bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Constructivist Instructional Design
Authors: Morales Carlos R.
Published: May 2010

With the continuous growth of online learning in higher education, the need to design course materials that capitalize and leverage on the richness of the Internet and learning technologies has taken on new dimensions. Constructivist theory paired with instructional design models is believed to have a positive influence on the design of learning environments that apply content to real-life situations. Constructivist instructional design for online learning challenges instructional designers regarding the philosophy and methodology to be used, while it provides the conditions for learner-centered instruction. Instructional design and learning theories have been separated into their own arenas. Developing online learning environments using constructivist instructional design addresses and serves the learning needs of students by providing opportunities for increased knowledge construction and participation.
Classroom-in-a-Box
Authors: Crawford Caroline M. , Dickenson Virginia , Smith Marion S.
Published: May 2010

This discussion focuses upon a theoretical understanding of the instructional architecture that supports learning communities within three-dimensional virtual world environments; specifically, within the Second Life world environment. This theoretical understanding provides the essential link between instructional imperatives, performance improvement and a community of learning within an instructional technology framework. Motivated by the shift from the Information Age known for the availability of information towards the Cognitive Age which emphasizes the ability to access, evaluate, organize, comprehend, apply, analyze, synthesize and innovatively represent information into an enhanced understanding and novel use, this discussion offers the opportunity to directly address the learner’s needs within the threedimensional virtual learning environment, such as Second Life, through the design of a virtual learning environment classroom-in-a-box.
Three Contexts Methodology
Authors: Santos Antonio
Published: May 2010

The main objective of this manuscript is to propose a methodology called the Three Contexts Methodology based in the situated learning paradigm. It attempts to integrate three contexts related to the process of learning: 1) the context of the community of professional practice that created the content; 2) the school classroom; and 3) the context in which what is learned is going to be applied. Through this the 3CM strives to improve learning transfer and the integration of technology. To give a theoretical base to the 3CM, first an analysis of how human cognition is naturally intertwined with our social activity is done and how, in this way, professional communities of practice are generated. Then, these ideas are contrasted with the type of cognition that the traditional school promotes and some learning problems are identified. Using these antecedents as a base, the Three Contexts Methodology is described and finally, a set of results are described and analyzed when this methodology was applied to a group of students from a local junior high school.
Creating Supportive Multimedia Learning Environments
Authors: Gaines Baggio Bobbe
Published: May 2010

A strategy for developing effective multimedia instruction should be based on evidence presented by cognitive science and backed by research. Unless guided by instructional design principles, multimedia learning products run the risk of being unusual and entertaining but not effective. An effective design strategy at a minimum should embrace; recognizing learner differences, creating good multimedia messages, managing cognitive load, providing opportunities for active cognition, and monitoring learner engagement, intentions and progress. Activity theory, when integrated into multimedia instruction can support the creation of constructivist learning environments. Activities are ways that learners interact with the outside world and cognition is part of the interaction. Using multimedia to develop opportunities for learners to participate in active cognition can enhance the learning environment Active cognitive engagement should include active, interactive and reflective e-learning. The challenge for instructional designers is to position multimedia in an environment that supports the realization of meaningful learning.
Using CPS to Promote Active Learning
Authors: Liu Youmei , Mauthner Shari , Schwarz Lindsay
Published: May 2010

According to Meyers and Jones, active learning theory originated from two fundamental premises: learning engagement and learning styles (1993). When students are actively engaged in the learning process, they learn better. What can an instructor do to achieve this goal? This chapter will discuss one of the approaches – the integration of the Classroom Performance System (CPS), and will cover three aspects: 1) incorporating CPS based on active learning theory, 2) discussing student positive feedback on CPS use experiences, and 3) sharing CPS best practice with other educators to promote active learning from teaching, design and administration perspectives.
Wired for Learning—Web 2.0 for Teaching and Learning
Authors: Chen Irene , Kidd Terry T.
Published: May 2010

This is an introductory discussion into Web 2.0 technologies for teaching and learning. It is based on a review of the current literature and thinking around Web 2.0 and its potential in education. There has been a surge in internet services that attract the label “Web 2.0”. Wide acceptance of this term implies that together these services identify a change in the nature of the World Wide Web. This report seeks to define Web 2.0 and how it can used. Consideration is also given to how these new technologies create opportunities for educational practice. Because these opportunities are not yet being widely taken up, the present discussion focuses on identifying challenges that may be impeding adoption of Web 2.0 ideas in teaching and learning.
Revisit Planning Effective Multimedia Instructions
Authors: Yu Chien , Williams Angela , Lin Chun Fu , Yu Wei-Chieh
Published: May 2010

Multimedia benefits students learning in many different ways. There are so many things that students can do and learn because of the variety of instructional media that is available for their use. The use of instructional multimedia increases an instructor’s ability to propose and execute teaching strategies that come with a multiplicity of learning styles. Therefore, there are a myriad of reasons why teachers use these resources both as a teaching tool and as a teaching resource. Several strategies can be implemented so that teachers have opportunities to become skillful in attaining technological fluency. This chapter reviews the trends and issues of today’s multimedia education, and attempts to provide strategies and guidelines for planning multimedia instruction. The effective use of pedagogical design principles with appropriate multimedia can allow greater individualization, which in turn fosters improved learning, greater learner satisfaction, and higher retention rates.
Blogging Minds on Web-Based Educational Projects
Authors: Yang Harrison Hao
Published: May 2010

Weblogs are radically redefining the way people obtain information and the way they teach and learn. This chapter examines issues and problems of typical Web-based educational projects as gleaned from the literature. It then reveals the potentials and advantages of the Weblog for enhancing those existing Web-based educational projects. It also proposes a new framework which integrates the Weblog as a means for Web-based educational project design, development, and implementation. Finally, it presents a case study which incorporated Weblogs in a specific Web-based educational project - the development of a professional portfolio.
Language Simulations for Fostering Language Acquisition and Communicative Competence in Adult Second- Language Learners
Authors: McLaren Angelene
Published: May 2010

Language teachers and students are making a mass exodus in theory and practice in the field of secondlanguage instruction. They are leaving behind boring drills, nonsensical memorizations and endless strings of grammatical rules and are demanding a shift from traditional language learning to modern language acquisition. Language acquisition means being culturally literate and commutatively competent in a language (Byrnes, 2001). This change requires finding effective ways to facilitate this paradigm shift. This chapter will try to answer the following questions: Can language simulations foster language acquisition and communicative competence in adult second-language learners? It will also explore: what language acquisition is and how it is obtained; theoretical foundations of language acquisition; learning simulations and what makes them effective; language simulations – how and why they work; what simulations can do to promote communicative competence; a practical example; future applications and importance of language simulations; and what future research is necessary to fulfill this promise.
My Experience Tells the Story
Authors: Kidd Terry T.
Published: May 2010

For more than forty years, information technology (IT) has been part of the infrastructure supporting schools and universities. Essential functions such as central planning, budgeting, scheduling, grading, and maintaining student records have drawn on IT resources, beginning with mainframe computers and migrating to other platforms. Now routine business tasks are distributed throughout the workplace. Individual departments and faculty members regularly use tools like word processing, spreadsheets, publishing tools, email, and the Web for their research and administrative needs. Now that technology is widely available on most university campuses (The Campus Computing Project, 2001), the integration of these technologies into higher education for teaching and learning practices have become more important. According to Schrum, Skeele, & Grant (2002, p. 258), professors use software tools, like word processors, but rarely use technology for teaching or require students to use it for assessment purposes. McKenzie (2001) and Parisot (1995) examine the standard practice of higher education institutions in which they buy the new and complex technologies and simply make them available to faculty members without any attempts to build an infrastructure to support faculty adoption practices. If higher education is to survive the onslaught of technology, then they have to devise plans to support the adoption of such innovation (Hagenson & Castle, 2003, p. 2).a
Framing Pedagogy, Diminishing Technology
Authors: Thornton Julia
Published: May 2010

This chapter explores frames and sensemaking as a means of understanding the experiences of teachers in higher education who are slow adopters of technology in settings where technology is also inflexible. Literature on teaching online emphasises the differences between online and face-to-face teaching over the similarities between them, and conceptualises this as a discrepancy in expectation between face-toface and online teaching that requires teachers to remodel their approach to overcome it. Problems of low uptake of courseware systems by teachers are commonly identified as either problems of teachers’ insufficient technical knowledge, or as problems of the nature of technology, however it is more useful to understand them as sensemaking problems where teachers deal with new technology using old frameworks. Two cases are explored in depth showing that some frames require less effort to produce good teaching. The paper suggests that teachers with inflexible frames must break them to adapt to online environments. However, a pre-existing pedagogically oriented frame already primed to seek out new settings for learning forms a minimally sufficient frame for sensemaking within an online setting even in the absence of strong technological skills.
A Framework for Developing and Implementing u-Learning Models
Authors: Casey Des , Fraser Janet
Published: May 2010

The advent of u-learning environments requires the development of appropriate u-learning models to inform the use of such environments. As there is no single u-learning model to suit all environments and learning situations, there is a need to develop a methodology for developing models appropriate to various environments and situations. This chapter outlines such a methodology as a useful framework on which to base the derivation of particular models for specific situations. The study then illustrates the use of this methodology to derive a particular model: a task-based u-learning model, incorporating well-bounded learning content. Following this, the study proposes a system architecture to embody this derived u-learning model, and, then describes the implementation of this architecture through the development and deployment of the Walkabout u-Learning Environment.
Web Accessibility Essentials for Online Course Developers
Authors: Torres Colorado Jozenia , Eberle Jane H.
Published: May 2010

According to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, federal agencies must provide access to electronic and information technology to individuals with disabilities who are federal employees or members of the public. As institutions of higher education (IHE) put more services and resources online, formatting pages so they are accessible to users with disabilities is essential. Although IHEs are attempting to comply with Web Accessibility Standards with their public Web pages, full compliance has been difficult. In addition, the growth of online courses has only complicated the issue. Although learning management systems (LMS) may claim to be Web accessible, accessibility of individual content items at the course level, is set by the course developer. This chapter will discuss essential information necessary for online course developers to develop Web accessible content.
Pulse!!
Authors: McDonald Claudia L. , Cannon-Bowers Jan , Bowers Clint
Published: May 2010

Pulse!! The Virtual Clinical Learning Lab is designed to transfer and further develop state-of-the-art game design and technology to create subject matter for teaching critical thinking skills in experiential medical learning in virtual reality. The underlying design principles of Pulse!! include real-time feedback, repetitive practice, controlled environment, individualized learning, defined outcomes and educational validity. Pulse!! development incorporated evaluation issues early in the design cycle. The Pulse!! evaluation process ensures that the learning platform meets standards as rigorous as that required by military simulation systems and educational accrediting bodies. The Pulse!! method of case and technology development indicates that virtual-world educational platforms must be not only user-friendly, visually effective, interactively immersive and fluid but also procedurally rooted in curriculum, rich in readily-accessible information and cognizant of actual practice in the real world.
Multicultural e-Education
Authors: Strang Kenneth David
Published: May 2010

Academic performance of international university students was predicted using an interdisciplinary model, built by integrating theories from educational psychology and cultural anthropology. Approximately 2,500 online undergraduate business degree students from 21 countries were sampled from an Australian university. An a priori learning style instrument was used to assess their study strategies, which was integrated to a global culture taxonomy using ethnic demographic data. Multi-method statistical techniques for multivariate data were triangulated (confirmatory ordinal factor analysis, multiple regression and structural equation modeling) to analyze empirical evidence. The instrument was validated (eigenvalues> 1; cumulative factor variance captured >60%; GF, LR, factor loadings acceptable; p
Adaptation-Oriented Culturally-Aware Tutoring Systems
Authors: Blanchard Emmanuel G.
Published: May 2010

Modern societies have a growing need for highly specialized education and traditional educational systems have a difficult time providing solutions. E-learning applications could become an important part of the solution. With improvements in network technologies and systems’ scalability, more and more globally-distributed applications are now available. Opportunities for people from varying societies to learn synchronously have thus multiplied. This being said, systems developed in a particular cultural setting and distributed around the world without taking into account variations in learners’ cultural backgrounds pave the way for potential misunderstanding and failure of adequate teaching. How might learners’ cultural background be adequately taken into consideration? How can content displayed to learners be culturally adapted? How can the most suitable strategies of interaction in accordance with learners’ cultural specificities be selected? These are some of the questions that will be addressed in this chapter.
Asian American Perspectives on Education and Technology
Authors: Subramony Deepak Prem
Published: May 2010

This chapter, based on fieldwork conducted in 2007 at a large public university in Hawaii, explores Asian American college students’ relationships with education and technology, and the role of educational and technological factors in their process of negotiating professional and cultural self-identities as contemporary Americans of Asian descent. The chapter elaborates upon the following key factors in this regard emerging from the study: (a) Education; (b) Access; (c) Prestige; (d) Survival; (e) Avoidance; and (f) Transnationalism. The chapter subsequently outlines a theoretical framework – based on Willis’ (1977) reformulation of the Marxian concept of “praxis” – characterizing the informants’ educational and technological endeavors as proactive attempts to create an empowered self-identity in response to their socio-cultural environment.
Developing a Model for Information Society Competencies Required by Managers in the Information Society
Authors: Broos Elizabeth
Published: May 2010

The purpose of this research is an attempt to obtain insight into the information, communication and technological competencies that managers currently need in order to work effectively in the information society. This is obtained by creating a model for those Information Society competencies for managers. This model is based on the results of a literature review, done in combination with a case study via a survey conducted in a large non-profit organization in the Netherlands. What is found is that especially the competencies ‘Having operational knowledge and insight into ICT’, ‘Finding and evaluating information on the Internet’ and ‘Participating in a learning organization’ are important factors that influence Information Society competence. The model might have implications for the curricula in higher education, especially for management training. The model may as well be an argument towards the provision of suitable performance support for just-in-time-learning for managers.
How People Learn with Computer Simulations
Authors: Holton Douglas L.
Published: May 2010

Using the four lenses of the How People Learn (HPL) framework, this chapter reviews research on the use of computer simulations for pedagogical purposes. Deciding when and how to support effective learning with simulations requires careful consideration of learner-centered, assessment-centered, knowledge-centered, and community-centered issues. By reviewing educational research on simulations from these four perspectives, one may then be better equipped to incorporate simulations into instruction and training in a manner that can align and balance all four perspectives, resulting in a more effective learning environment.
The MORE Model for Faculty Development
Authors: Wager Walter
Published: May 2010

For many faculty the integration of technology and learner-centered teaching strategies or the adoption of instructional “best practices” represents innovation and change. The author visited fifteen research intensive university faculty development centers, looking at what they considered best practices with regard to improving instruction. The practices and programs described had one or more of the following components: Motivation, Opportunity, Resources and Evaluation, what I am calling here the MORE model. This paper discusses these four factors important to instructional change agents. The paper ends with a list of implications, based on the model, for that would enable faculty development centers to have more control over the factors that are important to faculty success and systemic change.
Integrated Design of Web-Platform, Offline Supports, and Evaluation System for the Successful Implementation of University 2.0
Authors: Kim Soyoung , Kim Minyoung , Hong Junhee
Published: May 2010

University 2.0 is a collaborative way of constructing and sharing knowledge, based on epistemological and social technologies to amplify the effect of interaction and participation at higher education settings. In this case study, Web 2.0 social technologies were implemented to improve teaching and learning performances by integrating user-centered interactive platform, offline support strategies, and evaluation systems. The interactive web-platform is the essence of University 2.0 and enables the various interested parties to practice the 2.0 spirits of openness, sharing, and participation. In order to make learning based on the web-platform more effective and efficient, offline supports such as learning cells, learning facilitators, and learning spaces should be supplemented. The CIPP model was employed to monitor all processes of the University 2.0 project, to guide developers to the next steps, to attract attention from faculty members and students, and to derive consensus among them.
ICTs for Business Enterprise Mobility
Authors: Andersson Per , Sweet Susanne , Rosenqvist Christopher
Published: May 2010

This chapter puts focus on and relates to three central concepts “sustainability”, “mobility”, and “customer value”. The results from two long-term lines of research and two research programs are combined in the chapter. The first focuses on the effects of the use of new wireless communication and information on organizations in terms of changed “mobility” of people and artifacts within and between organizations. The second research area addressed is that of social and environmental enterprise and business. The chapter has the aim and ambition to contribute to a conceptual discussion on sustainability, mobility, and value. Based on the discussion, the chapter presents a set of propositions to help advance research in this relatively new research field. Short empirical examples are presented, followed by a concluding discussion and a set of propositions for further research.
ECORadar-Shakti
Authors: Kreeb Martin , Dold Georg , Haasis Hans-Dietrich
Published: May 2010

This chapter describes concept, design and future implementation of a knowledge based Internet portal - ECORadar Shakti India - aimed at small and medium sized enterprises of the Indian megacity Hyderabad. The portal sets out to use the simplest and most persuasive means to motivate and enable sustainability management in those enterprises that have so far taken little or no interest in this aspect of management. Hyderabad, a prime example of an emerging mega city, is a laboratory where the goal of becoming a sustainable mega city faces of difficult challenges. The intention to work towards a sustainable future will be difficult to achieve without adequate data, tools and implementation strategies. The research idea of this approach in Hyderabad was set up in a research program funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Philanthropy, CSR and Sustainability
Authors: Sahay Arun
Published: May 2010

Despite business’s business being business, the business owners have been doing acts of benevolence depending upon the owner’s religion, faith, values and beliefs. Establishment of temples, mosques, churches, schools, hospitals etc. has been usual practice through which firms have shown their concern about the society and made contribution to the social cause. However, of late, it is observed that progressive businesses, after understanding the nuances of sustainable development and its reporting, have moved from philanthropic mode of contributing to society to the concept of Corporate Social Responsibity (CSR). Some of them have gone beyond CSR and have entered the domain of Strategic CSR. In the process, a new concept of Corporate Sustainability, which is based on Triple Bottom-line concept, has emerged in strategic management literature. Thus, today CSR activities are being aligned with the business strategy of the firm. In the developed countries, firms are increasingly integrating CSR with the core business activities e.g. innovation, marketing, finance etc. This article attempts to look into firm’s CSR and corporate sustainability with special reference to a developing country - India.
Communicating Environmental Information on a Company and Inter-Organizational Level
Authors: Perl-Vorbach Elke
Published: May 2010

The collection, managing and communication of environmental information are nowadays seen as an essential prerequisite for sustainable development. However, ways of generating and exchanging environmental information differ within and between companies. Moreover, the use of highly sophisticated environmental information systems can still be seen at in its infancy. The aim of this chapter is thus to assess ways of the application of environmental information systems for sustainable development, both within and between organizations, can be supported. An empirical analysis of those barriers and obstacles, which inhibit the implementation of environmental information systems, is also carried out. Additionally, we also pay attention to forms of industry wide environmental protection, and take existing cooperation and relationships, sustainable supply chains, and recycling networks into account. For this purpose, basic conditions for the inter-organizational exchange of environmental information are investigated. This provides the basis for identifying means to strengthen the position of environmental protection in connection with inter-organizational exchange of environmental information. Improved methods of implementing environmental information systems within and between companies are developed, thus promoting greater cooperation for sustainable development.
The Need for Accounting in Dialects
Authors: Forsberg Per , Lind Mikael
Published: May 2010

This chapter deals with the challenge of ensuring and sustaining cultural competitiveness in a globalised world where control and management tend to be made at a distance. The authors illustrate this by arguing that family-run businesses have a special culture that makes them good at creating and taking part in innovative networks. Today this culture is however threatened. Implementation of technologies for controlling and governing at a distance destroy this special family-run business culture. As a solution to this problem the authors suggest that new technologies of communication have the potential to strengthen the ability to create innovative networks. New technologies of communication do this when they give rise to alternative forms of communication and thus complement management based on “controlling and acting at a distance”.
Workplace Location and ICTs Substituting Travel
Authors: Henriksson Greger , Räsänen Minna
Published: May 2010

This chapter is based on the assumption that keeping the number and length of business and commuting trips at reasonable levels could contribute to reaching targets of environmental sustainability. The authors highlight a couple of options for reducing or avoiding business trips and commuting through workplace location or improved use of communications. They present case studies concerning travel and communications, carried out by using diaries and interviews. They also present relevant literature on social practices and sustainability goals in relation to use of ICT. The aim is to shed light on variation in the use of travel and communications on an individual level in work life. The case studies illustrate that such variation is mainly due to the concrete practices involved in execution of professional duties and roles. Duties that involve a clearly defined end result or product being delivered regularly by the member of staff are correlated to clearly defined needs for communications. Less clearly defined end results of the work duties seem to make it harder for the individual to plan and perform communication and travel in a more energy saving way. The difference in professional duties can thus be expressed in terms of clarity and maturity. Another factor that affect who can replace travel with ICTs is relations of power, e.g., when a purchaser dictates the terms for a subcontractor concerning how and where to “deliver” his working time, service or product. The importance of clarity, maturity and power aspects means that professional practices need to be studied at a detailed level to find out who could substitute ICTs for travel and how this could be done.
The Making of the University Life Café
Authors: Hai-Jew Shalin
Published: May 2010

The building of an interactive, user-driven website for college students to promote mental health and wellness (and to combat suicide) has revealed important strategies in the construction of such a sociotechnical virtual learning environment. This project used a number of strategies to create allure to the site and to provide learning opportunities—through educational modules, virtual community mores of care for others, user interactivity, the support for student voices, and the use of artificial intelligence to enhance the security measures. Virtual learning environments that involve life-critical issues require an understanding of the domain field, potential site users, and thought-out strategies.
Argumentative Interactions and Learning Through a Virtual Environment
Authors: Muller Mirza Nathalie
Published: May 2010

In the scientific field, argumentative practices can, under certain conditions, help students to elaborate scientific concepts from everyday representations. However, setting up activities that enable learning in a classroom is not an easy matter. A technological environment may be useful in order to sustain argumentation and to “keep track” of the discursive processes. This chapter presents a pedagogical case in science in which the learners take part in an argumentative debate mediated by a technological environment, called Digalo. The chapter focuses on a socio-cultural perspective, thus assigning a central role to social interactions, symbolic and material mediation in development and learning processes. The author describes a case in Biology tested in two educational contexts, and discusses its psycho-pedagogical assumptions. From a qualitative analysis of the data, it appears that cognitive and argumentative processes are interconnected. This means that by articulating and making reference to the others’ arguments, learners also develop a new understanding of the scientific content. The challenges for educational issues and the lessons that may be drawn from an analysis of this case are then discussed.
Using Digital Communities to Enhance Student Persistence and Retention
Authors: Layne Charles S. , Lee Rebecca E. , O’Connor Daniel P. , Horn Catherine L. , McFarlin Brian K.
Published: May 2010

Achieving student persistence and retention at the University of Houston has often been a challenge for the university. This chapter concerns using Second Life to develop a digital community of students from a single academic department to enhance student persistence toward graduation. It was postulated that the development of a digital community could strengthen the social cohesion of the students and thereby promote academic persistence. Students joined Second Life voluntarily or as part of their course requirements and then were invited to participate in various social and educational activities led by their classmates. The amount of time spent in Second Life was tracked and will be compared to academic performance.
Designing for Social Interaction and Social Competence in a 3D-VLE
Authors: Laffey James , Schmidt Matthew , Stichter Janine , Schmidt Carla , Oprean Danielle
Published: May 2010

The purpose of the iSocial project is to support the development and practice of social competence for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) through a social-skills curriculum and online social interaction delivered via a 3D virtual learning environment (3D-VLE). This chapter describes the background and rationale for developing iSocial, gives an overview of the system, and reports some of the results from a field test of a partial system implementation. The field test provides lessons about the initial system design and recognition of challenges to be faced. The key challenges include (1) finding best approaches for adapting effective teaching approaches to a 3D-VLE, (2) supporting online social interaction for a target population challenged to be social, and (3) amplifying the engagement of youth in support of achieving desired learning outcomes.
Ethical and Legal Issues in Teaching and Learning in Second Life in a Graduate Online Course
Authors: Talab R.S. , Botterbusch Hope R.
Published: May 2010

As a growing number of faculty use SL as a teaching platform, outside of anecdotal articles and the legal literature, no research exists on the many legal and ethical issues that affect course development. Ethical issues include abuse (“griefing”) nudity and lewd behavior, and false/misleading identities. Legal issues include creation and use of copyrighted and trademarked items, faculty intellectual property rights in objects and course content, and criminal behavior. Following the experiences of the instructor and 5 students, their 12-week journey is documented through interviews, journals, weekly course activities, SL class dialogs, and in-world assignments. Additionally, 5 faculty and staff experts who teach or train in SL at this university were interviewed and consulted, as well. This study provides insight for designing courses that foster exploration of rich learning opportunities outside a traditional classroom-both real and virtual.
Second Life® Project Development as a Venue for Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Authors: Toth-Cohen Susan , Mitchell Pamela R.
Published: May 2010

The increasing complexity of health service delivery, along with rapid growth of the older population, increased survival of premature births and serious accidents, and retirement of baby boomer healthcare workers have created a critical need for health care professionals who can function as team members and leaders who collaborate to deliver effective, individualized care. Yet, while collaboration between disciplines is considered an ideal, many barriers impede its implementation, including geographic isolation and limited information exchange opportunities (Kilgo & Bruder, 1997). As a result, students in health disciplines frequently are educated without exposure to the professionals with whom they will work when entering the workforce. The need for interprofessional education was highlighted by concerns noted by the Committee on the Health Professional Education Summit for the Board of Health Care Services of the Institute of Medicine in 2003, that reported a major disconnect between the isolated professional education approach in health care and increasing expectations for interdisciplinary team-based care. The Center for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education indicates that benefits of such an educational approach can cultivate closer collaboration between professions, organizations and service users, which can improve quality of care (Center for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education, 2002). The ability of health-related programs to implement interprofessional project-based learning is often hampered by distance, time and programmatic constraints. Virtual worlds such as Second Life can help address these constraints. Virtual worlds like Second Life® (SL) provide unique venues for fostering collaboration by closing the gaps created by distance and lack of information exchange. In this chapter, the authors describe the process of collaboration by occupational therapy (OT) and speech-language pathology (SLP) students and faculty in developing an educational event in the virtual environment of SL. The event planning and implementation provide an example of project-based learning (Donnelly & Fitzmaurice, 2005) and interdisciplinary community-building that provides insights and “lessons learned” with application to future project development in virtual worlds. The authors discuss the applications of project-based learning for interdisciplinary team building, describe student and faculty roles and specific steps in planning, management, and production of an event for current and prospective OT and SLP students, and analyze challenges and supports in project implementation
Critical Thinking in Discussion
Authors: Shedletsky Leonard
Published: May 2010

This chapter explores the question: does online discussion produce critical thinking? It presents a selective review of the literature concerned with critical thinking and/or interaction during online discussion. It presents an experimental study of the effects of instructional media and instructional methods on critical thinking. The study tests the influence on critical thinking of online vs. face-to-face discussion, individual vs. group consensus in summarizing discussion, and discussion of examples of concepts vs. discussion of more abstract analysis. The purpose for reviewing the literature and carrying out the study is to increase awareness of variables that may influence the quality of discussion.
Herding Cats
Authors: Philip Donald N.
Published: May 2010

Teachers using online learning environments have found that traditional classroom control techniques do not work when applied online. Instead, other approaches need to be used. This chapter introduces the concept of knowledge-building as an approach that is effective in online learning, and the concept of protocological control as a means of controlling the communications networks that evolve during the learning process. Data from a study involving students in a gr. 5/6 hybrid (online and face-to-face) class are used to illustrate how the teacher controls the learning process when the students all work independently of each other. The use of social network analysis as a tool for visualizing the communications networks that form is demonstrated.
The Critical and Historical View in Communities of Practice (CoP) for the Development in Education
Authors: Mengalli Neli Maria , Armando Valente José
Published: May 2010

This chapter describes the training course for school managers for the use of information and communication technology (ICT) that was developed at Sao Paulo Pontifical Catholic University, (PUC-SP), Brazil. This was a blended course, using face-to-face and online activities, providing school managers with the experience of using ICT to share experiences, and to learn about effective ways of using ICT for school management. Even though the school managers had no previous experience with technology they succeed in changing their working reality and understanding the use of ICT to interact, exchange documents and organize their ideas. This experience has produced two other important results. One is the interaction that enables the formation of collaborative networks and partnership among school managers. Social and cultural practices were considered for analysis concerning the subjects that contributed to the creation of the ICT culture in the school. The authors have considered this network and the building of this community as the seed of a community of practice (CoP), as proposed by Wenger (1998a). Second, it was possible to see a close relationship between Wenger’s theory and Freire’s (2003) educational approach, which showed that social transformations are constructed on the basis of participants’ will and in the presence of leadership in a historic moment.
Information Model and Measurement
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

Accurate modeling and measurement of digital information is very important to ascertain the commercial value for the same. The value and demand for the information fluctuates all along the information supply chain posing a challenge for the players of the supply chain. It calls for a dynamic supply chain model. In this chapter, a predictive model based on information feedback is introduced to exploit the dynamism.
Information Representation
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

The data from the supplier of the supply chain provides relevant information for the customers only when presented in the appropriate form. The data is to be modeled for to be meaningful and make sense. In this chapter, the semantic web is introduced to bring out the meaning for the data. Hierarchical organization is proposed for the data to provide meaning for different players along the supply chain.
Information Systems
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

The activities of information administration in an organization are wound around the information system. It forms the gate for the organizational information lifecycle and the supply chain that enables the information to be shared across. In this chapter, the model of information system for successful sharing of information is provided.
Information Acquisition and Presentation
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

Acquisition of information is the first step in the journey of information along the supply chain. The usage of internet has made it possible to get the information on the fly from a variety of sources at different physical locations which otherwise is impossible. This chapter provides the technology behind the acquisition of information and the usage of signal processing algorithms for the same. Finally, the acquired information is to be rendered to the customer in the best possible form. The different data rendering methods are outlined here.
Information Compression
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

If a large data transactions are to happen in the supply chain over the web, the resources would be strained and lead to choking of the network apart from the increased transfer costs. To use the available resources over the internet effectively, the data is often compressed before transfer. This chapter provides the different methods and levels of data compression. A separate section is devoted for multimedia data compression where a certain losses in the data is tolerable during compression due to the limitations of human perception.
Meta Data Representation
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

In the ocean of information that gets transferred over the supply chain, it is difficult to get what is required for the customer. Toward this end, a description of the information is necessary. This chapter explains how metadata describes the information. In addition, it provides the framework for service description and message exchange in web services. Hierarchical representation of data abstractions to cater for the services is introduced.
Information Integration
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

In an information supply chain, data gets pumped over the web from several distinct sources in various forms calling for efforts towards data integration. The integration happens at various levels by means of different algorithms. This chapter provides a framework for the interoperability of the data from different sources. The use case of integration in data warehouses is provided.
Information Storage
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

The success of information transfer from the suppliers depends largely up on the organization of the data to cater for different categories of the users. It calls for quick, competitive and cost effective solutions. To meet the same, hierarchical data representation is introduced in this chapter. The example of Data warehouse is considered to explain the concept.
Information Archiving
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

In order to keep the information accessible for the customers over the supply chain, the data in demand is to be archived and rendered with attraction. One of the major issues with the data archives is the access time. The same is addressed in this chapter with new archival methodologies.
Information Retrieval
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

The demand of the end user for the information is to be fulfilled by the supporting supply chain. The search queries for the data are to be appropriately handled to supply the content seamlessly. The users finally have to get what they want. This chapter explains how the quality of search results can be improved with a little processing on the queries.
Knowledge Base Systems
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

A dumb information system in the information supply chain can provide data that is often difficult for the customer to interpret and use. To help in this regard, machine intelligence based on some learning rules is introduced in this chapter. Architecture of the knowledge base and the rule base are explained. The acquired knowledge from the different sources is to be consolidated.
Information Mining
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

The data in its raw form may not be of much use for the end customer. In the attempt to extract the knowledge from the data, the concept of data mining is extremely useful. This chapter explains how the data is to be filtered out to extract useful information. Often, exactly this information is requested by the players of the supply chain towards decision making. They are not interested in the binary data.
Knowledge Management
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

The data in its raw form can make some meaning as information after being subjected to a variety of processes. With the available information, it is possible further to extract the contextual meaning by translating the same in to knowledge. In this chapter, the paradigm of knowledge management is introduced. The acquired knowledge is useful as a tool for the players of the supply chain. Internet plays a crucial role in sharing the knowledge. The different web based techniques for knowledge management are provided here.
Information Transmission with Quality of Service
Authors: Ramachandra Manjunath
Published: May 2010

The data being transferred over the supply chain has to compete with the increasing applications around the web, throwing open the challenge of meeting the constraint of in-time data transfers with the available resources. It often leads to flooding of resources, resulting in the wastage of time and loss of data. Most of the applications around the customer require real time data transfer over the web to enable right decisions. To make it happen, stringent constraints are required to be imposed on the quality of the transfer. This chapter provides the mechanism for shaping of traffic flows towards sharing the existing infrastructure.
Synthesis of Macrocyclic Hexaoxazole (6OTD) Dimers, Containing Guanidine and Amine Functionalized Side Chains, and an Evaluation of Their Telomeric G4 Stabilizing Properties
Authors: Iida Keisuke , Tera Masayuki , Hirokawa Takatsugu , Shin-ya Kazuo , Nagasawa Kazuo
Published: May 2010

Structure‐activity relationship studies were carried out on macrocyclic hexaoxazole (6OTD) dimers, whose core structure stabilizes telomeric G‐quadruplexes (G4). Two new 6OTD dimers having side chain amine and guanidine functional groups were synthesized and evaluated for their stabilizing ability against a telomeric G4 DNA sequence. The results show that the 6OTD dimers interact with the DNA to form 1:1 complexes and stabilize the antiparallel G4 structure of DNA in the presence of potassium cation. The guanidine functionalized dimer displays a potent stabilizing ability of the G4 structure, as determined by using a FRET melting assay (ΔTm = 14  °C).