lack of trust between the parties and the risk inherent in the transaction. This chapter analyzes ways to address these problems. Many of the practical suggestions in this chapter are inspired not by million dollar deals but by playground transactions between children. Often the simple solutions are the best ones.
E-Commerce and Dispute Resolution
Authors: Takasugi Naoshi
Published: May 2011

When a dispute arises from e-commerce involving parties located in different nations, the parties immediately face conflict-of-laws issues such as judicial jurisdiction, applicable law and extra-territorial effects of judgments. Taking into consideration that there is no unified conflicts law rules in the global level and, if any, the conflicts rules are usually based on the traditional international transactions, this paper tries to discuss the dispute resolution systems suitable for e-commerce, especially for computer information transactions. As the result of the discussion, it becomes clear that further enhancement of worldwide dispute resolution system suitable for e-commerce is desirable. In establishing a new system, the 1999 Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic Commerce approved by OECD gives us much inspiration. It is essential to balance between small-middle sized business entities and consumers and between freedom and regulation.
Pure Play vs. Bricks-and-Clicks
Authors: Zhuang Youlong , Lederer Albert
Published: May 2011

Pure Play and Bricks-and-Clicks represent today’s two major retailing models. The current study answers four questions comparing the two models in terms of the e-commerce benefits achieved and information systems management practices used to achieve them. It applies a Web-based survey to compare 69 Pure Plays to 348 Bricks-and-Clicks retailers in terms of the Market Expansion, Customer Service, Back-end Efficiency, Inventory Management, and Cost Reduction benefits reaped as well as in terms of the benchmarking, process redesign, and planning practices used. It found Market Expansion as the top benefit for both types of retailers. Pure Plays exceed Bricks-and-Clicks at achieving Back-end Efficiency, Inventory Management, and Cost Reduction benefits. Pure Play retailers apply benchmarking to reap their benefits while Bricks-and-Clicks retailers use process redesign and planning to reap theirs. Pure Play retailers are better able to utilize benchmarking to realize Market Expansion and Customer Service benefits. On the other hand, Bricks-and-Clicks retailers are better able to utilize process redesign to realize Inventory Management and Cost Reduction benefits. The findings suggest potential directions for future research as well as electronic retail practice.
China and India
Authors: Raven Peter , Huang Xiaoqing , Kim Ben
Published: May 2011

The Internet has changed the way many companies do business, but has also tended to increase the disparity between firms in developed countries and those in developing countries. As the digital divide seems to grow, the question becomes how will developing countries catch up? We examine two large developing countries, China and India, in an attempt to understand their approaches to developing e-business. While both countries had access to the technology at about the same time, each has taken a different path to utilizing it. These approaches are based on a number of factors, including government initiatives and focus, infrastructure building, experience and understanding of business operations, and culture, among others. China appears to be ahead of India in the mechanics and infrastructure, but India is ahead in e-readiness. Both countries are poised for rapidly increasing e-business, however, they have huge problems of poverty and inequality between urban and rural connectivity that must be resolved to take advantage of e-business.
The Role of Trust in Businessto- Business E-Commerce Collaboration in a Unique Environment in Australia
Authors: Pollard Carol , Diggles Amanda
Published: May 2011

This research explores interorganisational collaboration in business-to-business e-commerce, and the factors that influence its development in a unique Australian environment. Using a qualitative case study approach, seven informants from four Tasmanian organisations were interviewed. The data confirmed trust was an important prerequisite for the establishment and development of both electronic and traditional interorganisational relationships. Collaborative relations such as communication and repeated interactions facilitated the development of trading-partner trust. Interestingly, trading-partner size did not influence trading partner trust, although “volume of business conducted” between trading partners was an influencing factor. Other factors included trading-partner reputation and length of preexisting relationship. Perceived benefits of trading partner trust included general business efficiencies, business growth, faster payment, increased information sharing and confidence, improved business relations, delivery, and reliability. The results enhance organisational awareness of similarities and differences between traditional and electronic business-to-business trading relationships, and contribute to the growing body of knowledge on interorganisational trust and business-to-business e-commerce. The influence of the unique Tasmanian environment was acknowledged and discussed as a mediating variable in considering the findings.
Incorporating Web services Into E-business Systems
Authors: Bose Ranjit , Sugumaran Vijayan
Published: May 2011

There are a multitude of benefits and challenges that can be derived from the convergence of two major current technologies: (a) Web services (WS) – technology that allows application development and integration using the service-oriented computing paradigm; and (b) E-business systems – using the Internet as the basis for interacting with customers, suppliers, and other business partners. This combination, called WS-based e-business systems promises to provide a dynamic e-business environment. We investigate the existing deployment barriers for such an environment from the perspectives of the three WS stakeholders, namely the service providers, service consumers and the WS Standards Organizations; and present a challenges framework that organizes and interrelate these barriers in an easily understandable manner to help study further the factors that impact the deployment and use of WS within e-business. Using this framework we analyze WS incorporation challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) since they are a vital engine driving the world economy, and are realizing significant benefits from adoption and implementation of Internet-based business solutions. WS-based e-business system applications promise to do even more for them.
Peer-to-Peer Systems
Authors: Kangasharju Jussi
Published: May 2011

Peer-to-peer systems have become extremely popular on the Internet in recent years. However, peerto- peer systems are not limited to Internet applications, but are also of significant interest to ubiquitous computing. This is because both peer-to-peer systems and ubiquitous computing are based on collaboration between independent, autonomous entities. Peer-to-peer systems are built around resource sharing and in this chapter, we will look at the different aspects of this resource sharing, from the types of resources to be shared to how the peers are connected to each other and on to how the resources can be located in these different kinds of networks. This chapter is organized as follows. First we provide a definition of what peer-to-peer is and discuss its relevance to ubiquitous computing in more detail. The section “Current Systems” gives an overview of currently deployed and used peer-to-peer systems. Then, we will present a classification of peer-to-peer systems according to how resources are located. In the section “Resource Location in Peer-to-Peer Networks” we will present algorithms for locating resources in peer-to-peer networks. Finally, the chapter discusses the future of peer-to-peer systems.
Access Authentication
Authors: Mogollon Manuel
Published: May 2011

Unless a corporation can reliably authenticate its network users, it is not possible to keep unauthorized users out of its networks. Authentication is essential for two parties to be able to trust in each other’s identities. Authentication is based on something you know (a password), on something you have (a token card, a digital certificate), or something that is part of you (fingerprints, voiceprint). A strong authentication requires at least two of these factors. The following mechanisms of authentication are described in this chapter: (1) IEEE 802.1X Access Control Protocol; (2) Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) and EAP methods; (3) traditional passwords; (4) Remote Authentication Dial-in Service (RADIUS); (5) Kerberos authentication service; and (6) X.509 authentication.
Online Participatory Decision Support Tools for Knowledge-Based Urban Development
Authors: Yigitcanlar Tan , Saygin Omur , Han Jung Hoon
Published: May 2011

Particularly in the last decade, there have been a number of efforts to develop and then integrate planning support systems into existing geographic information systems. This integration brought a new technology called WebGIS, which enables geographic information systems functionalities through the Internet for decision support. No doubt there is a growing demand as more and more individuals want to use online government services to express their views and most importantly to take part in decisionmaking processes interactively. At this point, WebGIS offers a challenging opportunity for online participatory planning since the public could easily access alternative plans and the existing information in geographic information systems databases. This technology enables individuals to be able to take part in plan-making processes and contribute. This chapter explores how these new technological advances could achieve truly transparent plan-making process based on online participatory planning support tools that knowledge-based urban development could benefit from.
Spatial Distribution of ICT in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Region
Authors: Maeng Da-Mi , Nedovic-Budic Zorica
Published: May 2011

Information and communication technologies, and the Internet as one of their most prominent uses, are adopted on a massive scale around the globe. Although we do not know much about their pattern and impact, these technologies exert substantial influence on our daily lives and environments. The main objective of this chapter is to empirically explore the spatial distribution of ICT infrastructure and activities and local planning responses to ICT in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. The existence of an ICT cluster suggests the spatial unevenness of ICT infrastructure and activities in the study region, and reveals the tendency of ICT to concentrate within certain urban areas. The findings will provide valuable insights for planners to capture the opportunities offered by ICT and manage the impact of ICT -related developments.
DS/AHP
Authors: Beynon Malcolm J.
Published: May 2011

DS/AHP was introduced in Beynon, Curry, and Morgan (2000) and Beynon (2002a), and is a nascent method of multi-criteria decision support. Following a hierarchical decision structure, similar to the analytic hierarchy process— AHP (Saaty, 1980), the identification of groups of alternatives (DAs) against the whole set of alternatives considered, over a number of different criteria, is operationalised using Dempster-Shafer theory—DST (Dempster, 1968; Shafer, 1976). As such, the utilisation of DS/AHP means the decision making is embedded with the realisation of the presence of ignorance and non-specificity in the decision judgements made (see Beynon, 2005). Studies have acknowledged that the making of decisions is often difficult because of uncertainty and conflict in the judgement making process (Shafir, Simonson, & Tversky, 1993). Nutt (1998) references that a key incumbent in decision making is complexity, which prompts difficult decisions as well as manifesting how daunting a decision may appear. The notion of ignorance prevalent within DS/AHP, from DST, has been described as a general term for incompleteness, imprecision, and uncertainty (Smets, 1991), also relating to the subjective imperfection of a decision maker (Motro & Smets, 1997).
DSS and Multiple Perspectives of Complex Problems
Authors: Paradice David , Davis Robert A.
Published: May 2011

Decision support systems have always had a goal of supporting decision-makers. Over time, DSS have taken many forms, or many forms of computer-based support have been considered in the context of DSS, depending on one’s particular perspective. Regardless, there have been decision support systems (DSS), expert systems, executive information systems, group DSS (GDSS), group support systems (GSS), collaborative systems (or computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW) environments), knowledge-based systems, and inquiring systems, all of which are described elsewhere in this encyclopedia. The progression of decision support system types that have emerged follows to some degree the increasing complexity of the problems being addressed. Some of the early DSS involved single decision-makers utilizing spreadsheet models to solve problems. Such an approach would be inadequate in addressing complex problems because one aspect of problem complexity is that multiple stakeholders typically exist. Baldwin (1993) examined the need for supporting multiple views and provides the only attempt found in the information systems literature to operationalize the concept of a perspective. In his work, a view is defined as a set of beliefs that partially describe a general subject of discourse. He identified three major components of a view: the belief or notion to convey, a language to represent the notion, and a subject of discourse. He further described notions as comprising aspects and a vantage point. Aspects are the characteristics or attributes of a subject or situation that a particular notion emphasizes. A vantage point is described by the level of detail (i.e., overview or detailed analysis). Assuming the subject of discourse can be identified with the notion, Baldwin described how differences in views may occur via differences in the notion, the language, or both.
Goal Programming and Its Variants
Authors: Wang John , Wang Dajin , Li Aihua
Published: May 2011

Within the realm of multicriteria decision making (MCDM) exists a powerful method for solving problems with multiple objectives. Goal programming (GP) was the first multiple-objective technique presented in the literature (Dowlatshahi, 2001). The premise of GP traces its origin back to a linear programming study on executive compensation in 1955 by Charnes, Cooper, and Ferguson even though the specific name did not appear in publications until the 1961 textbook entitled Management Models and Industrial Applications of Linear Programming, also by Charnes and Cooper (Schniederjans, 1995). Initial applications of this new type of modeling technique demonstrated its potential for a variety of applications in numerous different areas. Until the middle of the 1970s, GP applications reported in the literature were few and far between. Since that time, primarily due to influential works by Lee and Ignizio, a noticeable increase of published GP applications and technical improvements has been recognized. The number of case studies, along with the range of fields, to which GP has been and still is being applied is impressive, as shown in surveys by Romero (1991) and Aouni and Kettani (2001). It can be said that GP has been, and still is, the “most widely used multi-criteria decision making technique” (Tamiz, Jones, & Romero, 1998, p. 570).
Integration of Diagrammatic Business Modeling Tools
Authors: Neiger Dina , Churilov Leonid
Published: May 2011

Historically, diagrammatic representations of processes have been widely used to effectively communicate complex and interrelated ideas and concepts (Albarn & Smith, 1977; Elder, 1992). Business processes are no exception. As businesses (and consequently business processes) became more complex, the diagram, with its ability to combine “verbal, numerical and visual functions with analytic and associative processes of thought” (Albarn & Smith), became an essential tool in the array of instruments used by business analysts and modelers (Clemen & Reilly, 2001; Davis, 2001; Elder; Howard & Matheson, 1989; Keller & Teufel, 1998; Kirkwood, 1998/2001; Klaus, Rosemann, & Gable, 2000; Kros, 2001; Nuttgens, Field, & Zimmerman, 1998; Scheer, 1999, 2000). In this article, we review a unified approach to the use of diagrams for business process and decision modeling in the context of decision support. Modeling features that can be regarded as relative weaknesses for one class of diagrams (e.g., decision modeling diagrams) are, in fact, the strong points for the other suggested class (e.g., process modeling diagrams). It is therefore natural to expect that a suitable combination of process and decision modeling approaches would increase the power of the resulting diagram as an effective tool for business analysis and modeling.
Metaheuristics
Authors: Scheuerer Stephan
Published: May 2011

Decision support systems (DSSs) provide modern solution techniques that help the decision maker to find the best solution to a problem. These embedded solution techniques include and combine, but are not limited to, simulation, exact optimization methods, and heuristics. Especially in the field of heuristics, recent advances in metaheuristic methods have proved to be remarkably effective so that metaheuristics are nowadays the preferred way for solving many types of complex problems, particularly those of combinatorial nature. Some of these problems are, for example, the well-known “traveling salesman” problem, the generalized assignment problem, the set-covering problem, and vehicle and network routing applications. Most of all, metaheuristics allow us to solve real-world problems with a notably high level of complexity. This is where exact methods are often incapable of finding solutions whose qualities are close to that obtained by the leading metaheuristics. Metaheuristic applications with world-class performance can be found in all kinds of areas such as economics, engineering, and natural sciences.
A Method for Systematic Artifact Selection Decision Making
Authors: Lumsden Joanna
Published: May 2011

Artifact selection decisions typically involve the selection of one from a number of possible/candidate options (decision alternatives). In order to support such decisions, it is important to identify and recognize relevant key issues of problem solving and decision making (Albers, 1996; Harris, 1998a, 1998b; Jacobs & Holten, 1995; Loch & Conger, 1996; Rumble, 1991; Sauter, 1999; Simon, 1986). Sauter classifies four problem solving/decision making styles: (1) left-brain style, (2) right-brain style, (3) accommodating, and (4) integrated (Sauter, 1999). The left-brain style employs analytical and quantitative techniques and relies on rational and logical reasoning. In an effort to achieve predictability and minimize uncertainty, problems are explicitly defined, solution methods are determined, orderly information searches are conducted, and analysis is increasingly refined. Left-brain style decision making works best when it is possible to predict/control, measure, and quantify all relevant variables, and when information is complete. In direct contrast, right-brain style decision making is based on intuitive techniques—it places more emphasis on feelings than facts. Accommodating decision makers use their non-dominant style when they realize that it will work best in a given situation. Lastly, integrated style decision makers are able to combine the left- and right-brain styles—they use analytical processes to filter information and intuition to contend with uncertainty and complexity.
PROMETHEE
Authors: Beynon Malcolm J.
Published: May 2011

PROMETHEE (preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation) introduced in Brans, Mareschal, and Vincke (1984) and Brans, Vincke, and Mareschal (1986), is a multi-criteria decision support tool for the ranking of alternatives based on their values over different criteria. As an outranking method, it quantifies a ranking through the pairwise preference comparison (differences) between the criterion values describing the alternatives. The main initial goal of PROMETHEE was to offer a means of multi-criteria decision support characterised by simplicity and clearness to the decision maker (Brans et al., 1986). PROMETHEE is also considered to have a transparent computational procedure (Georgopoulou, Sarafidis, & Diakoulaki, 1998). These characteristics of PROMETHEE have made it a versatile methodology in many areas of study, including in particular energy management (Pohekar & Ramachandran, 2004; Simon, Brüggemann, & Pudenz, 2004), but also more diverse areas such as decision making in stock trading (Albadvi, Chaharsooghi, & Esfahanipour, 2006) and authentication of food products (Zhang, Ni, Churchill, & Kokot, 2006). Developments on the original PROMETHEE include: an interval version (Le Téno & Mareschal, 1998), a fuzzy version (Radojevic & Petrovic, 1997), and a stochastic version (Marinoni, 2005), as well as its utilisation to elucidate rank uncertainty (Hyde, Maier, & Colby, 2003). These developments have been undertaken to take into account the possible imprecision and distribution of the concomitant criteria values considered. The graphical bi-plot representation called GAIA (geometrical analysis for interactive aid), based on a special type of principal component analysis, was developed to identify the principal criteria that contribute to the rank order of the alternatives when using PROMETHEE (Keller, Massart, & Brans, 1991). Recently, the use of constellation plots has also enabled a visual representation of the preference contribution of the criteria (Beynon, 2008). Concerns and consequences on the use of PROMETHEE were succinctly outlined in De Keyser and Peeters (1996), including how the importance weights of criteria should be interpreted and the effect of adding or deleting an alternative from consideration. A small example data set of alternatives is considered here to illustrate the operational rudiments of PROMETHEE. The acknowledgement of uncertainty in an identified ranking, when employing PROMETHEE, is also demonstrated, using the approach of Hyde et al. (2003) and Hyde and Maier (2006).
Situational Synchronicity for Decision Support
Authors: DeLuca Dorrie , Valacich Joseph S.
Published: May 2011

As cost constraints and expanding geographic and temporal boundaries move organizations toward virtual team work for increasingly complex tasks, research focused on understanding how to best support virtual teams is warranted. Virtual teams consist of people that use electronic communications media for all or most of their communication regarding a common task. Virtual teams allow “organizing work teams by electronic workflow, not physical location” (Dutton, 1999). Since its introduction, Media Richness Theory (MRT) (Daft & Lengel, 1986) has been broadly applied to predict effects of various media and task combinations. The premise of MRT is that the information needs for performing a task should be matched with the medium’s richness or “capacity to facilitate shared meaning” (Daft, Lengel, & Trevino, 1987). The richest media is considered to be face-to-face (FTF), with failure reported for complex tasks using any leaner media (Lengel & Daft, 1988). Despite its wide use, this theory has only mixed support. For virtual teams performing complex tasks, the dire predictions of MRT have been eclipsed with success (Davidson, 2000; DeLuca, Gasson, & Kock, 2006; Kruempel, 2000; Kock & DeLuca, 2006; Majchrzak, Rice, Malhotra, King, & Ba, 2000; Maznevski & Chudoba, 2000; Miranda & Saunders, 2003; Ocker, Fjermestad, Hiltz, Turoff, & Johnson, 1998; Robey, Khoo, & Powers, 2000). This success requires a new explanation (Lee, 1994), one that considers “how” the communication occurs. Consequently, researchers have looked for an alternative theoretical lens to provide theory for the management and use of information and communication technologies (Zmud, 1995) that explains the interplay of teams and communication media, particularly when attempting to solve business problems with little or no face-to-face communication (Weber, 2002).
Web-Based Public Participatory GIS
Authors: Yigitcanlar Tan , Gudes Ori
Published: May 2011

Decision support systems (DSS) have evolved rapidly during the last decade from stand alone or limited networked solutions to online participatory solutions. One of the major enablers of this change is the fastest growing areas of geographical information system (GIS) technology development that relates to the use of the Internet as a means to access, display, and analyze geospatial data remotely. World-wide many federal, state, and particularly local governments are designing to facilitate data sharing using interactive Internet map servers. This new generation DSS or planning support systems (PSS), interactive Internet map server, is the solution for delivering dynamic maps and GIS data and services via the world-wide Web, and providing public participatory GIS (PPGIS) opportunities to a wider community (Carver, 2001; Jankowski & Nyerges, 2001). It provides a highly scalable framework for GIS Web publishing, Web-based public participatory GIS (WPPGIS), which meets the needs of corporate intranets and demands of worldwide Internet access (Craig, 2002). The establishment of WPPGIS provides spatial data access through a support centre or a GIS portal to facilitate efficient access to and sharing of related geospatial data (Yigitcanlar, Baum, & Stimson, 2003). As more and more public and private entities adopt WPPGIS technology, the importance and complexity of facilitating geospatial data sharing is growing rapidly (Carver, 2003). Therefore, this article focuses on the online public participation dimension of the GIS technology. The article provides an overview of recent literature on GIS and WPPGIS, and includes a discussion on the potential use of these technologies in providing a democratic platform for the public in decision-making.
Adaptation of Cognitive Walkthrough in Response to the Mobile Challenge
Authors: Fang Fang Chua
Published: May 2011

out by the evaluators to consider the behavior of the mobile interface, its impact on the user, and judge whether the user would be able to perform the tasks which features mobility. Although the CWT is suitable to be conducted during the early stage of the mobile device development because they can be performed using a system specification as a basis, the context factor that reflects the mobile challenge should take into the consideration at this stage and CWT should make adaptation in respond to this issues. This is due to that the evaluators will use the device in different ways depending on the situation such that the CWT might work fine in the controlled context environment without side influences or other context challenges factors, but it might not goes the same with the situation where the CWT is being conducted on the run or in the field. All the context consideration will have an impact for the usability solution and content suitability.
Ambient Intelligence
Authors: Sorrentino Fortunato
Published: May 2011

“Ambient intelligence” (AmI) refers to both a theoretical and a practical orientation of technology, involving the most innovative areas of the ICT sector. Recognized as a powerful trend, Ambient Intelligence has an increasing impact in several domains of our contemporary society, the so-called “knowledge society”. Let us look at the two words “ambient” and “intelligence”. Today we often use the attribute intelligent or smart referring to artifacts that show “a behavior”, have “a memory”, appear to take nontrivial “initiatives”. Take, for instance, a smartphone, which is able, when there is an incoming call, to put up on the screen the image of our correspondent. The “intelligence” in the words “Ambient Intelligence” precisely refers to those special embedded capabilities of certain things around us, capabilities that we are not aware of until they come into action. The word ambient, means “existing in the surrounding space” and signals that there is a particular diffused property of such a space. It has an essential charateristic, which is neither explicit nor obtrusive, but widely exploited by our Knowledge Society: the capability to transmit information without the need of wires (wireless communications). Like its underlying technologies, Ambient Intelligence is an expanding, evolving concept, projected far into the future.
Applying Constructivist Self-Regulating Learning Approach for ICT Students
Authors: Wong Yuk Kuen , Kerr Donald Vance
Published: May 2011

Universities face the challenge to ensure that quality teaching meets the needs of the students and satisfies their learning requirements (Beller & Ehud, 1998). Day (1999) suggests that teachers should instill the concept of lifelong learning into their students and the best way to do this is to have commitment to and enthusiasm for this concept themselves. To this end, it is important to understand students learning process and outcomes. In this article the constructivist self-regulating learning approach is recommended by the authors for higher education—especially for post-graduate students because it is a more realistic reflection of how work and research is done in the real world. On the other hand, the students’ learning style and problem solving process are important to their learning outcomes. This research aims to understand the relationships between constructivist self-regulating learning approach to problem solving and student learning outcomes. The overall objective of this research is to investigate the constructivist self-regulating learning approach in relation to student learning outcomes. In particular, we would like to address the following research question: What are the impacts of the constructivist self-regulating learning approach to learning outcome(s)? In this article, we use the interview method to examine the approach for advanced level ICT students in an Australian public university. The first section covers the literature and theories associated with the topic. The second section discusses the methodology for conducting the research. The third section describes findings and results. The article concludes with discussions, implications and recommendations.
Classics Teaching Through ICT Experience to ICT Manual for Classics Teachers
Authors: Perra Annarella
Published: May 2011

Some European Classics Teachers, moved by the same passion for Classics and together for Information and Communication Technology so that from long ago used it on teaching Classic subjects in secondary high schools, decided to assemble their own long experience in this field to disseminate Information and Communication Technology for Classics world in Europe and their particular aim has been to demonstrate the importance to insert it in classrooms work about Latin, Ancient Greek & Classic Civilizations. So in 2003 was born CIRCE Project (www.circe.eu): Classics and ICT Resource Course for Europe (of which CIRCE is the acronym); it is the result of 6 European countries partners (Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and United Kingdom) that met and agreed to create, through three years’ work, from 2003 to 2006, 2 important products: (a) A multilingual Website (www.circe.eu) (b) A manual, translated and printed in different European languages.
From Distance Education to E-Learning as Integrated Training
Authors: Lastrucci Emilio , Infante Debora , Pascale Angela
Published: May 2011

In the last few years, the methods for the delivery of professional and educational training have radically changed. More knowledge and information are required from people in order to achieve an active role in their social and professional life. At the same time, the period of validity of new information and the currency of competencies quickly decrease. As a consequence, continuing education is perceived as necessary, even if the traditional methods of delivery are sometimes limited by the distance between the learner and the training centers. For this reason many continuing education programs make use of distance learning techniques that make the adoption of distance education programs more popular.
Education and E-Learning Evaluation and Assessment
Authors: Lastrucci Emilio , Infante Debora , Pascale Angela
Published: May 2011

The assessment of e-learning shares most of the needs and requirements of face-to-face teaching, including clarity of the main objective, needs analysis, comprehensibility of objectives, definition of resources, and balance report (Calvani & Rotta, 2000). However, in e-learning environments the qualities of both monitoring and formative assessment have prominence, and can even determine the success of the course (Moore & Kearsley, 1996). In the learner-centered approach, typical in e-learning, the student is the protagonist of the teaching-learning process and thus, assessment is considered from a new perspective. It can be defined as the systematic process of correction, revision, collection, and use of information regarding both the students and the course in order to favor the progress and the learning of each student (Palomba & Banta, 1999). Assessment and evaluation are two different concepts even though they are interconnected: the former determines the student’s knowledge, skills and attitudes while the latter is necessary to express an opinion on learning results and on the quality of teaching.
E-Learning is What Kind of Learning?
Authors: Santoianni Flavia
Published: May 2011

The knowledge society has reinterpreted the concept of knowledge, shifting from the idea of philosophical argument to an epistemological meaning linked to educational actions. Knowledge is now diffuse, not centralized, and more accessible than ever before, and learning approaches involve visual processes and nontraditional languages. This has led to a radical change in the way knowledge is transferred, away from intentional transgenerational transmission and toward self-directed learning, simplified by multimedia and technological resources. According to current learning theories, knowledge construction may be defined as a mediative process between adaptive learning dynamics at both the individual and collective level. Research on knowledge construction has combined social contextualisation and constructivism to achieve a sociocultural view of the distributed mind. At the same time, cultural embeddedness and domain-specific situativity are interconnected with mind embodiment and the view of the environment as a holistic and synergic organism. From an educational point of view improving guidance in a diffuse knowledge society is definitely a very difficult task, notwithstanding the fact that knowledge may seem relatively easy to approach. Diffuse knowledge can be highly specialised, and may require the ability to transfer and generalise learning in order to link the various aspects that are examined. At the same time, knowledge must be contextualized if we want to identify motivational implications and, more importantly, show its actual usability at experiential level.
From E-Learning to T-Learning
Authors: Cuccu Roberto
Published: May 2011

The introduction of interactive television offers new potentialities to the television medium with the possibility of including e-commerce, programs on demand, games, and, last but not least, educational programs. Digital television will allow forms of lifelong learning to disadvantaged sectors of the population, namely those potential learners that have no possibility to improve their own knowledge caused by problems such as lack of free time due to working hours, family care, and so forth. Much of the interactive potentiality of this new medium will depend on the possibility of having a back-channel, connecting television to the Internet. A back-channel would allow the user to store choices, preferences, progress in learning units, and so forth, in the memory. In other words, there is the possibility of customizing the programs offered and the interface according to user preferences. The potentialities of this new medium are numerous, and it is necessary to explore, experiment with, and facilitate the new methods of available interaction. Every great technological change has also meant a change in perspective and mindset. What generally happens in the early stages of the utilization of new technological solutions is that the new tools available continue to be used while adopting an outdated mentality. It is necessary to propose a pedagogical model for the learning programs offered by new technology.
An Integrative Approach to User Interface Design
Authors: Kljajevic Vanja
Published: May 2011

As we are witnessing an increase in multifunctionality of interactive devices, two problems are taking shape in user interface (UI) design: first, the problem of complexity, and second, the problem of fragmentation (Kljajevic, in press). The former is reflected in the fact that multipurpose interactive devices usually have interfaces that do not allow easy access to new functions and features, rendering the increased functionality useless. The second problem is related to the fragmentation in the current research paradigms and testing trends that inform UI design. These paradigms and trends stem mostly from psychological theories that focus on only some specific aspects of user-interface interaction. While it is important to investigate such topics in detail, it is even more important to look at the totality of the interaction and determine the principles that operate in it. An integrative approach to UI design has the potential to solve both problems. Such an approach has two components: a top-down and a bottomup component. Its top-down component deals with a small set of basic cognitive principles that operate in interactive reality and therefore need to be recognized at the level of UI design. The principles are built into a cognitive architecture—a wide theoretical framework that corresponds to the human cognitive system—whose constraints prevent proliferation of implausible theories, which solves the fragmentation problem.
The Relationship Between Assessment and Evaluation in CSCL
Authors: Alvino Serena , Persico Donatella
Published: May 2011

In the educational field, evaluation is a very complex activity due to the intrinsically multidimensional nature of the processes to be evaluated. Several variables must be taken into consideration, and they interact and influence one another: the object and the goal of the evaluation determines the criteria, the methods, and the data to be used for the evaluation. In this chapter, we will focus on evaluation in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). In this field, a primary role is played by the monitoring process, which allows us to gather important information about the learning process while it takes place. Indeed, monitoring serves three purposes: it provides real-time data about group dynamics so that they can be used by tutors to facilitate learning and stimulate collaboration among trainees; it provides designers and evaluators with data about learning system usage that are needed to evaluate its effectiveness; finally, it supplies information about the learning process and its outcomes, thereby informing assessment. Hence, monitoring can be seen as a sort of common denominator between the methods used to foster collaborative learning and those that allow the gathering of data for the two types of evaluation.
Towards a Framework for Evaluating ICT-Based Materials
Authors: Pillay Hitendra , Clarke John A.
Published: May 2011

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) present interesting challenges for educators and ICT designers, not the least of which is the evaluation of learning. Syverson and Slatin (1995) argue that software and hardware have evolved into a bewildering range of programs and peripherals while networks innovations add still another layer of complexity. As a result, teachers must not only continuously learn how to use these rapidly changing technologies, but they must also rethink their teaching practices, design new activities for teaching and learning, and try to evaluate the learning of students as they engage those activities.
Using Dynamic Visualizations to Enhance Learning in Physical Geography
Authors: Bellou Joan
Published: May 2011

According to the literature, the problems that appear in Physical Geography teaching and learning can be classified in the following five categories: 1. Terminology: Students cannot describe geographic characteristics using geographic terminology (Harwood & Jackson, 1993; Keliher, 1997; Golledge, 2005). 2. Interpretation: There are misconceptions and difficulties in the interpretation and explanation of geographic characteristics and phenomena. This is quite often observed among elementary students (Schee et al., 1992; Neighbour, 1992; Livni & Bar, 1998; Pedersen et al., 2005). 3. Language: There is a difficulty for students to express themselves verbally, especially using geographic terminology. Pupils perform better using alternative methods, such as sketching geomorphologic evolution. There is not a problem in perception, but rather in the usage of language (Harwood & Jackson, 1993; Keliher, 1997; Gobert, 2000; Golledge, 2005). 4. Symbols: Misconceptions and difficulties arise from the frequent use of symbols for geographic characteristics rendering. Symbols mainly concern the color attribution of hypsometric levels, discrimination between mountains, hills, valleys and plains, catchment basins and erosion levels (Fredrich & Fuller, 1998; Nordstrom & Jackson, 2001; Livni & Bar, 2001; Verdi & Kulhavy, 2002). 5. Static media: Natural phenomena have a dynamic character that is difficult or impossible to be represented in a static way (Siegburg, 1987; Schee et al., 1992; Neighbour, 1992; Livni & Bar, 1998; Cooshna Naik & Teelock, 2006). Misconceptions mainly concern changes on the earth anaglyph and especially the phenomenon of erosion (Gregg, 2001).
The Wireless Revolution and Schools
Authors: Kidd Terry T.
Published: May 2011

The current wireless revolution in our society is increasing the impending need to be able to facilitate communication and have the availability of access to information at any time, place, or medium. This notion of accessing information at any given time is an idea central to the application of wireless technology. This idea has been made into reality with the use of WI-FI technologies and wireless networks. By providing teachers with such tools for teaching to implement in various subject domains and content, schools will equip teachers in their ability to provide quality teaching and learning for the student. With the new wireless revolution, students can participate in collaborative learning that extends their current educational experience.
Web Development Effort Estimation
Authors: Mendes Emilia , Abrahão Silvia
Published: May 2011

Effort models and effort estimates help project managers allocate resources, control costs and schedule, and improve current practices, leading to projects that are finished on time and within budget. In the context of Web development and maintenance, these issues are also crucial, and very challenging, given that Web projects have short schedules and a highly fluidic scope. Therefore, the objective of this chapter is to introduce the concepts related to Web effort estimation and effort estimation techniques. In addition, this chapter also details and compares, by means of a case study, three effort estimation techniques, chosen for this chapter because they have been to date the ones mostly used for Web effort estimation: Multivariate regression, Case-based reasoning, and Classification and Regression Trees. The case study uses data on industrial Web projects from Spanish Web companies.
Towards the Adaptive Web Using Metadata Evolution
Authors: Guelfi Nicolas , Pruski Cédric , Reynaud Chantal
Published: May 2011

The evolution of Web information is of utmost importance in the design of good Web Information Systems applications. New emerging paradigms, like the Semantic Web, use ontologies for describing metadata and are defined, in part, to aid in Web evolution. In this chapter, we survey techniques for ontology evolution. After identifying the different kinds of evolution with which the Web is confronted, we detail the various existing languages and techniques devoted to Web data evolution, with particular attention to Semantic Web concepts, and how these languages and techniques can be adapted to evolving data in order to improve the quality of Web Information Systems applications.
The Perspectives of Improving Web Search Engine Quality
Authors: Chen Jengchung V. , Lu Wen-Hsiang , He Kuan-Yu , Chang Yao-Sheng
Published: May 2011

With the fast growth of the Web, users often suffer from the problem of information overload, since many existing search engines respond to queries with many nonrelevant documents containing query terms based on the conventional search mechanism of keyword matching. In fact, both users and search engine developers had anticipated that this mechanism would reduce information overload by understanding user goals clearly. In this chapter, we will introduce some past research in Web search, and current trends focusing on how to improve the search quality in different perspectives of “what”, “how”, “where”, “when”, and “why”. Additionally, we will also briefly introduce some effective search quality improvements using link-structure-based search algorithms, such as PageRank and HITS. At the end of this chapter, we will introduce the idea of our proposed approach to improving search quality, which employs syntactic structures (verb-object pairs) to automatically identify potential user goals from search-result snippets. We also believe that understanding user goals more clearly and reducing information overload will become one of the major developments in commercial search engines in the future, since the amounts of information and resources continue to increase rapidly, and user needs will become more and more diverse.