bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Time Series Analysis and Structural Change Detection
Authors: Pang Kwok Pan
Published: May 2010

Most research on time series analysis and forecasting is normally based on the assumption of no structural change, which implies that the mean and the variance of the parameter in the time series model are constant over time. However, when structural change occurs in the data, the time series analysis methods based on the assumption of no structural change will no longer be appropriate; and thus there emerges another approach to solving the problem of structural change. Almost all time series analysis or forecasting methods always assume that the structure is consistent and stable over time, and all available data will be used for the time series prediction and analysis. When any structural change occurs in the middle of time series data, any analysis result and forecasting drawn from full data set will be misleading. Structural change is quite common in the real world. In the study of a very large set of macroeconomic time series that represent the ‘fundamentals’ of the US economy, Stock and Watson (1996) has found evidence of structural instability in the majority of the series. Besides, ignoring structural change reduces the prediction accuracy. Persaran and Timmermann (2003), Hansen (2001) and Clement and Hendry (1998, 1999) showed that structural change is pervasive in time series data, ignoring structural breaks which often occur in time series significantly reduces the accuracy of the forecast, and results in misleading or wrong conclusions. This chapter mainly focuses on introducing the most common time series methods. The author highlights the problems when applying to most real situations with structural changes, briefly introduce some existing structural change methods, and demonstrate how to apply structural change detection in time series decomposition.
Putting the Human Back into e-Business
Authors: Aldiri Khalid , Hobbs Dave , Qahwaji Rami
Published: May 2010

Consumers’ lack of trust is identified as one of the greatest barriers inhibiting business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce. This may be partly attributable to the lack of face-to-face interpersonal exchanges that support trust behavior in conventional commerce. It was proposed that initial trust may be built by simulating face-to-face interaction. To investigate this, an extensive laboratory-based experiment was conducted to assess the initial trust in consumers using four online vendors’ websites with a variety of still and video images of sales personnel, both Western and Saudi Arabian. Initial trust was found to be enhanced for websites employing photographs and video clips compared to control websites lacking such images; also the effect of culture was stronger in the Saudi Arabian setting when using Saudi photos rather than Western photos.
Modeling the Adoption of Mobile Services
Authors: Verkasalo Hannu
Published: May 2010

Many case examples in the mobile market have shown that the success of mobile services is difficult to predict. Different factors either boost or hinder the adoption of mobile services. The present chapter has covered earlier research on mobile service adoption and utilized a unique handset-based research platform in collecting data from 548 Finnish smartphone users in 2006. The main research goal is to understand the process of mobile service adoption by extracting new kinds of data straight from handsets. In addition to descriptive results, a path analysis model is developed that models the mobile service adoption process. The chapter finds that user intentions have a strong impact on consequent adoption of the service, expectedly. What is more, perceived hedonic benefits from the service are the strongest factor driving intentions to use the service. The perceived technical capability to use the service and the role of the surrounding social network do not drive the intentions of early-adopter users. Interestingly multimedia service adoption is driven by more capable (new) handsets, and mobile web browsing benefits significantly from block or flat-rate (instead of usage-based) pricing plans for transmitted data. The chapter develops several indices that measure time-varying characteristics of mobile services. Calculated indices for a set of mobile services suggest that the studied mobile services are currently experiencing different phases in their life cycle.
Building Business Value in E-Commerce Enabled Organizations
Authors: Mahmood M. Adam , Gemoets Leopoldo , Hall Laura Lunstrum , López Francisco J.
Published: May 2010

This research attempts to identify critical e-commerce success factors essential for building business value within e-commerce enabled organizations. It is important to identify the critical success factors that organizations must pursue in order to facilitate a successful transformation from traditional brick-andmortar organizations to click-and-brick business models. Diffusion theory is used to demonstrate how these success factors create business value within an organization. The research model is fully grounded in information technology business value and productivity literature (e.g., Kauffman & Kriebel (1988), Mahmood, Gemoets, Hall, & Lopez (2008) Mahmood & Mann (1993), and Zhu (2004)). The manuscript utilizes an existing sample set consisting of a population of more than 550 company executives who are successfully implementing e-commerce strategies. The research examines constructs found in the literature and focuses on two importance dimensions of creating business value through e-commerce strategies: IT alignment to organizational strategies (ITOrS) and the quality and effectiveness of existing online systems (OnSQE). Critical success factors for e-commerce business success were found to include ITOrS (IT alignment to organizational strategies), IOrSA (Quality and effectiveness of online systems, OnSE (Online systems efficiency), and OnSQE (Online systems quality and effectiveness). The research produces empirical evidence that strategic decision making concerning implementation of e-commerce technologies and alignment with top management strategic planning is critical to the success of creating business value for e-commerce enabled organizations. The manuscript concludes with limitations of the research and implications for future research studies.
E-Business and Nigerian Financial Firms Development
Authors: Eze Uchenna Cyril
Published: May 2010

This research discusses Nigerian financial firms’ perspectives on key determinants of e-business deployment. It explores possible differences that exist among financial firms using in-house e-business capabilities and those that outsource their e-business capabilities. This chapter contributes to the few pieces of literature on e-business experiences among firms operating in Africa, particularly Nigeria. The Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) model underpins the conceptual framework for this chapter. The independent variables are the firm, technological and environmental factors while e-business use constitutes the dependent variable. The findings reveal that all the factors were significant, but that environmental factors were key determinants of e-business use among the firms. In addition, this study reveals practitioners’ interests in Nigerian government agencies to maintain and enhance the existing e-business legal, regulatory and security frameworks in the country. By extension, this could enable greater e-business use in firms, which could improve the overall economy.
Exploratory Study on the Perceived Importance of Various Features of the Internet Service as Influenced by the Perceived Necessity of the Internet and the Size and Type of Small Businesses
Authors: Huynh Minh Q. , Waikar Avinash M.
Published: May 2010

In the new era of e-commerce, small businesses have emerged as the driving force because these firms comprise a significant proportion of economic activity. The spending of small businesses on IT activities continues to grow as they rely more and more on the Internet to be competitive. All these indicate a potential lucrative market for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to serve small businesses. But how to do so? This study attempts to identify Internet service features that are important to small businesses as a way for the ISPs to exploit this potential lucrative market. It explored how various features of the Internet service were associated with the “perceived necessity” of the internet and the “size” and “type” of small businesses. Understanding these associations might help the ISPs better package their service and more successfully serve their small business clients.
Mobile Promotion
Authors: Yamamoto Gonca Telli
Published: May 2010

Promotions are various activities which are realized in order to create and maintain demand for products or services. Promotions are created to reach customers and to gain some profit from them. Therefore, these activities are very important for marketers. In mobile marketing, mobile promotions mean that the companies’ promotional activities are done with mobile devices. Mobile promotion can also be defined as the conduct of promotion activities via mobile instruments. In its most common sense, mobile promotion considered as the promotional method for the customer in an appropriate and permitted manner by benefitting from a live media via mobile devices such as PDA. In this chapter, mobile promotions are evaluated. Mobile advertising and consumer reaching technologies such as SMS and MMS are discussed in detail. Types and the user profile are also examined and some current activities are stated. One-to-one communication and sales promotions such as coupons and other motivational material are broadly composed in this chapter.
Mobile Distribution, Procurement & Sales
Authors: Yamamoto Gonca Telli
Published: May 2010

Distribution, procurement and sales are powerful tools for businesses to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage. Distribution can help companies find some solutions for many challenges in producing better or cheaper products and reaching customers in highly competitive environments (Heidelberger, 2009). Almost all buying decisions include factors such as delivery and handling, marginal benefit, and price fluctuations. Combining existing product, price and brand advantages with investment in channel programs and technology is a proven strategy for establishing success with distribution. Mobile procurement has gradually become more and more important in our era. This also brings entrepreneurs new opportunities to reach customers especially in banking and press businesses but these sectors should not be forgotten that these are the easiest sectors to apply this kind of distribution. These sectors’ implementations mostly depend on communications; on the other hand, this doesn’t mean that other sectors could not employ these systems. Notably, the retail sector should be considered with all its distinctions. On the other hand, mobile sales systems are also very promising. However, currently mobile distribution is explained in two distinctive aspects. One of them is based on the distribution of products and services side and the other one is distribution of the contents side which is very frequently used in Bluetooth and LBS systems in mobile marketing. In this chapter, mobile distribution and sales are generally examined. LBS applications and Bluetooth marketing are taken in to account as their content delivery convenience and disparity.
Instititutional Opportunities and Challenges of the Wireless City
Authors: Ganapati Sukumar
Published: May 2010

This chapter explores the institutional opportunities and challenges of adopting wireless communications for mobile government at the local level. The basic ingredients of wireless for m-government include the wireless devices and the wireless infrastructure. The proliferation of wireless devices provides opportunities for transforming field operations, coordinating emergency management, enhancing citizen services and participation, and narrowing the digital divide. Challenges, however, exist in terms of wireless security, interoperability, and infrastructure provision.
Internet-Based E-Commerce in Small Chinese Firms in New Zealand
Authors: Chen Jihong , McQueen Robert J.
Published: May 2010

This chapter investigates an e-commerce “stages of growth” model in a cross-cultural business context for small firms operated by Chinese-born owners in New Zealand. Research findings from fourteen case studies show that the Chinese owners/managers of these small firms have a high power distance, and their attitude toward e-commerce technology directly influences their firms’ e-commerce growth process. It was found that the higher the stage of e-commerce adoption, the greater the need for owners having a more positive attitude toward e-commerce, more innovativeness and enthusiasm, and more technology literacy. The stronger the uncertainty avoidance and the higher the risk-taking propensity, the higher the stage of e-commerce adoption achieved. In addition, firms at lower growth stages of e-commerce adoption are highly rated on individualism, while those firms at higher growth stage of commerce adoption are highly rated on collectivism. The research has implications for small business managers operating in a cross-cultural business context as they move through the different stage of e-commerce adoption.
IT-Enabled Global Ethical Problems
Authors: Schultz Robert A.
Published: May 2010

Problems of IT-enabled globalization are a new kind of ethical problem and require new ethical principles for their solution. I will first discuss two examples to demonstrate this: these examples are the World Bank and its IT development, and Yahoo in China. These institutions are what I will call ethically globalized institutions, institutions which raise ethical problems that cannot be handled as problems belonging to existing nation-states. Then I will discuss some other recognized ethical problems of ITenabled globalization which, at first sight, involve only older ethical principles. It will turn out that these problems also have globalized aspects. In Section 1, this section, I will be using intuitive ethical principles in evaluating the cases. These evaluations are provisional and the reader should feel free to have other opinions. In Sections 2 and 3, I will develop and defend an ethical theory which will provide a firmer foundation for my evaluations.
Political Realism and the Society of Societies
Authors: Schultz Robert A.
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, I examine two theories of transnational ethics: Political Realism and the Society of Societies. The first theory, Political Realism, denies the meaningfulness of transnational ethics. Proponents of Political Realism note that states act in their own interest, and there is no order or principle governing those states other than their own self-interest. I will discuss the views of an important proponent of Political Realism of this kind, the late political theorist Hans Morgenthau. (1993) An interesting variant, which I will call Relativist Realism, holds that there are no transnational principles which supersede the principles of any given society because the different principles of different societies ought to be respected. This version of Political Realism has been developed extensively by the political theorist Michael Walzer. (2007) I will discuss the pros and cons of these two views shortly.
Cosmopolitanism
Authors: Schultz Robert A.
Published: May 2010

Cosmopolitanism is the view that the relevant ethical community is all of humanity. In this chapter, I will examine three somewhat different cosmopolitan theories: The pluralist theory of Thomas Pogge (2002), the social contract theory of Charles Beitz (1979 and 1999), and the utilitarian theory of Peter Singer (2004). All theories hold that humanity as a whole is the relevant ethical community for global ethics. All theories also hold that ethical principles are essentially principles for individuals. Taking the individual as ethically primary may be what makes cosmopolitanism plausible. Human reality for these theorists is just individual human beings endowed with moral principles. But it is not an accidental fact that human beings live in society. Like ants, termites, lions and chimpanzees, they have evolved so that living in groups is not optional for them. The many benefits produced by social institutions, whether formal or informal, depend on our human ability to forgo self-interest in the interest of the relevant group. The group principles—ethical, political, economic—allowing us to do this are not optional either, especially those having to do with nations. So to begin with it seems that cosmopolitan theories may have too limited a view of human reality. However, I will give these theories a chance. The main questions I will ask of each theory are: The rationale for basing ethics on individuals as members of the group all of humanity; and the plausibility of each theory as a basis for transnational ethics.
IT and Globalized Ethics
Authors: Schultz Robert A.
Published: May 2010

In this chapter I will first discuss the individual ethical principles an IT professional is likely to encounter. Then I will consider the impact of the ethics of globalized institutions on the ethics of IT professional. Finally, I will discuss the role of IT professionals in the global social contract to be formulated in Part III, A Social Contract for Globalized Institutions. IT professionals are parties to the global social contract because of their essential role in making globalized institutions possible. So we need to determine how they will participate in this social contract.
New Global Institutions
Authors: Schultz Robert A.
Published: May 2010

How do we decide which new global institutions should be created to implement the Global Economy Principles of Justice? It would be tempting to create authorities whenever wrongs and injustices need to be prevented or corrected. As I noted in Chapter 8, The Ethical Status of Globalized Institutions, the difficult question is, who oversees that an authority is using its power appropriately? We don’t want to create institutions with unchecked power, yet we don’t want to create any more authorities than absolutely necessary for the implementation of the Global Economy Principles of Justice. For if each new institution requires oversight, we apparently create an infinite regress: We need someone to oversee the oversight, and someone else to oversee whoever is overseeing the oversight, and so on. There are two possible ways to avoid this infinite regress. As I suggested in Chapter 10, public recognition of the existence of a social contract itself lessens the need for oversight and enforcement activity. Most people obey the law even when they are sure a policeman is not watching. The other way to avoid the regress, as I suggested in Chapter 8, was to use the checks and balances system of the branches of the US government. Effectively, each branch has oversight on the others. Three seems to be the right number of branches,1 and executive, judicial, and legislative branches are plausible.
The Value of IT-Enabled Globalization
Authors: Schultz Robert A.
Published: May 2010

This chapter, like the previous one, also deals with issues that go beyond ethics as principles for social cooperation. We just saw that the environment raises issues that go beyond social cooperation. Likewise, value does not depend directly on social cooperation but rather on interest and point of view. In Chapter 4, The Basis of Ethical Principles, I characterized a good or valuable object as one that, to a greater degree than average, answers to the interests one has in the object from a certain point of view.1 Thus a good disk drive is one that answers to the interests of a computer user in safely storing information. When an object is defined in terms of its function, the value of that object simply consists in its performing that function to a greater degree than average. That is, good antivirus software must prevent and destroy viruses well; good keyboard cleaner must clean keyboards well.
The Role of Law in Adolescent Online Social Communication and Behavior
Authors: Burriss Larry L.
Published: May 2010

What in the world is a chapter on law doing in a book on psychology, behavior and affect (that’s af’ ekt, not ? fekt’)? Well, the analogy of a game comes to mind. The psychologist may ask such questions as, why do the players do what they do? How do they feel about the activity? How do they interact with other players? Certainly these questions are important. But at the same time the players have to play by the rules. And that’s where the law comes in.
Fear for Online Adolescents
Authors: Orleans Myron
Published: May 2010

The research literature regarding fears associated with online activities of adolescents was reviewed and assessed in relation to earlier research reported by the author. The original qualitative study focused on the interactions between the social networks of young adolescents and their computer usage. Particular attention was devoted to determining whether heavy computer use tended to isolate adolescent users. The findings challenged the common attributions of prevalent danger, that heavy youthful computer users would experience social isolation. That earlier research led to further questioning of the potential harm of computer use in relation to contagion effects and alarms raised regarding sexual solicitation via the Internet. Recent literature was examined to assess whether danger warnings have been magnified, distorted, or manipulated for ideological purposes. Contrary to popular considerations, the interpersonal lives and computer activities of early adolescents reciprocally reinforced patterns of behavior that lowered the likelihood of risk behaviors to a significantly greater degree than did direct parental involvement. Recommendations to responsible adults were offered to re-focus energies and efforts in directions that would support appropriate computer use and promote pro-social behaviors of online adolescents.
Millenials, Social Networking and Social Responsibility
Authors: Ferris Sharmila Pixy
Published: May 2010

In this chapter the author explores Millenials’ participation in the public good, investigating whether they use social networking for social responsibility. Millenials, the wired, connected generation for whom social networking is an essential aspect of life, are often criticized for their lack of social responsibility. Social networking, as new media uniquely a part of Millenials’ wired and connected lifestyles, has the potential to “transform citizenship.” To investigate Millenials’ social networking and social responsibility, a Webnography was conducted. Findings go against conventional wisdom as the author found that Millenials use social networking to take social and political action, engage in social entrepreneurship, and conduct charitable solicitation and donation.
Misconceptions About Being Digital
Authors: Pivec Maja , Pivec Paul
Published: May 2010

Many academics have stated that the perceived decline in education is attributed to the change in the students themselves; that students today think differently, process information differently, and get bored with traditional schooling techniques; they are the digital generation. While the authors agree that technology such as electronic games provide a wealth of opportunities and are strong advocates of the use of these methods, they do not think that the digital generation learns any differently than previous generations, or children who have never been exposed to computing of any kind. Within this chapter the authors will expose the myth about today’s media spoiled students and suggest how the creative mind can be captivated in both traditional and digital teaching environments. They will document several surveys and experiments, and highlight the success of teaching role-play classes face-to-face and in a constructivist digital environment.
Geospatial Views for RESTful BIM
Authors: Isikdag Umit , Underwood Jason , Kuruoglu Murat , Abdul-Rahman Alias
Published: May 2010

In the near future Building Information Modelling will be applied in different areas of the AEC industry. Building Information Models (BIMs) will be used as resources to enable interoperability of software and ‘Building Information Modelling’ based Integrated Project Delivery will be realised as a common process of managing a project over a single shared information backbone. Thus, facilitating the collaborative use of shared BIMs is becoming important in parallel with the industrial demand in the field. Some urban management tasks such as disaster management, delivery of goods and services, and cityscape visualisation are managed by using Geospatial Information Systems as the current state-of-art, as the tasks in these processes require a high level and volume of integrated geospatial information. Several of these tasks such as fire response management require detailed geometric and semantic information about buildings in the form of geospatial information, while tasks such as visualisation of the urban fabric might require less (geometric and semantic) information. Today service-oriented architectures are becoming more popular in terms of enabling integration and collaboration over distributed environments. In this context, this short chapter presents an enhancement for a BIM Web Service pattern (i.e. RESTful BIM) that will help in facilitating information transfer from Building Information Models into the geospatial environment. The chapter starts with the background section later provides a review on the RESTful BIM pattern. Geospatial Views that can be developed for the RESTFul BIM will be elaborated on later in the chapter.
A Case Study on Scaffolding Adaptive Feedback within Virtual Learning Environments
Authors: Najjar Mehdi
Published: May 2010

Despite a growing development of virtual laboratories which use the advantages of multimedia and the Internet for distance education, learning by means of such tutorial tools would be more effective if they were specifically tailored to each student needs. The virtual teaching process would be well adapted if an artificial tutor (integrated into the lab) could identify the correct acquired knowledge. The training approach could be more personalised if the tutor is also able to recognise the erroneous learner’s knowledge and to suggest a suitable sequence of pedagogical activities to improve significantly the level of the student. This chapter proposes a knowledge representation model which judiciously serves the remediation process to students’ errors during learning activities via a virtual laboratory. The chapter also presents a domain knowledge generator authoring tool which attempts to offer a user-friendly environment that allows modelling graphically any subject-matter domain knowledge according to the proposed knowledge representation and remediation approach. The model is inspired by artificial intelligence research on the computational representation of the knowledge and by cognitive psychology theories that provide a fine description of the human memory subsystems and offer a refined modelling of the human learning processes. Experimental results, obtained thanks to practical tests, show that the knowledge representation and remediation model facilitates the planning of a tailored sequence of feedbacks that considerably help the learner.
Creating High Quality Learning Object Metadata Based on Web 2.0 Concepts
Authors: Dahl Daniel , Vossen Gottfried
Published: May 2010

When introducing the metadata standard LOM, objectives such as the ability to find or to reuse learning objects were followed. These objectives are actually achieved in LOM to a limited degree only, despite the designation as de-facto standard for description of electronic learning content. Based on the complexity of the standard, a high theoretical potential faces rejection in practice. One reason for this is that the process of metadata generation—for example, who creates which metadata attributes—is not defined in detail yet. This paper illustrates an approach which guarantees a high quantity as well as a high quality of learning object metadata records, bringing together known ways of metadata creation and the new paradigm of users describing content as implemented in recent Web 2.0 applications. In the context of a concrete e-learning platform, we exemplarily illustrate who creates which metadata records of LOM in which way at what time. Finally, we show why this approach of creating metadata matters as we measure our metadata quality and compare it with other’s findings.
Science for Everyone
Authors: Wood Charles A.
Published: May 2010

Recent and emerging technologies offer many opportunities for exploration and learning. These technologies allow learners (of any age) to work with real data, use authentic scientific instruments, explore immersive simulations and act as scientists. The capabilities soon to be available raise questions about the role of schools and do rely on directed learning traditionally supplied by teachers. The prevalence of new tools and data streams can transform society, not just kids, into a culture of learning.
Social Tagging and Learning
Authors: Kohlhase A. , Reichel M.
Published: May 2010

Social tagging systems celebrate enormous growth rates on the World Wide Web. This chapter looks at social tagging from an educational perspective, particularly its use for educational environments. The authors identify the processes underlying social tagging from an embodied interaction perspective. The authors will support the thesis that emerging folksonomies are at the base of meaningful interaction processes between user and system and also, at the same time, social processes between groups of people. This chapter argues that the fuzzy line between private and public space plays a crucial role. Moreover, tags represent embodied conceptualizations, whose potential effectiveness for learning will be discussed in this chapter. The authors will provide an example of a learning software for children (Amici, implemented by one of the authors) in which social tagging is used to support sharing in a programming environment to showcase how embodiment of conceptualization as well as constant coupling through moving between private and public space is achieved through tagging in the system.
Interface Design for Social Interaction in E-Learning Environments
Authors: Fadel Luciane Maria , Dyson Mary C.
Published: May 2010

This chapter concerns the contribution of the interface design to social interaction in e-learning environments. More specifically this chapter focuses on the design of social facilities in the interface that are intended to motivate and sustain the process of communication among students. Although there are design constraints in creating an environment capable of supporting social interaction, previous research findings indicate that social presence is a key factor for social interaction. In addition, previous research has pointed out that social presence is affected by individual, social response and media variables, suggesting that an interface design might enhance social presence. This chapter explores the interface design by investigating how placing an emphasis on interaction facilities and incorporating text, images and animation affects students’ experiences of interacting with each other. The overall conclusion is that the interface design can increase the number of interactions and enhance the perceived social presence in e-learning environments.
E-Learning Design from a "Quality of Experience" Perspective
Authors: Garzotto Franca
Published: May 2010

This chapter considers technology-enhanced educational activities spanning along a significant period of time, and explores this context from a “quality of experience” perspective. Rather than addressing the design of technology, interface, or interactive contents for learning, our main focus is the exploration of the process-oriented, affective, socio-contextual issues involved in the design of prolonged workflows of e-learning activities. We propose a set of heuristics for designing e-learning experiences that can maintain learners’ engagement along the time and achieve durable, profound educational benefits in the educational context in which they take place, and are valuable for all involved stakeholders. We also pinpoint that involving learners as experience design partners is fundamental for these purposes. Our approach is exemplified by widely discussing two case studies that involve different technologies (shared 3D virtual worlds and online collaborative storytelling) in different educational contexts – high and primary schools.
The Potential of Affective Computing in E-Learning
Authors: Mantovani Fabrizia , Confalonieri Linda , Mortillaro Marcello , Realdon Olivia , Zurloni Valentino , Anolli Luigi
Published: May 2010

The main goal of this chapter is to discuss the potential of affective computing for improving the e-learning experience, both from a theoretical and a practical perspective. First, we focus on the important role emotions play in the (e-)learning process and on the rationale to include affect in e-learning design . Second, we briefly present three trends in the affective computing domain which represent the core features of the EU-funded project on technology-enhanced learning “Myself”: the use of affective Embodied Conversational Agents as virtual tutors; the possibility of automatic recognition of - and adaptation to- the emotional and motivational state of the learner; the use of 3D simulations for web-based training of emotional competence. Finally, focusing on the feature of automatic recognition and adaptation, we present an account of the approach developed within the project and use it as a framework for discussing the main benefits and current limitations to the complex process of integration of affective computing features into e-learning systems.
Dealing with affective needs in e-learning
Authors: Chiu Yi-Ching Jean , Cowan John
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents and contrasts descriptions of two cases of online affective support provided to support students engaged in higher level learning tasks. The cases are set in different cultures, centre upon different intended learning outcomes, and follow different tutorial styles. One (Eastern) tutor acted as a “shepherd leader” in response to needs arising in the Confucian Heritage Culture as the teacher promoted critical thinking, according to the Western model. The other (Western) tutor provided Rogerian facilitation of reflective learning journals, kept by students seeking to develop personal and professional capabilities. In both styles, affective support features strongly. The cultural and pedagogical comparisons between the cases have proved useful to the writers. These distinctions together with the similarities between the two online styles emerge in the comparisons.
Cultural Implications of E-learning Access (& Divides)
Authors: Cheong Pauline Hope , Martin Judith N.
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents a case study of developing and teaching an intercultural communication (IC) course online, within the context of a department in a large research University in the U.S. In so doing, the authors discuss a broadened and recursive model of cultural access and divides in E-learning. Expanding on van Dijk’s (2005) framework, the authors present several ways in which their IC course attempts to address multiple pathways of E-learning access, including motivational, material, skills and usage access. They describe both the successes and challenges of meeting the goals of e-learning access with specific examples of the content, activities, assignments, pedagogical strategies, and student assessment in this online course. Finally, they identify challenges of this e-learning at the micro and macro level context—in the course, university writ large and in the communication discipline.
Technophobe to Technophile…Entering the Internet Culture
Authors: Anderson-Mejías Pamela L.
Published: May 2010

This chapter describes a successful means of introducing returning, older students to online education in a university setting. After presenting basic background from the literature on retention within online classes, the case is presented in detail as to how 16 fearful learners became confident and successful through the instructor’s taking time for preparation, establishing a sense of achievement using the technology, creating interconnections with peers, and demonstrating the usefulness of the virtual class over the face-to-face class. The author hopes that by describing in detail the case and the principles found, future educators can prepare their traditional students for the culture of virtual learning environments, thus expanding options for their programs while addressing university administrative concerns about student retention.
An e-Training Support Program for Regional and Local Development
Authors: Syrris Vassilis , Tsobanopoulou Fenia
Published: May 2010

New forms of learning such as distance training and consulting constitute a significant field that presents considerable advantages compared to the traditional educational practices. Computer and communication technologies like World Wide Web/Internet and broadband networks enrich the knowledge environments and grant new perspective to learning mechanisms. In this case study we analyze the technological, cultural and social issues involved in an online distance training program implemented to address in particular farmers, animal-breeders, unemployed and low-salary workers. Distance consulting focuses on subjects concerning entrepreneurial skills and personal training. The project scope includes decentralization, local intervention for employment purposes and bridging of geographical and technological distances.
"Cross Talk"
Authors: Wegmann Susan J.
Published: May 2010

Asynchronous online discussions can be complex and fruitful, mimicking their face-to-face counterparts in undergraduate college classes. However, some researchers note a discrepancy in substance and interest levels between online and face-to-face discussions. This chapter describes the interactions of one thriving student in an asynchronous online course. It analyzes the student’s interactions with his peers, and uses these interactions to provide ways that online instructors can structure courses to optimize genuine and engaging online discourse. Additionally, it suggests that students and instructors who assume a Connected Stance show a depth of learning within the computer-mediated framework. Finally, it provides a unique format for analyzing online discussion boards.
Using Activity Theory to Guide E-Learning Initiatives
Authors: Shambaugh Neal
Published: May 2010

This case documents how activity theory can be used as a tool to help educators understand the issues behind deploying online learning programs. Faculty members in higher education are accustomed to teaching online, but are new to the development of online academic programs. This case chapter provides a background to the academic setting and a discussion of activity theory. The specific context of an academic department is described, followed by how activity theory was used to represent the overlapping goals of faculty, students, and administrators, and to understand the contextual issues of roles, community of practice, and division of labor to reach the desired goal, which was to implement their academic programs online. Guidelines for using activity theory are provided.
A Survey of Attacks in the Web Services World
Authors: Jensen Meiko , Gruschka Nils
Published: May 2010

In the modern electronic business world, services offered to business partners as well as to customers have become an important company asset. This again produces interests for attacking those services either to paralyze the availability or to gain unauthorized access. Though founding on decades of networking experience, Web Services are not more resistant to security attacks than other open network systems. Quite the opposite is true: Web Services are exposed to attacks well-known from common Internet protocols and additionally to new kinds of attacks targeting Web Services in particular. This chapter presents a survey of different types of such Web Service specific attacks. For each attack a description of the attack execution, the effect on the target and partly the results of practical experiments are given. Additionally, general countermeasures for fending Web Service attacks are shown.
Genetic Adaptation of Level Sets Parameters for Medical Imaging Segmentation
Authors: Oliveira Dário A.B. , Feitosa Raul Q. , Correia Mauro M.
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents a method based on level sets to segment organs using computer tomography (CT) medical images. Initially, the organ boundary is manually set in one slice as an initial solution, and then the method automatically segments the organ in all other slices, sequentially. In each step of iteration it fits a Gaussian curve to the organ’s slice histogram to model the speed image in which the level sets propagate. The parameters of our method are estimated using genetic algorithms (GA) and a database of reference segmentations. The method was tested to segment the liver using 20 different exams and five different measures of performance, and the results obtained confirm the potential of the method. The cases in which the method presented a poor performance are also discussed in order to instigate further research.
Automatic Analysis of Microscopic Images in Hematological Cytology Applications
Authors: Díaz Gloria , Manzanera Antoine
Published: May 2010

Visual examination of blood and bone marrow smears is an important tool for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of clinical patients. The interest of computer aided decision has been identified in many medical applications: automatic methods are being explored to detect, classify and measure objects in hematological cytology. This chapter presents a comprehensive review of the state of the art and currently available literature and techniques related to automated analysis of blood smears. The most relevant image processing and machine learning techniques used to develop a fully automated blood smear analysis system which can help to reduce time spent for slide examination are presented. Advances in each component of this system are described in acquisition, segmentation and detection of cell components, feature extraction and selection approaches for describing the objects, and schemes for cell classification.
Biomedical Microscopic Image Processing by Graphs
Authors: Ta Vinh-Thong , Lézoray Olivier , Elmoataz Abderrahim
Published: May 2010

The authors present an overview of part of their work on graph-based regularization. Introduced first in order to smooth and filter images, the authors have extended these methods to address semi-supervised clustering and segmentation of any discrete domain that can be represented by a graph of arbitrary structure. This framework unifies, within a same formulation, methods from machine learning and image processing communities. In this chapter, the authors propose to show how these graph-based approaches can lead to a useful set of tools that can be combined altogether to address various image processing problems in pathology such as cytological and histological image filtering, segmentation and classification.
Is Information Systems (IS) Offshoring an Extension of IS Outsourcing?
Authors: Srivastava Shirish C. , Teo Thompson S.H. , Mohapatra Partha S.
Published: May 2010

Some researchers focusing on information systems (IS) offshoring argue that results from previous studies on onshore IS outsourcing can be extended and applied to IS offshoring. However, others have the opinion that IS offshoring has its unique characteristics because of which, research made in onshore IS outsourcing cannot be extended without testing its applicability to the offshore context. This tension motivates the current research to examine whether determinants of IS offshoring are indeed the same as determinants of onshore IS outsourcing? If not, what are the implications? This chapter examines the role of business related firm level variables in determining the offshoring intensity of firms. The four business related variables that are analyzed in this study are: business size, business cost, business financial leverage, and business performance. The results indicate a significant relationship between business size and offshoring intensity, and also between business financial leverage and offshoring intensity. Based on the results, we analyze similarities and differences between traditional onshore IS outsourcing and IS offshoring. Implications and contributions arising out of this study are also discussed.
The Relationship Between the Fulfillment of the IT Professional's Psychological Contract and their Organizational Citizenship and Innovative Work Behaviors
Authors: Newton Sandra K. , Nowak Linda I. , Blanton J. Ellis
Published: May 2010

Little is known about the relationship between of the level of fulfillment of the IT professional’s psychological contract and their innovative work and organizational citizenship behaviors. Using psychological contract and social information processing theories, this study proposes to answer the research question: What is the relationship between the level of fulfillment of the IT professionals’ psychological contract and their organizational citizenship and innovative work behaviors? Survey data were collected from 209 IT professionals using group-administered paper and on-line surveys. Results show positive relationships with the level of fulfillment of the IT professional’s psychological contract and their innovative work behavior, as well as four of their organizational citizenship behaviors, specifically loyalty, advocacy participation, obedience, and functional participation. Extending the body of knowledge, the dimensional approach of the psychological contract was used resulting in the scope, focus, and tangibility dimensions being the most significant predictors of the organizational behaviors.a
A Component-Based Software Architecture for Delivering Location Based Services
Authors: Priggouris Ioannis , Spanoudakis Dimitris , Spanoudakis Manos , Hadjiefthymiades Stathes
Published: May 2010

The combination of position fixing mechanisms with location-dependent, geographical information, can offer truly customized personal communication services through the mobile phone or other type of devices. Prompted by the avalanche of technology advances in the aforementioned areas, this chapter presents a generic framework for delivering Location Based Services (LBS). The framework is capable of providing the full functionality required for delivering LBS, starting from the specification of the service, covering issues like its deployment and maintenance of services, the service invocation and the final delivery of the produced results to the calling user. The main focus of the chapter is on the technical specification, the design and the functionality of the framework. However, with the purpose of assessing the proposed architecture, a prototype implementation based on the discussed specifications was built and its performance was evaluated using a series of pilot services.