bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Inscribing Interpretive Flexibility of Context Data in Ubiquitous Computing Environments
Authors: Andersson Magnus , Lindgren Rikard
Published: May 2011

Ubiquitous computing environments grant organizations a multitude of dynamic context data emanating from embedded and mobile components. Such data may enhance organizations’ understanding of the different contexts in which they act. However, extant IS literature indicates that the utility of context data is frequently hampered by a priori interpretations of context embodied within the acquiring technologies themselves. Building on a 5-year canonical action research study within the Swedish transport industry, this paper reports an attempt to shift the locus of interpretation of context data by rearranging an assemblage of embedded, mobile, and stationary technologies. This was done by developing a vertical standard as a means to inscribe interpretive flexibility of context data. With the objective to extend the current understanding of how to enable cross-organizational access to reinterpretable context data, the paper contributes with an analysis of existing design requirements for context-aware ecosystems. This analysis reveals the complexity of accomplishing collaborative linkages between socio-technical elements in ubiquitous computing environments, and highlights important implications for research and practice.
An Internet Framework for Pervasive Sensor Computing
Authors: Peng Rui , Hua Kien A. , Cheng Hao
Published: May 2011

The rapid increase of sensor networks has brought a revolution in pervasive computing. However, data from these fragmented and heterogeneous sensor networks are easily shared. Existing sensor computing environments are based on the traditional database approach, in which sensors are tightly coupled with specific applications. Such static configurations are effective only in situations where all the participating sources are precisely known to the application developers, and users are aware of the applications. A pervasive computing environment raises more challenges, due to ad hoc user requests and the vast number of available sources, making static integration less effective. This paper presents an Internet framework called iSEE (Internet Sensor Exploration Environment) which provides a more complete environment for pervasive sensor computing. iSEE enables advertising and sharing of sensors and applications on the Internet with unsolicited users much like how Web pages are publicly shared today.
Situated Knowledge in Context-Aware Computing
Authors: Svahn Fredrik , Henfridsson Ola
Published: May 2011

A central feature of ubiquitous computing applications is their capability to automatically react on context changes so as to support users in their mobility. Such context awareness relies on models of specific use contexts, embedded in ubiquitous computing environments. However, since most such models are based merely on location and identity parameters, context-aware applications seldom cater for users’ situated knowledge and experience of specific contexts. This is a general user problem in well-known, but yet dynamic, user environments. Drawing on a sequential multimethod study of in-car navigation, this paper explores the role of situated knowledge in designing and using context-aware applications. This focus is motivated by the current lack of empirical investigations of context-aware applications in actual use settings. In-car navigation systems are a type of context-aware application that includes a set of contextual parameters for supporting route guidance in a volatile context. The paper outlines a number of theoretical and practical implications for context-aware application design and use.
A Service-Oriented Privacy-Aware System for Medication Safety and Prescription Compliance in Smart Home Environments
Authors: Álamo José M. Reyes , Babbitt Ryan , Yang Hen-I , Sarkar Tanmoy , Wong Johnny , Chang Carl K.
Published: May 2011

Medication management is becoming more complex, and the likelihood of unsafe prescriptions has increased because of the rapid pace of new medications introduced to the market, the trend of modern healthcare towards specialization, and the variety of medication interactions that complicate the prescribing process and patient management of medications. The severity of this problem is magnified when patients require multiple medications or have cognitive impairments. To counter this problem and improve the quality of patient healthcare, we designed and implemented a service-oriented system for medication management that collects and integrates information from patient smart homes, doctor offices and pharmacies to 1) detect adverse reactions among prescribed medications, existing health conditions, and foods, and 2) monitor and promote compliance with prescription instructions. The system is privacy-aware and designed to support information privacy regulations, such as the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
End User Context Modeling in Ambient Assisted Living
Authors: Wojciechowski Manfred
Published: May 2011

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) services provide intelligent and context aware assistance for elderly people in their home environment. Following the vision of an open AAL service marketplace, such an approach has to support all lifecycle phases of an AAL service, starting with its specification and development until its operation within the user’s smart environment. In AAL the support of a user level context model becomes important. This enables an inhabitant of a smart home to get and give feedback on context without technical expertise and intensive training. At the same time, the context model has to be operational and to support context dependent service adaption and abstraction of the underlying context sensors. This leads to a layered context model for AAL with abstraction levels for different aspects. In this paper we focus on the requirements, the model elements and the concepts of the user interface layer of our approach.
E-Governance vs. E-Readiness in Urban Municipal Governments in Tamil Nadu, India
Authors: Mohamed Abdul Razak
Published: May 2011

The fast growing information and communication technology (ICT) sector brought in the use of computers, internet and mobile phones not only by the technocrats but also by the general public to receive and send communication faster, cheaper and easier. This situation brought out visible changes in people life, government function and cities spatial form and structure. Globally, the e-Governance system approach attempts to change the government-centered planning and delivery of civic services to people-centered planning and execution of development. It is also evident that the transformation is prominent not only in the planning and production of services but also in terms of urban local government system. This is to state that there are two noticeable visible changes in the government system such as (a) Government to Governance, and (b) Governance to e-Governance. These changes make the central, state and local governments more responsible, transparent, and participatory in terms of planning, development and management of towns and cities. But due to the urgency and cope with the World order the central, state and local governments in India introduce e-Governance without looking into the concept of e-Readiness. This chapter attempts to explore the basic question such as how the application of e-Governance system to be considered as an important means towards improvement in the service delivery systems of urban local governments within the perspective of e-Readiness.
Municipal Mobile SMS Services
Authors: López Rodolfo Castillo
Published: May 2011

The Municipality of La Paz (MLP) has been a pioneer municipal institution in applying Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for its benefit and the benefit of La Paz’s citizens in the last 10 years. In 2009 the Government of the Municipality of La Paz (GMLP) developed a new Master Plan, with the objective to further improve its management and to further reduce bureaucracy and corruption. This Plan consisted of several elements, one of them related to ICT, was the introduction of 18 new Web Services of which 9 are Web Geographical Services and 9 are Mobile Short Message System (SMS) Services. This Chapter presents how the MLP developed into a modern and efficient institution while providing services and information to its citizens through these e-Government initiatives and ultimately through the use of mobile phones using SMS. Municipalities and governments in general that are applying mobile services and information are now called “Mobile Governments” or “M-Governments”.
Usage Intention of E-Government Services in Macao
Authors: Lee Chang Boon Patrick , Lei U Ian Edith
Published: May 2011

To implement electronic-government (e-government) services successfully, it is important to know the factors that influence their acceptance. In this study, we investigated the influence of trust and compatibility in the context of usage intention of e-government services in Macao. In Macao, government services are easily accessible via government departments and offices. Switching to e-government services would require users’ trust and having the services fit into the users’ way of life. The results of our analyses found that trust and compatibility are positively related to usage intention and that the independent variables accounted for 63 percent of the variance in usage intention. We discussed the implications of the research findings.
Evaluation of Turkish Public E-Procurement Systems
Authors: Imamoglu Meltem Yildirim , Rehan Mohammed
Published: May 2011

However all these needs to gain strong expertise and competence of technological and administrative talent is needed to make the government and suppliers together via the Internet. The aim of this work is to introduce the evaluation processes and tools using the technique of SWOT analysis in the existing studies to provide empirical illustration of how this perspective would be used to give a sense of public e-procurement in action and it also aims to make a new sustainable reliable e-governmental model that includes change management, interdepartmental coordination, resolving the security and authentication for implementing public e-procurement in the frame of Turkish e-Government infrastructure and projects. In this context, a key objective is to develop Governmental policy regarding interactions with private and public sectors. In order to minimize information transformation initiatives, risks, and policy implementation should focus on promoting strengthening effective and affordable connectivity and interoperability.
The Ghana Community Network Services Ltd (GCNet)
Authors: Awotwi Johanna Ekua
Published: May 2011

Views from some stake holders; attempts to improve the system and recommendations are also considered.
E-Turkey
Authors: Arpaci Ibrahim
Published: May 2011

This chapter focuses on e-Turkey. In other word, this chapter is about electronic government (e-government) activities, developments and improvements in Turkey. The success and challenges of e-government are analyzed in a national context. The purpose of the study is to analyze ongoing e-government projects held in Turkey and identify stakeholders, drivers, and challenges of the e-government projects. This study is a qualitative research. During data collection, a series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with top and middle level managers within public organizations. Moreover, the study involved information and data from the literature and the Turkish governmental organizations. Results of the study indicate that there are many successful e-government projects carried out by the interaction of stakeholders. In spite of some challenges, Turkey is advancing rapidly on the way to the information society.
Experiences in E-Governance from an ICT4G Perspective
Authors: Cernuzzi Luca , González Magalí , Ronchetti Marco , Villafiorita Adolfo , Weldemariam Komminist
Published: May 2011

In a world characterized by rapid change driven by globalization, an ICT-based economy transformation poses some challenges and opportunities for the private sector and the government sector alike. ICT has for some time been at the core of government tasks, inseparable from strategy, planning, consultation and implementation to improve citizen’s life in different ways. Nevertheless, indications are that the government sector has been falling behind in these practices (mostly in developing countries), compared to the private sector. This realization has prompted some governments to put ICT high on their policy agendas, with the aim of introducing ICT-based solutions to improve their public administration processes, and thus deliver ‘quality public services’. We define ICT for Good (ICT4G) as the use of ICT to addressing critical problems in societies characterized by low ICT penetration in a way that life is impacted for the better. Along this line, we have been working on the design, development, and evaluation of ICT solutions that directly require the involvement of citizen on the usage of the developed system itself and/or on the decision-making processes. In this chapter, we discuss our experiences and lessons learned in this holistic approach to e-Governance projects from the ICT4G perspective and the role it can play for developing countries.
Strategic Innovation and the Knowledge Society
Authors: Serna Leonardo Pineda
Published: May 2011

It has become increasingly evident that knowledge is intimately associated with strategic innovation (i.e. as a deliberate action allowing the benefits arising from new technological changes to produce better conditions for being able to become part of the so-called knowledge society). Several academic studies and empirical investigations carried out by international organisms have agreed on this point. However, Latin-America (including Caribbean countries) are still far from achieving levels above the world average, there being very few exceptions which thereby seem more to corroborate the rule. One difficulty seems to stem from the low level of ICT positioning in the region’s countries, as well as the lack of research and development policies and innovation strategies for improving such countries’ competitiveness (and that of the region taken as a whole). This chapter proposes schemes which would provide a viable solution to the quandary which Latin-America is in.
E-Government Clusters
Authors: Sund Kristian J. , Adala Ajay Kumar Reddy
Published: May 2011

The concept of industrial clusters has received much attention in the literature over the past few decades and many examples of clusters exist today in a variety of industries, from manufacturing to services. Within such clusters, competitive cost and innovation advantages are generated through co-location. Very recently several examples of e-government clusters have emerged. This chapter offers a conceptualization of what an e-government cluster is, and how it may be different from other industrial clusters. This chapter is an attempt to formulate a framework for e-government clusters and bring out the necessary conditions for policy decisions to support the creation of such a cluster. An attempt has also been made to validate the proposed framework on the basis of case studies and to derive some recommendations to sustain the operation of e-government clusters.
The Knowledge Economy
Authors: Piaggesi Danilo , Chea Maria J.
Published: May 2011

The escalating competitiveness in the international global economy has created a growing demand for the creation and diffusion of knowledge. A Knowledge Economy (KE) is one that by creating and taking advantage of new knowledge can dramatically increase the wealth of a nation. Many countries have grown to become successful knowledge economies including Finland, the United States and most recently Korea, China and India. Latin American and Caribbean countries are faced with the predicament of being left behind because of their low quality of education, their weak macroeconomic base and their poor infrastructure on information and communication technologies (ICT). There are several indicators that need to be improved to establish a base for knowledge economy such as laws, improvement and creation of research and development institutions, education infrastructure, comprehensive intellectual property rights, ICT networks, and knowledge transfers between research institutions and local enterprises. This chapter brings in the concept of the KE as a new development paradigm for Latin America and the Caribbean region.
Addressing the Challenges of Detecting Epistasis in Genome-Wide Association Studies of Common Human Diseases Using Biological Expert Knowledge
Authors: Pattin Kristine A. , Moore Jason H.
Published: May 2011

Recent technological developments in the field of genetics have given rise to an abundance of research tools, such as genome-wide genotyping, that allow researchers to conduct genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for detecting genetic variants that confer increased or decreased susceptibility to disease. However, discovering epistatic, or gene-gene, interactions in high dimensional datasets is a problem due to the computational complexity that results from the analysis of all possible combinations of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A recently explored approach to this problem employs biological expert knowledge, such as pathway or protein-protein interaction information, to guide an analysis by the selection or weighting of SNPs based on this knowledge. Narrowing the evaluation to gene combinations that have been shown to interact experimentally provides a biologically concise reason why those two genes may be detected together statistically. This chapter discusses the challenges of discovering epistatic interactions in GWAS and how biological expert knowledge can be used to facilitate genome-wide genetic studies.
Prediction of Epigenetic Target Sites by Using Genomic DNA Sequence
Authors: Yuan Guo-Cheng
Published: May 2011

Epigenetic regulation provides an extra layer of gene control in addition to the genomic sequence and is critical for the maintenance of cell-type specific gene expression programs. Significant changes of epigenetic patterns have been linked to developmental stages, environmental exposure, ageing, and diet. However, the regulatory mechanisms for epigenetic recruitment, maintenance, and switch are still poorly understood. Computational biology provides tools to deeply uncover hidden connections and these tools have played a major role in shaping the current understanding of gene regulation, but its application in epigenetics is still in the infancy. This chapter reviews some recent developments of computational approaches to predict epigenetic target sites.
Modules in Biological Networks
Authors: Zhang Bing , Shi Zhiao
Published: May 2011

One of the most prominent properties of networks representing complex systems is modularity. Network-based module identification has captured the attention of a diverse group of scientists from various domains and a variety of methods have been developed. The ability to decompose complex biological systems into modules allows the use of modules rather than individual genes as units in biological studies. A modular view is shaping research methods in biology. Module-based approaches have found broad applications in protein complex identification, protein function prediction, protein expression prediction, as well as disease studies. Compared to single gene-level analyses, module-level analyses offer higher robustness and sensitivity. More importantly, module-level analyses can lead to a better understanding of the design and organization of complex biological systems.
Using Functional Linkage Gene Networks to Study Human Diseases
Authors: Linghu Bolan , Liu Guohui , Xia Yu
Published: May 2011

A major challenge in the post-genomic era is to understand the specific cellular functions of individual genes and how dysfunctions of these genes lead to different diseases. As an emerging area of systems biology, gene networks have been used to shed light on gene function and human disease. In this chapter, first the existence of functional association for genes working in a common biological process or implicated in a common disease is demonstrated. Next, approaches to construct the functional linkage gene network (FLN) based on genomic and proteomic data integration are reviewed. Finally, two FLN-based applications related to diseases are reviewed: prediction of new disease genes and therapeutic targets, and identification of disease-disease associations at the molecular level. Both of these applications bring new insights into the molecular mechanisms of diseases, and provide new opportunities for drug discovery.
Unsupervised Methods to Identify Cellular Signaling Networks from Perturbation Data
Authors: Natarajan Madhusudan
Published: May 2011

The inference of cellular architectures from detailed time-series measurements of intracellular variables is an active area of research. High throughput measurements of responses to cellular perturbations are usually analyzed using a variety of machine learning methods that typically only work within one type of measurement. Here, summaries of some recent research attempts are presented–these studies have expanded the scope of the problem by systematically integrating measurements across multiple layers of regulation including second messengers, protein phosphorylation markers, transcript levels, and functional phenotypes into signaling vectors or signatures of signal transduction. Data analyses through simple unsupervised methods provide rich insight into the biology of the underlying network, and in some cases reconstruction of key architectures of the underlying network from perturbation data. The methodological advantages provided by these efforts are examined using data from a publicly available database of responses to systematic perturbations of cellular signaling networks generated by the Alliance for Cellular Signaling (AfCS).
Complexity and Modularity of MAPK Signaling Networks
Authors: Popescu George V. , Popescu Sorina C.
Published: May 2011

Signaling through mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades is a conserved and fundamental process in all eukaryotes. This chapter reviews recent progress made in the identification of components of MAPK signaling networks using novel large scale experimental methods. It also presents recent landmarks in the computational modeling and simulation of the dynamics of MAPK signaling modules. The in vitro MAPK signaling network reconstructed from predicted phosphorylation events is dense, supporting the hypothesis of a combinatorial control of transcription through selective phosphorylation of sets of transcription factors. Despite the fact that additional co-factors and scaffold proteins may regulate the dynamics of signal transduction in vivo, the complexity of MAPK signaling networks supports a new model that departs significantly from that of the classical definition of a MAPK cascade.
Granger Causality
Authors: Ge Tian , Feng Jianfeng
Published: May 2011

As one of the most successful approaches to uncover complex network structures from experimental data, Granger causality has been widely applied to various reverse engineering problems. This chapter first reviews some current developments of Granger causality and then presents the graphical user interface (GUI) to facilitate the application. To make Granger causality more computationally feasible and satisfy biophysical constraints for dealing with increasingly large dynamical datasets, two attempts are introduced including the combination of Granger causality and Basis Pursuit when faced with non-uniformly sampled data and the unification of Granger causality and the Dynamic Causal Model as a novel Unified Causal Model (UCM) to bring in the notion of stimuli and modifying coupling. Several examples, both from toy models and real experimental data, are included to demonstrate the efficacy and power of the Granger causality approach.
Structural Alignment of RNAs with Pseudoknots
Authors: Wong Thomas K. F. , Yiu S. M.
Published: May 2011

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are found to be critical for many biological processes. However, identifying these molecules is very difficult and challenging due to the lack of strong detectable signals such as opening read frames. Most computational approaches rely on the observation that the secondary structures of ncRNA molecules are conserved within the same family. Aligning a known ncRNA to a target candidate to determine the sequence and structural similarity helps in identifying de novo ncRNA molecules that are in the same family of the known ncRNA. However, the problem becomes more difficult if the secondary structure contains pseudoknots. Only until recently, many of the existing approaches could not handle structures with pseudoknots. This chapter reviews the state-of-the-art algorithms for different types of structures that contain pseudoknots including standard pseudoknot, simple non-standard pseudoknot, recursive standard pseudoknot, and recursive simple non-standard pseudoknot. Although none of the algorithms is designed for general pseudoknots, these algorithms already cover all known ncRNAs in both Rfam and PseudoBase databases. The evaluation of the algorithms also shows that the approach is useful in identifying ncRNA molecules in other species, which are in the same family of a known ncRNA.
A Multiscale Computational Model of Chemotactic Axon Guidance
Authors: Aletti Giacomo , Causin Paola , Naldi Giovanni , Semplice Matteo
Published: May 2011

In the development of the nervous system, the migration of neurons driven by chemotactic cues has been known since a long time to play a key role. In this mechanism, the axonal projections of neurons detect very small differences in extracellular ligand concentration across the tiny section of their distal part, the growth cone. The internal transduction of the signal performed by the growth cone leads to cytoskeleton rearrangement and biased cell motility. A mathematical model of neuron migration provides hints of the nature of this process, which is only partially known to biologists and is characterized by a complex coupling of microscopic and macroscopic phenomena. This chapter focuses on the tight connection between growth cone directional sensing as the result of the information collected by several transmembrane receptors, a microscopic phenomenon, and its motility, a macroscopic outcome. The biophysical hypothesis investigated is the role played by the biased re-localization of ligand-bound receptors on the membrane, actively convected by growing microtubules. The results of the numerical simulations quantify the positive feedback exerted by the receptor redistribution, assessing its importance in the neural guidance mechanism.
Selective Querying for Adapting Hierarchical Web Service Compositions
Authors: Harney John , Doshi Prashant
Published: May 2011

Web Service compositions (WSC) often operate in volatile environments where the parameters of the component services change during execution. To remain optimal, the WSC could adapt to these changes by querying the participating providers for their revised parameters. Previously, the value of changed information (VOC) has been utilized in simple WSCs to selectively query only those services whose revised parameters are expected to bring about significant changes in the composition. In many cases, however, in order to promote scalability, a WSC is formulated as a more complex, nested structure – a higher-level WSC may be composed of WSs and lower-level WSCs – inducing a natural hierarchy over the composition. This chapter presents a novel approach that extends the capabilities of VOC-driven querying to address the problem of adapting hierarchical WSCs. It shows how to compose and adapt hierarchical WSCs by first deriving a model of volatility for lower-level WSCs and then by descending down the levels of nesting and computing the VOC for WSCs at each level. Experimental results demonstrate that this approach provides an effective and efficient solution for complex, hierarchical WSCs.
Specification of Non-functional Requirements and Their Trade-offs in Service Contracts in the NGOSS Framework
Authors: Liu Xiaoqing , Georgalas Nektarios
Published: May 2011

The community of Operation Support Systems (OSS) for telecom applications defined a set of fundamental principles, processes, and architectures for developing the Next Generation OSS through the TeleManagement Forum TMF. At the heart of NGOSS lies the notion of a “Contract” which embodies the specification of services offered by an OSS component for quality management and product evaluation. However, TMF does not provide any method (or process) for specification of the non-functional part in the NGOSS contract specification. This chapter develops a systematic approach for specifying non-functional requirements of telecom OSS applications for contracts in the NGOSS framework for quality management and evaluation. Specifically, two categories of non-functional specification techniques are explored: qualitative and quantitative. Furthermore, two quantitative non-functional requirements specification methods are introduced: crisp and elastic to expand the capability of the current NGOSS contract specification method since only qualitative non-functional specification is currently available from TMF. In addition, a technique is developed for specification of trade-offs between non-functional requirements.
Complexity Analysis at Design Stages of Service Oriented Architectures as a Measure of Reliability Risks
Authors: Sadi Muhammad Sheikh , Myers D. G. , Sanchez Cesar Ortega
Published: May 2011

Tremendous growth in interest of Service oriented Architectures (SOA) triggers a substantial amount of research in its reliability assurances. To minimize the risks of these types of systems’ failure, it is a requirement to flag those components of SOA that are likely to have higher faults. Clearly, the degree of protection or prevention of faults mechanism is not same for all components. This chapter proposes the usage of metrics that are simply heuristics and are used to scan the system model and flag complex components where faults are more likely to take place. Thus the metric output is some priority or it is a measure of likelihood of faults in a component. This chapter then suggests the designers for possible changes in the design if there remains any risk(s) of degradation of desired functionalities.
Dependability Assessment of Service-Oriented Architectures Using Fault Injection
Authors: Looker Nik , Munro Malcolm
Published: May 2011

Dependability assessment is an important aspect of any software system and shows the degree of trust and quality of service that is delivered by a system. Validation and verification techniques commonly employed to ensure that systems are fit for use attempt to remove all faults so that error conditions cannot occur but since it is not feasible to verify all states a system can achieve, it is not possible to completely test a system. Conversely, dependability assumes that failures may occur in a system and that mechanisms exist to mitigate any failures and thus provide a trustworthy system. This chapter discusses the different issues associated with dependability. The different techniques that can be used to assess dependability are discussed and are related to Service Orientated Architectures. A number of cases studies are used to show the practicality of the techniques used.
Research Review
Authors: Svingby Gunilla , Nilsson Elisabet M.
Published: May 2011

The interest for game-based learning is growing among science educators. A range of research reviews have been published regarding the educational potentials of using computer games as a tool for learning and mediation, but on a general level. This research review focuses on empirical studies conducted on computer game play specifically used to enhance science learning. 50 publications published during the last decade were found that met the criteria of presenting empirical data from students using games for learning science in school contexts. The studies are reviewed and analysed according to: type of game, research design, research interests and research methodology, school subject and content, number and age of students, time spent on the intervention, gender, and teacher roles. The scope and quality of the studies are also discussed.
Classifying Serious Games
Authors: Djaouti Damien , Alvarez Julian , Jessel Jean-Pierre
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce an overall classification system for Serious Games. ?The intention of this classification is to guide people through the vast field of Serious Games by providing them with a general overview. For example, it may appeal to teachers who wish to find games with strong educational potential though they may be outside the “edugames” field. This chapter will start by discussing the definition of Serious Games, and define them as having a combination of “serious” and “game” aspects. This theoretical framework will be used to review previous classification systems and discuss their limitations. It will then introduce a new classification that addresses a number of these limitations: the G/P/S model. This classifies games according to both their “serious-related” and “game-related” characteristics, and combines the strengths of several previous classification systems.
ARGuing for Multilingual Motivation in Web 2.0
Authors: Hainey Thomas , Connolly Thomas , Stansfield Mark , Boyle Liz
Published: May 2011

While there are some teachers who are dubious about the benefits of gaming in education, language teachers make great use of simulation/gaming methodologies, and there are many supporting textbooks. While many of the simulations/games used are non-computer based, during recent years, the computer game has become an important development in popular culture. During the same period, there has been an appreciation that computer games can play a significant role in education. This chapter explores the use of one particular type of computer game called an Alternate Reality Game (ARG), a form of interactive narrative, often involving multiple media and game elements. The chapter has developed an ARG to motivate secondary school students to learn a modern foreign language and has piloted this game across Europe in 2009. This chapter will review the empirical literature associated with the utilisation of ARGs for educational purposes and will focus on language learning. The chapter will then present a quantitative and qualitative analysis of student motivation in the pilot study using a developed evaluation framework for games-based learning. The evaluation will focus on learner motivations, aspects of the ARG, player perceptions, skills acquired, attitudes and qualitative data. The chapter will reflect on this analysis and provide directions for future research.
Computer Games for Affective Learning
Authors: Dormann Claire , Whitson Jennifer R. , Biddle Robert
Published: May 2011

This chapter addresses how computer games can support affective learning, taking specific focus on learning for the affective domain. It first explores this domain, describes the issues that can arise in support, and makes connections to the strengths of computer games. The chapter uses activity theory to highlight the role of a game as an effective mediator of learning in the affective domain. These studies of how games support the affective domain involve the observation of game-play and identification of recurring design elements that can be identified as patterns. The chapter describes several patterns, first in larger commercial games, and then in smaller serious games. Finally, it reflects on its findings, and surveys the general nature of game support for learning in the affective domain. Clear evidence is given that games can and do provide such support, with indications of even greater potential with better understanding of the nature of the game-play.
Understanding Serious Gaming
Authors: Haring Priscilla , Chakinska Dimitrina , Ritterfeld Ute
Published: May 2011

This chapter argues the importance of understanding the process of serious gaming, i.e. playing a game with a purpose other than solely entertainment. Taking a psychological perspective, it focuses on the effects of the game rather than the game itself. Emphasis is put on the experience of enjoyment as a core element of a successful entertainment gaming experience, which, in turn, is a prerequisite for a successful learning experience. To identify enjoyment factors in gaming, a hierarchical model is presented which is based on empirical evidence. Based upon the Entertainment-Education theory, the authors propose a paradigm shift from motivation for game playing to implicit educational goals in serious games. A successful blending of entertainment experiences with educationally enriched content is assumed to be mediated by the experience of presence within media. Furthermore, storytelling and character development as well as socially shared experiences are identified as valuable areas for future serious game development.
Affective Gaming in Education, Training and Therapy
Authors: Hudlicka Eva
Published: May 2011

Games are being increasingly used for educational and training purposes, because of their unique ability to engage students, and to provide customized learning and training protocols. In addition, games are being developed for health-related education and training, for cognitive and motor rehabilitation, and, more recently, for psychotherpy. Emotion plays a central role in learning, in the training of new cognitive and affective skills, and in the acquisition of new behaviors and motor skills, as well as in the eliminations of undesirable behaviors (e.g., addictions). This chapter discusses how the emerging discipline of affective gaming contributes to the design of more engaging and effective educational and training games, by explicitly integrating emotion into the gameplay. It focuses on the contributions from affective computing, and emphasizes the important role of emotion modeling. Emotion modeling is relevant both for modeling emotions in game characters, to enhance their believability and effectiveness, and for the development of affective user models, to enable real-time gameplay adaptation to the player’s changing affective state. The chapter introduces the notion of affect-centered games: games whose central objective is to train affective or social skills. It also discusses several concepts facilitating the design and evaluation of affect-centered games: affective player profile, affective gameplay profile and ideal affective player envelope. The chapter discusses approaches to modeling emotion in game characters, and concludes with a discussion of a tool that would facilitate the development of affect-centered games: an affective game engine.
Hints for Improving Motivation in Game-Based Learning Environments
Authors: Marty Jean-Charles , Carron Thibault
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, the authors propose to address two main items contributing to motivation in Game-Based Learning Environments: the flexibility of the system and the immersion of the users in the system. The chapter is split into three sections. The first one deals with the need for adaptation from both the teacher’s and the learners’ point of view. The authors need to collect traces about pedagogical activities in order to propose observation features for updating a user model adapted for learning games. This user model is seen as an explicit collaborative object displayed in the game. The second section concerns the necessity of keeping the users immersed in the game and gives some guidelines for immersion concerning game design, game play and metaphorical support. The last part illustrates these points through a game-based learning environment called “learning adventure”. The generation of a learning session in the environment is described and a real experiment is used as a support for explaining the concepts presented above.
Designing Games to Motivate Student Cohorts through Targeted Game Genre Selection
Authors: de Byl Penny , Brand Jeffrey E.
Published: May 2011

The objective of this chapter is to develop guidelines for targeted use of games in educational settings by presenting a typology of learning styles, motivations, game genres, and learning outcomes within disciplinary student cohorts. By identifying which academic outcomes best align with the motivations and learning styles of students and which game genres are best suited to those motivations and outcomes, the authors elucidate a typology to assist serious game designers’ and educators’ pursuits of games that both engage and instruct. The result will guide the implementation of games in the classroom by linking game genre and game mechanics with learning objectives, and therefore enhance learning and maximise education outcomes through targeted activity.
Game-Based Learning
Authors: Amon Krestina L. , Campbell Andrew J.
Published: May 2011

Whilst biofeedback video games are still new to AD/HD treatment options, this Chapter demonstrates that with children growing up in a technologically advanced world, it is not surprising that the prospect of learning relaxation skills to clear the mind, and calm anxiety or frustration, and receive treatment through a video game would increase a child’s interest and cooperate with biofeedback treatment.
A Reference Architecture for Game-Based Intelligent Tutoring
Authors: Maciuszek Dennis , Martens Alke
Published: May 2011

Educational computer games may improve learning experiences and learning outcomes. However, many off-the-shelf games still fail at smoothly integrating learning content into gameplay mechanisms. In addition, they do make an effort at adapting educational content to individual learners. Learner models and adaptivity, as applied by Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs), address this problem. A solution to the integration dilemma would ideally be found at the software architecture level. Assuming the perspective of the software engineer, this chapter reviews published game-based ITS architectures. The most promising approaches are partially integrated architectures, which replace sub-systems of Clancey’s (1984) classic ITS architecture with corresponding game elements. In order to provide a reference to developers, this chapter follows up on these ideas and proposes a unifying game-based ITS architecture based on genre studies of computer role-playing games.
Game-Based Learning for Knowledge Sharing and Transfer
Authors: Pappa Dimitra , Dunwell Ian , Protopsaltis Aristidis , Pannese Lucia , Hetzner Sonia , de Freitas Sara , Rebolledo-Mendez Genaro
Published: May 2011

The increasing pervasiveness of digital technology is having a profound effect on how younger generations interact, play, and learn. The use of electronic games for education (game-based learning) promotes an agile, immersive, and stimulating form of learning that fosters learner engagement and motivation. This chapter focuses on GBL for knowledge sharing and transfer for the purposes of intergenerational learning. In addition to the challenge of building intellectually appropriate and challenging games, the informal and incidental nature of intergenerational learning introduces another key requirement: namely, that of effectively capturing and re-proposing the informal knowledge of seniors. For this reason, an innovative approach that builds on the combined use of serious games and storytelling is proposed. The application of this methodology in the context of the research project e-VITA is discussed, including the implications of pedagogy upon game design.
Exploring Educational Video Game Design
Authors: Åkerfeldt Anna , Selander Staffan
Published: May 2011

The aim of this chapter is to explore two educational video games as a repository for action and meaning-making. Rixdax and El Patron feature two different game genres and designs. Through a comparative analysis, it will be shown how these two games actually address very different learning goals and also seem to miss a crucial aspect of learning: reflective action. This chapter will investigate how the layout on the screen is composed and how knowledge is represented. To do so, six structuring factors introduced by Prensky (2001), some of the organizing principles of learning design developed by Selander (Selander, 2008a-b; 2009, Selander & Åkerfeldt, 2008) and the multimodal framework developed by Kress and van Leeuween (Kress & van Leeuween, 2006; Kress, 2010; van Leeuween, 2005) are used. The chapter analyses the individual elements as semiotic resources in the educational video game and show how these elements are represented, especially from the points of view of information value, salience and framing, but also how the information is sequenced, the tempo of the games and how they accommodate meta-reflection by the users.
Computer Games for Algorithm Learning
Authors: Shabanah Sahar
Published: May 2011

Data structures and algorithms are important foundation topics in computer science education. However, they are often complex and hard to understand. Therefore, this chapter introduces a new learning strategy that benefits from computer games’ popularity and engagement to help students understand algorithms better by designing computer games that visualize algorithms. To teach an algorithm, an educational computer game, namely an Algorithm Game must have a game-play that simulates the behavior of the visualized algorithm and graphics depict the features of its data structure. Algorithm games attract students to learn algorithm using active engagement, enjoyment, and internal motivation. Algorithm Games attributes and genres that make them suitable to visualize algorithms have been specified. Various concepts in computer game design have been applied in the development of several algorithm games prototypes for algorithms, such as Binary Search, Bubble Sort, Insertion Sort, Selection Sort, Linked List, and Binary Search Tree Operations.
Context-Free Educational Games
Authors: Dai Vasiliki , Daloukas Vasilis , Rigou Maria , Sirmakessis Spiros
Published: May 2011

A discussion regarding the integration of video games in education has been going on lately. Recent studies indicate a positive shift in attitude towards the role of video games in education, however, the issue of impeding dangers remains. This chapter will focus mainly on presenting an approach to teaching and evaluation through the implementation of educational games created using the Game module, designed as an add-on for the Moodle e-learning platform. Through the use of common ’casual’ games, such as ‘Crossword’ and ‘Hangman’, and drawing questions from the Moodle question bank or the dictionaries, the Game module can be perceived as a freely available tool which can enrich an online lesson across various platforms, including normal computers, PDAs, et cetera. These games have advantages such as technical requirements lower than modern commercial games, facilitating the distribution of game-based contents to broader audiences without demanding constantly updated software as well as hardware infrastructure, simple rules, et cetera.
Role of Web Interface in Building Trust in B2B E-Exchanges
Authors: Kumar Muneesh
Published: May 2011

The emergence of Internet has revolutionized the way businesses are conducted. The impact of e-commerce is pervasive, both on companies and society as a whole. It has the potential to impact the pace of economic development and in turn influence the process of human development at the global level. However, the growth in e-commerce is being impaired by the issue of trust in the buyer-seller relationship which is arising due to the virtual nature of e-commerce environment. The Online trading environment is constrained by a number of factors including web interface that in turn influences user experience. This chapter identifies various dimensions of web interface that have the potential to influence trust in e-commerce. The empirical evidence presented in the chapter is based on a survey of the web interfaces of 65 Indian B2B e-exchanges.