bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Social Implications of Three Different Models of Distributed Learning
Authors: Mason Robin , Rennie Frank
Published: May 2011

Distributed universities that use technology to support a social mission are a new phenomenon reflecting changing demands on higher education and the availability of new, facilitative technologies. This chapter describes three different models of distributing education to achieve different social missions: a distance teaching university (The UK Open University), a multicampus higher education institute servicing remote and rural areas in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (UHI Millennium Institute), and a new university in Greece spread over five small islands (University of the Aegean). The chapter considers the different social missions and the ways in which the choice of technologies supports distributed teaching and research. International activities are also described and future trends considered. An initial typology for considering institutions of distributed learning is proposed.
Animation Objects
Authors: Ko Chi Chung , Cheng Chang Dong
Published: May 2011

We have discussed important Java 3D objects that are basically static in the last few chapters. Starting from this chapter, we will be looking at universe and objects that are dynamic in nature. Specifically, we will discuss issues on animation and interaction in this and the next chapter, respectively. As well demonstrated by popular interactive computer games, animation, and interaction are crucial in making a Java 3D world more interesting. Technically, animation is associated with changes in graphical objects and images as time passes without any direct user action, while interaction corresponds to any such change in response to an action or input from the user (Tso, Tharp, Zhang, & Tai, 1999). In any virtual reality or game application, animation and interaction are often crucial and critical. Through animation, the user is able to have a more realistic feel of the real 3D objects through looking at the object at different angles and perspectives. Through interaction with these objects, the user will become more integrated into the virtual 3D world in the same way as sensing our own reality in the real world. Under Java 3D, the “behavior” class is used to define and control both animation and interaction. However, note that the behavior class is an abstract class and cannot be directly used (Stromer, Quon, Gordon, Turinsky, & Sensen, 2005). Instead, there are three classes that extend the behavior class and that are commonly used. They are the “interpolator,” the “billboard,” and the “level of detail (LOD)” class. Furthermore, we can create a new behavior class by extending the behavior class to fit any special need. Briefly, in this chapter, we will discuss the important interpolator classes by using a number of illustrating examples, followed by some details discussions on the billboard and LOD classes.
From Media Education to Digital Literacy
Authors: Rivoltella Pier Cesare
Published: May 2011

This chapter focuses on the cultural and educational shift from mass media to digital technologies. It is described with the category of the multiscreen society: its main element is the multiplication of the screens in social environment and, with it, the transformation of the modalities and significance of our sight on the things. Watch the reality with other eyes, means also to build knowledge in a different way and, finally, to accept to live in this new environment whose main character is the integration of virtual dimension into real life. This is the reason why a part of the chapter is devoted to defining the new technological devices as social objects able to become subjects of social acts. The conclusion is that traditional forms of media education must upgrade to digital literacy. In doing so, it becomes possible to prepare youngsters to become citizens of this new social environment. In this case, may be that digital literacy will be really the education of our next future.
Strategic Programs
Authors: Chew Eng K. , Gottschalk Petter
Published: May 2011

The previous chapters describe how IT strategy and enterprise architecture can be defined in line with business strategy. The success of business and IT strategies, as explained in Chapter IV, depends on the firm’s ability to translate the strategies into work packages known as strategic programs, and diligently plan, prioritize, and execute the strategic programs in a sequence that is in accordance with the business strategy and priorities. Chapter VI describes enterprise architecture as the link between business strategy and information systems planning and implementation (which, in effect, executes the strategy). The gap analysis of the current enterprise architecture in comparison with the target or future state architecture will identify the scope and extent of change required on the current architecture to transition towards the target architecture. Compared to business strategy gap analysis, architecture gap analysis offers a more granular and integrative assessment of the business and system changes required to realize the business strategy. The scope and extent of architecture change required constitutes the overall scope of the strategic programs that need to be defined and developed to deliver the objectives of the business strategy. These programs will be prioritized by IT governance using IT project portfolio management principles. Their implementations in time sequence will define the migration path of the current enterprise architecture towards the target future state architecture. This chapter explains the theory behind and the practice of strategic program planning and program management. We first describe two contrasting approaches to IT strategic planning, namely: the Cassidy model, and the Y model discussed in Chapter IV. The Cassidy (2006) model uses the business vision to define the IT architecture direction from which the IT strategic plan is then specified including its business case justification. In terms of the Y model, strategic program planning and execution fall in stages 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the model. Discussions of the Y model and analysis of barriers to strategy implementation will give the readers a basic understanding of IT strategic planning and program execution (introductory project management practice). We conclude the chapter by describing the principles and methods for enterprise architecture-driven strategic planning as well as IT project portfolio management principles. This is a more advanced practice, typically taken by firms with higher maturity in IT management practice.
Strategic IT Resources and Sourcing Strategy
Authors: Chew Eng K. , Gottschalk Petter
Published: May 2011

As introduced in Chapter II and Chapter V, performance differences across firms can be attributed to the variance in firms’ resources and capabilities. The essence of the resourcebased theory of the firm lies in its emphasis on the internal resources available to the firm, rather than on the external opportunities and threats dictated by industry conditions. A firm’s resources are said to be a source of competitive advantage to the degree that they are scarce, specialized, appropriable, valuable, rare, and difficult to imitate or substitute. A fundamental idea in resource-based theory is that a firm must continually enhance its resources and capabilities to take advantage of changing conditions. Optimal growth involves a balance between the exploitation of existing resource positions and the development of new resource positions. Thus, a firm would be expected to develop new resources after its existing resource base has been fully utilized. Building new resource positions is important if the firm is to achieve sustained growth. When unused productive resources are coupled with changing managerial knowledge, unique opportunities for growth are created (Pettus, 2001). The term resource is derived from the Latin word resurgere, which means “to rise” and implies an aid or expedient for reaching an end. A resource implies a potential means to achieve an end, or as something that can be used to create value. The first strategy textbooks outlining a holistic perspective focused on how resources needed to be allocated or deployed to earn rents. The interest in the term was for a long time linked to the efficiency of resource allocation, but this focus has later been expanded to issues such as resource accumulation, resource stocks, and resource flows (Haanaes, 1997).
Security, Privacy, and Politics in Higher Education
Authors: Manson Dan
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the interrelationships of security, privacy and politics in higher education. University curriculum politics are ingrained through organizational structures that control faculty hiring, retention, tenure, and promotion, and self-governance policy bodies such as academic senates and faculty curriculum committees that control curriculum approval and implementation. Compounding the politics of curriculum are different constructs of security and privacy, with security viewed as a technical issue versus privacy as a legal and organizational issue. The author believes that multiple disciplines must learn to work together to teach the constantly changing technical, scientific, legal, and administrative security and privacy landscape. While university “ownership” of security and privacy curriculum may create new political challenges, it has the potential to help limit competing faculty, department and program politics.
Children as Critics of Educational Computer Games Designed by Other Children
Authors: Rieber Lloyd P. , Davis Joan M. , Matzko Michael J. , Grant Michael M.
Published: May 2011

We have long worked collaboratively with middle school students to help them design their own educational computer games. An interesting question has emerged from this work: Do students, other than those who do the designing, find the games to be motivating? We gave a classroom of middle school students the opportunity to play educational games created by other middle school students. These students’ opinions of the games were studied and compared to their actual play behavior. This study also explored the reasons behind the children’s play behaviors and critiques through interviews. Important game characteristics identified by the children included the following: (1) storyline or context; (2) challenge; and (3) competitive affordances, especially those that promoted social interaction. Interestingly, two game characteristics touted in the literature were not found to be important to these children: (1) integration of a game’s storyline and educational content; and (2) a game’s production values.
A Critical Review of Online Consumer Behavior
Authors: Cheung Christy M.K.
Published: May 2011

The topic of online consumer behavior has been examined under various contexts over the years. Although researchers from a variety of business disciplines have made significant progress over the past few years, the scope of these studies is rather broad, the studies appear relatively fragmented and no unifying theoretical model is found in this research area. In view of this, we provide an exhaustive review of the literature and propose an integrative model of online consumer behavior so as to analyze the online consumer behavior in a systematic way. This proposed framework not only provides us with a cohesive view of online consumer behavior, but also serves as a salient guideline for researchers in this area. We conclude our paper with a research agenda for the study of online consumer behavior.
Using Multipoint Audio-Conferencing with Teaching Students
Authors: Pratt Nick
Published: May 2011

The aim of this chapter is to explore e-learning and e-teaching from a social perspective in order to show how the use of new technologies, like older technologies before them, must be considered in the light of human activity. It is hoped that such a perspective will allow the reader to better understand how, in one example at least, the use of new technology and the context of that use are integral to each other. The chapter considers how multipoint (i.e., multiple people) audio-conferencing might be used with higher education (HE) students undertaking work- or placement-based learning at a distance from their university base.
An Exploratory Study of "Killer Applications" and Critical Success Factors in M-Commerce
Authors: Xu Gordon , Gutiérrez Jairo A.
Published: May 2011

This research deals with two aspects of mobile commerce (m-commerce), namely “killer applications” and critical success factors. After compiling significant information from the related literature, a Delphi panel was assembled by selecting a group of experts who have significant knowledge about m-commerce and wireless communications. The panel was requested to comment on a number of m-commerce issues and scenarios gleaned from the literature review and members of the panel were also asked to indicate which issues were more important and which of the presented scenarios were more likely. Three separate rounds of the Delphi survey were carried out and the final results indicated that the short message service (SMS) and a “killer” portfolio were the two most likely “killer applications” of m-commerce. Additionally, four factors: convenience, ease of use, trust, and ubiquity were identified as the most important to m-commerce success. According to the Delphi results and the experts’ comments, the highlighted features of the “killer applications” were found to match the most significant critical success factors as voted by the panel.
Development of Intelligent Equipment Diagnosis and Maintenance System using JESS
Authors: Yao Yin-Ho , Lin Gilbert Y.P. , Trappey Amy J.C.
Published: May 2011

In modern manufacturing organizations, tasks of equipment and facility maintenance are complex and often geographically dispersed due to enterprise globalization. Diagnosing modern equipment breakdown requires considerable expertise and collaboration among equipment users and technical experts. Therefore, an intelligent diagnosis and maintenance system is necessary to support agile production and collaborative equipment maintenance in real time. This chapter focuses on describing the development of a rule-based intelligent equipment trouble-shooting and maintenance platform using JAVA Expert System Shell (JESS) technology. A prototype system is designed and developed combining rule-based knowledge system and inference engine to support real time collaborative equipment maintenance across geographical boundary. The main modules of the system include diagnosis knowledge management, project or case management and system administration. The knowledge management module consists of key functions such as knowledge type definition, knowledge component definition, document definition, mathematical model definition, rule and rule-set management. The project management module has key functions such as project definition, project’s role management, project’s function management and project’s rule-set execution. Further, a thin-film transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT-LCD) production equipment diagnosis and maintenance system is designed and implemented to demonstrate the intelligent maintenance capability. The prototype system enhances agility of TFT-LCD collaborative manufacturing processes with real time equipment diagnosis and maintenance.
Planning for Knowledge Cities in Ubiquitous Technology Spaces
Authors: Kim Tschangho John
Published: May 2011

Ubiquitous cities, or U-cities, are defined as places where public and private services can be delivered and received anywhere and at anytime. The goal of this chapter is to identify the challenges and opportunities that arise in the development of strategic plans and policies that address the problems associated with rapid global urban population growth. This chapter focuses on the potential of recently developed information and communication technologies and on the utilization of these technologies in conjunction with emerging pervasive ubiquitous geographic information techniques. It also discusses the challenges existing cities face in striving for intelligent and sustainable development as they move toward becoming ubiquitous cities.
Understanding the Supply Side
Authors: Velibeyoglu Koray , Yigitcanlar Tan
Published: May 2011

Marmara region’s local governments in Turkey are setting the benchmark for the country in the implementation of spatial information systems and e-governance. The chapter aims to shed light on organizational realities of recent practices of information systems and technologies based on the evidences from selected local government organizations in the Marmara region. This chapter scrutinizes these practices and discusses the pivotal relationship between the information and communication technologies and its local organizational context within the region. The chapter also exemplifies challenges and opportunities of the Marmara as an emerging information and communication technology-supported region by illustrating the specific information and communication technology supply instruments. The chapter reveals that the particular success in supply side does not guarantee the sustainable information and communication technology implementation. There are other concerns including demand side that are strongly linked to a realistic understanding of end user demand, the institutional capacity of respected organizations, public-private partnership, and the joined-up policy efforts at both national and local levels.
Syndicate Date Suppliers
Authors: Strand Mattias , Carlsson Sven A.
Published: May 2011

It has become increasingly important for firms to monitor the competitive forces affecting their business and competitiveness (Arnott & Pervan, forthcoming; Davenport & Harris, 2007). As a consequence, more and more attention has been directed towards data originating external to the own organizations, that is, external data. The increased interest is also shown in current literature and many authors have expressed the benefits thereof. The following quotations illustrate the perceived benefits of incorporating external data: (1) Oglesby (1999, p. 3) claims that “Companies who use external data systems have a strategic advantage over those who don’t, and the scope of that advantage is growing as we move deeper into the information age,” (2) Stedman (1998, p. 2) states that “external data helps us understand our business in the context of the greater world,” and (3) Inmon (1996, p. 272) argues that “the comparison of internal and external data allows management to see the forest for the trees.” In alignment, a majority of companies incorporate their external data from organizations specialized in collecting, compiling, refining, and selling data (Strand, Wangler, & Lauren, 2004; Strand, Wangler, & Olsson, 2003). Kimball (1996) refers to these specialized and commercial data suppliers as syndicate data suppliers (SDSs).
Understanding Sense-Making
Authors: Sammon David
Published: May 2011

The relevance of decision-making theory in improving understanding has been called into question especially when attempting to understand organisational environments faced with organisational change (Craig-Lees, 2001; Mintzberg, Waters, Pettigrew, & Butler, 1990; Reed, 1991). For example, Mintzberg et al. (1990) commented that, in understanding organisational change, the relevance of decision-making theory takes on the appearance of the continued playing of the orchestra on the Titanic as it sank. In fact, Weick (1993) commented that there have been a number of responses to this problem of the over-reliance on decision-making theory in organisational studies, for example, there has been a shift toward examining naturalistic decisionmaking with more attention to situational assessment and sense-making (Weick, 1993). Weick (1993, p. 635) commented that one way to shift the focus from decision making to meaning is to look more closely at sense-making in organisations. The basic idea of sense-making is that reality is an ongoing accomplishment that emerges from efforts to create order and make retrospective sense of what occurs. Consider these scenarios as examples as you start to read this entry: if someone was to say to you “I do not want you to make a decision right away, I just want you to think about it and come back to me when you have time,” you would immediately begin a sense-making process regarding the action you have taken at some point in the past around it. Furthermore, in an interview, if an interviewer asks an interviewee about a project that they were involved in for the past 6 months (for example), the interviewer is triggering sense-making where the interviewee looks back over the project and attributes meaning to what happened.
Management Information System in Higher Education
Authors: Kettunen Juha
Published: May 2011

The communication and implementation of a strategic plan is typically based on various measures in educational institutions. The balanced scorecard approach has in the 1990s attained an important role worldwide in private and public sector organisations. Large organisations have different organisational levels, where it is useful to apply the balanced scorecard. This emphasises the need for the automation of the measuring system. The information is typically collected from various data sources. These characteristics underline the need to plan a management information system (MIS) to support the management process. Strategic management is bridge building between the perceived present situation and the desired future situation (West-Burnham, 1994; Wheale, 1991). Strategic management involves taking stock of the educational policy, local economy, and other factors in the organisation’s environment. It adapts the organisation to its environment but, on the other hand, tries to exert a positive effect on the development of its local community (Bush & Coleman, 2000; Kettunen, 2003; Middlewood & Lumby, 1998).
Artificial Intelligence and Rubble-Mound Breakwater Stability
Authors: Iglesias Rodriguez Gregorio , Castro Ponte Alberte , Carballo Sanchez Rodrigo , Losada Rodriguez Miguel Ángel
Published: May 2011

Breakwaters are coastal structures constructed to shelter a harbour basin from waves. There are two main types: rubble-mound breakwaters, consisting of various layers of stones or concrete pieces of different sizes (weights), making up a porous mound; and vertical breakwaters, impermeable and monolythic, habitually composed of concrete caissons. This article deals with rubble-mound breakwaters. A typical rubble-mound breakwater consists of an armour layer, a filter layer and a core. For the breakwater to be stable, the armour layer units (stones or concrete pieces) must not be removed by wave action. Stability is basically achieved by weight. Certain types of concrete pieces are capable of achieving a high degree of interlocking, which contributes to stability by impeding the removal of a single unit. The forces that an armour unit must withstand under wave action depend on the hydrodynamics on the breakwater slope, which are extremely complex due to wave breaking and the porous nature of the structure. A detailed description of the flow has not been achieved until now, and it is unclear whether it will be in the future in view of the turbulent phenomena involved. Therefore the instantaneous force exerted on an armour unit is not, at least for the time being, amenable to determination by means of a numerical model of the flow. For this reason, empirical formulations are used in rubble-mound design, calibrated on the basis of laboratory tests of model structures. However, these formulations cannot take into account all the aspects affecting the stability, mainly because the inherent complexity of the problem does not lend itself to a simple treatment. Consequently the empirical formulations are used as a predesign tool, and physical model tests in a wave flume of the particular design in question under the pertinent sea climate conditions are de rigueur, except for minor structures. The physical model tests naturally integrate all the complexity of the problem. Their drawback lies in that they are expensive and time consuming. In this article, Artificial Neural Networks are trained and tested with the results of stability tests carried out on a model breakwater. They are shown to reproduce very closely the behaviour of the physical model in the wave flume. Thus an ANN model, if trained and tested with sufficient data, may be used in lieu of the physical model tests. A virtual laboratory of this kind will save time and money with respect to the conventional procedure.
GTM User Modeling for aIGA Weight Tuning in TTS Synthesis
Authors: Formiga Lluís , Alías Francesc
Published: May 2011

Unit Selection Text-to-Speech Synthesis (US-TTS) systems produce synthetic speech based on the retrieval of previous recorded speech units from a speech database (corpus) driven by a weighted cost function (Black & Campbell, 1995). To obtain high quality synthetic speech these weights must be optimized efficiently. To that effect, in previous works, a technique was introduced for weight tuning based on evolutionary perceptual tests by means of Active Interactive Genetic Algorithms (aiGAs) (Alías, Llorà, Formiga, Sastry & Goldberg, 2006) aiGAs mine models that map subjective preferences from users by partial ordering graphs, synthetic fitness and Evolutionary Computation (EC) (Llorà, Sastry, Goldberg, Gupta & Lakshmi, 2005). Although aiGA propose an effective method to map single user preferences, as far as we know, the methodology to extract common solutions among different individual preferences (hereafter denoted as common knowledge) has not been tackled yet. Furthermore, there is an ambiguity problem to be solved when different users evolve to different weight configurations. In this review, Generative Topographic Mapping (GTM) is introduced as a method to extract common knowledge from aiGA models obtained from user preferences.
Hierarchical Neuro-Fuzzy Systems Part II
Authors: Vellasco Marley , Pacheco Marco , Figueiredo Karla , Souza Flavio
Published: May 2011

This paper describes a new class of neuro-fuzzy models, called Reinforcement Learning Hierarchical Neuro- Fuzzy Systems (RL-HNF). These models employ the BSP (Binary Space Partitioning) and Politree partitioning of the input space [Chrysanthou,1992] and have been developed in order to bypass traditional drawbacks of neuro-fuzzy systems: the reduced number of allowed inputs and the poor capacity to create their own structure and rules (ANFIS [Jang,1997], NEFCLASS [Kruse,1995] and FSOM [Vuorimaa,1994]). These new models, named Reinforcement Learning Hierarchical Neuro-Fuzzy BSP (RL-HNFB) and Reinforcement Learning Hierarchical Neuro-Fuzzy Politree (RL-HNFP), descend from the original HNFB that uses Binary Space Partitioning (see Hierarchical Neuro-Fuzzy Systems Part I). By using hierarchical partitioning, together with the Reinforcement Learning (RL) methodology, a new class of Neuro-Fuzzy Systems (SNF) was obtained, which executes, in addition to automatically learning its structure, the autonomous learning of the actions to be taken by an agent, dismissing a priori information (number of rules, fuzzy rules and sets) relative to the learning process. These characteristics represent an important differential when compared with existing intelligent agents learning systems, because in applications involving continuous environments and/or environments considered to be highly dimensional, the use of traditional Reinforcement Learning methods based on lookup tables (a table that stores value functions for a small or discrete state space) is no longer possible, since the state space becomes too large. This second part of hierarchical neuro-fuzzy systems focus on the use of reinforcement learning process. The first part presented HNFB models based on supervised learning methods. The RL-HNFB and RL-HNFP models were evaluated in a benchmark control application and a simulated Khepera robot environment with multiple obstacles.
Hybrid Dual Camera Vision Systems
Authors: Cagnoni Stefano , Mordonini Monica , Mussi Luca , Adorni Giovanni
Published: May 2011

Many of the known visual systems in nature are characterized by a wide field of view allowing animals to keep the whole surrounding environment under control. In this sense, dragonflies are one of the best examples: their compound eyes are made up of thousands of separate light-sensing organs arranged to give nearly a 360° field of vision. However, animals with eyes on the sides of their head have high periscopy but low binocularity, that is their views overlap very little. Differently, raptors’ eyes have a central part that permits them to see far away details with an impressive resolution and their views overlap by about ninety degrees. Those characteristics allow for a globally wide field of view and for accurate stereoscopic vision at the same time, which in turn allows for determination of distance, leading to the ability to develop a sharp, three-dimensional image of a large portion of their view. In mobile robotics applications, autonomous robots are required to react to visual stimuli that may come from any direction at any moment of their activity. In surveillance applications, the opportunity to obtain a field of view as wide as possible is also a critical requirement. For these reasons, a growing interest in omnidirectional vision systems (Benosman 2001), which is still a particularly intriguing research field, has emerged. On the other hand, requirements to be able to carry out object/pattern recognition and classification tasks are opposite, high resolution and accuracy and low distortion being possibly the most important ones. Finally, three-dimensional information extraction can be usually achieved by vision systems that combine the use of at least two sensors at the same time. This article presents the class of hybrid dual camera vision systems. This kind of sensors, inspired by existing visual systems in nature, combines an omnidirectional sensor with a perspective moving camera. In this way it is possible to observe the whole surrounding scene at low resolution, while, at the same time, the perspective camera can be directed to focus on objects of interest with higher resolution.
Learning Nash Equilibria in Non-Cooperative Games
Authors: Garro Alfredo
Published: May 2011

Game Theory (Von Neumann & Morgenstern, 1944) is a branch of applied mathematics and economics that studies situations (games) where self-interested interacting players act for maximizing their returns; therefore, the return of each player depends on his behaviour and on the behaviours of the other players. Game Theory, which plays an important role in the social and political sciences, has recently drawn attention in new academic fields which go from algorithmic mechanism design to cybernetics. However, a fundamental problem to solve for effectively applying Game Theory in real word applications is the definition of well-founded solution concepts of a game and the design of efficient algorithms for their computation. A widely accepted solution concept of a game in which any cooperation among the players must be selfenforcing (non-cooperative game) is represented by the Nash Equilibrium. In particular, a Nash Equilibrium is a set of strategies, one for each player of the game, such that no player can benefit by changing his strategy unilaterally, i.e. while the other players keep their strategies unchanged (Nash, 1951). The problem of computing Nash Equilibria in non-cooperative games is considered one of the most important open problem in Complexity Theory (Papadimitriou, 2001). Daskalakis, Goldbergy, and Papadimitriou (2005), showed that the problem of computing a Nash equilibrium in a game with four or more players is complete for the complexity class PPAD-Polynomial Parity Argument Directed version (Papadimitriou, 1991), moreover, Chen and Deng extended this result for 2-player games (Chen & Deng, 2005). However, even in the two players case, the best algorithm known has an exponential worst-case running time (Savani & von Stengel, 2004); furthermore, if the computation of equilibria with simple additional properties is required, the problem immediately becomes NP-hard (Bonifaci, Di Iorio, & Laura, 2005) (Conitzer & Sandholm, 2003) (Gilboa & Zemel, 1989) (Gottlob, Greco, & Scarcello, 2003). Motivated by these results, recent studies have dealt with the problem of efficiently computing Nash Equilibria by exploiting approaches based on the concepts of learning and evolution (Fudenberg & Levine, 1998) (Maynard Smith, 1982). In these approaches the Nash Equilibria of a game are not statically computed but are the result of the evolution of a system composed by agents playing the game. In particular, each agent after different rounds will learn to play a strategy that, under the hypothesis of agent’s rationality, will be one of the Nash equilibria of the game (Benaim & Hirsch, 1999) (Carmel & Markovitch, 1996). This article presents SALENE, a Multi-Agent System (MAS) for learning Nash Equilibria in noncooperative games, which is based on the above mentioned concepts.
Non-Cooperative Facial Biometric Identification Systems
Authors: Travieso González Carlos M. , Morales Moreno Aythami
Published: May 2011

The verification of identity is becoming a crucial factor in our hugely interconnected society. Questions such as “Is she really who she claims to be?”, “Is this person authorized to use this facility?” are routinely being posed in a variety of scenarios ranging from issuing a driver’s license to gaining entry into a country. The necessity for reliable user authentication techniques has increased in the wake of heightened concerns about security and rapid advancements in networking, communication, and mobility. Biometric systems, described as the science in order to recognize an individual based on his or her physical or behavioural traits, is beginning to get acceptance as a legitimate method in order to determine an individual’s identity. Nowadays, biometric systems have been deployed in various commercial, civilian, and forensic applications as a means of establishing identity. In particular, this work presents a non-cooperative identification system based on facial biometric.
Symbolic Search
Authors: Edelkamp Stefan
Published: May 2011

Symbolic search solves state space problems consisting of an initial state, a set of goal states, and a set of actions using a succinct representation for state sets. The approach lessens the costs associated with the exponential memory requirements for the state sets involved as problem sizes get bigger. Symbolic search has been associated with the term planning via model checking (Giunchiglia and Traverso 1999). While initially applied to model check hardware verification problems (McMillan 1993), symbolic search features many modern action planning systems (Ghallab et al. 2000). Symbolic search algorithms explore the underlying problem graph by using functional expressions to represent sets of states and actions. Compared with the space requirements induced by standard explicit-state search algorithms, symbolic representations additionally save space by sharing parts of the state vector. Algorithm designs change, as not all search algorithms adapt to the exploration of state sets.
Competition, Regulation and Broadband Diffusion in New Zealand
Authors: Howell Bronwyn
Published: May 2011

New Zealand offers a through-provoking case study of the effects of different competition and regulatory policies on broadband diffusion rates. Despite having one of the highest rates of Internet connection and usage in the OECD, widely available broadband infrastructure, and low broadband prices, broadband uptake per capita languishes in the bottom third of the OECD. While low uptake has typically been attributed to competition and regulatory factors associated with New Zealand’s ‘light-handed’ regulatory regime, this chapter proposes that a more credible explanation lies in a combination of New Zealand’s legacy of demand-side regulations, in particular the retail tariff options for voice telephony, and the limited value being derived by New Zealand residential consumers from the small range and narrow adoption of applications used currently that necessitate broadband connections. The New Zealand case illustrates the effect that legacy regulations can have on both the diffusion of new technologies per se and the choices made by consumers between different generational variants within that technology. The case indicates a need for more research on the effect of telecommunications industry regulations on demand-side uptake factors.
Internal Auditing for Information Assurance
Authors: Mishra Sushma
Published: May 2011

Internal auditing has become increasingly important in current business environments. In this era of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act and other similar legislations, regulatory compliance requires elaborate organizational planning. Auditing helps organizations in internal control assessment, change management, and better governance preparedness, thus enhancing information assurance. Various facets of internal auditing are discussed in this chapter and the role of internal auditing in information assurance is analyzed. Future issues and trends with internal auditing are also presented.
Intelligent User-Centric Access to Public Information
Authors: Sacco Giovanni Maria
Published: May 2011

The quantity and diversity of information available from public government sources is now quite large. Most people associate governmental information exclusively with prescriptive information such as laws and regulations. However, governments, especially local ones, are using the Web to provide a number of services that are mainly informative and aim at improving the quality of life of citizens and at promoting the local community, for example job placement services, tourist information, and so forth. Finally, government e-services available to citizens represent one of the most frequent and critical points of contact between public administrations and citizens. In addition to common services such as ID cards and permits, e-services represent the only practical way of providing incentives and support to specific classes of citizens.
Modification of Learning Objects for NESB Students
Authors: Gitsaki Christina
Published: May 2011

Due to the increasingly diverse student population in multicultural nations such as Australia, the U.S., Canada, and the UK, educators are faced with the challenge of how to best meet the needs of students with limited English proficiency without ‘watering down’ the curriculum. The use of educational digital resources is one way of enhancing non-English speaking background (NESB) students’ academic skills and understandings, but without explicit English as a second language (ESL) support integrated into these resources, the benefits for NESB students are limited. This chapter documents a study of the content and format of a number of learning objects designed by The Le@arning Federation in an attempt to explore how specific learning objects can be modified to address the language needs of NESB students and unlock the value of their content. Design guidelines for ESL adaptation of digital learning content are provided based on current research and second language acquisition (SLA) principles.
Standards for Learning Objects and Learning Designs
Authors: Munro Morag , Kenny Claire
Published: May 2011

E-learning standards are a contentious topic amongst educators, designers, and researchers engaged in the development of learning objects and learning designs. There is disagreement regarding the relative benefits and limitations of standards, while the relevance of standards to some education and training contexts has been questioned. It may be difficult for designers and educators to be sure that they need to implement standards, let alone to choose the most appropriate one from the plethora available. This chapter aims to provide individuals involved in the design and development of learning objects and learning designs with a wide-ranging critical overview of e-learning standards. It first traces the evolution of standards, and then examines their application in the present day. Finally, the chapter considers some of the limitations and criticisms of current standards, and suggests some possible directions for future development.
Principled Construction and Reuse of Learning Designs
Authors: Paquette Gilbert , Mariño Olga , Lundgren-Cayrol Karin , Léonard Michel
Published: May 2011

This chapter summarizes the work on instructional engineering and educational modeling accomplished since 1992 at the LICEF Research Center of Télé-université by the researchers of the CICE Research Chair. Recent results on learning design modeling and learning objects reusability processes are thoroughly presented using examples drawn from many projects conducted in the last 3 years. These are discussed to uncover the importance of a principled approach for the modeling of learning design and the of learning objects in technology enhanced learning environments. Finally, delivery and dissemination issues are discussed and a summary of on-going and future directions for research is presented.
Higher Education's Use of Course Management Software
Authors: Price Apryl
Published: May 2011

This chapter explains what course management systems (CMS) are, lists the features of the most popular CMS, describes the advantages and disadvantages of CMS, reviews the literature on the effectiveness of learning with CMS communication tools, and discusses the future of CMS. It discusses how CMS have become an important means of computer mediated communication in higher education. CMS are not only used for distance education courses, but for traditional courses as well. Increasingly, many teaching faculty are integrating CMS to enhance communication in the traditional class making it a hybrid course. CMS provide instructors the ability to enable various modes of communication to simulate the same experience as a real classroom. The author hopes that this chapter will provide information about what CMS can do now, and what they will perceivably do in the future.
WebCom
Authors: Godsk Mikkel , Petersen Anja Bechmann
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a model (WebCom) for understanding and analyzing Web site-mediated communication, also referred to as Web site communication. The model combines three theoretical approaches— communication, medium, and activity theory—into one generic model that benefits from each of the approaches’ strengths. Furthermore, it is discussed and shortly demonstrated how WebCom can be used for analytical and design purposes with YouTube as an example. The chapter concludes that WebCom is able to serve as a theoretically-based model for understanding complex Web site communication situations in their entirety, and that such thoroughly approach is required for successful computer mediated communication (CMC) when communicating across cultures and contexts.
Cross-Cultural Adaptation of E-Learning
Authors: Blanchard Emmanuel , Frasson Claude
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the concepts of Culturally AWAre Systems CAWAS), a new family of adaptive systems that try to adapt learning contents and pedagogical strategies according to learners’ cultural background. CAWAS is based on the notion of cultural intelligence and on the representation of a culture as both a static system i.e. a “relatively stable system of shared meanings, a repository of meaningful symbols…” and a dynamic one i.e “a process of production of meanings. A methodology for evaluating culturally rate and selecting appropriate resources is described. A system implementing this methodology is finally introduced. The aim of this work is to develop systems that will be better accepted by learners and de facto will work more efficiently by showing a cultural proximity with learners during a learning session.
Digital Watermarking in the Transform Domain with Emphasis on SVD
Authors: Calagna Maria
Published: May 2011

The chapter illustrates watermarking based on the transform domain. It argues that transform-based watermarking is robust to possible attacks and imperceptible with respect to the quality of the multimedia file we would like to protect. Among those transforms commonly used in communications, we emphasize the use of singular value decomposition (SVD) for digital watermarking. The main advantage of this choice is flexibility of application. In fact, SVD may be applied in several fields where data are organized as matrices, including multimedia and communications. We present a robust SVD-based watermarking scheme for images. According to the detection steps, the watermark can be determined univocally, while other related works present flaws in watermark detection. A case study of our approach refers to the protection of geographical and spatial data in case of the raster representation model of maps.
On the Necessity of Finding Content Before Watermark Retrieval
Authors: Steinebach Martin , Wolf Patrick
Published: May 2011

Digital watermarking promises to be a mechanism for copyright protection without being a technology for copy prevention. This sometimes makes it hard to convince content owners to use digital watermarking for protecting their content. It is only a passive technology adding information into the content to be protected. Therefore some active mechanism is required that completes the protection. This needs to be a search mechanism that localises potentially watermarked media on the Internet. Only then the passive information embedded in the content can help to fight illegal copies. We discuss strategies and approaches for retrieving watermarks from the Internet with the help of a media search framework. While various Internet domains like HTML pages (the Web), eBay, or FTP are discussed, the focus of this work is on content shared within peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.
Projected Displays of Mobile Devices for Collaboration
Authors: Sugimoto Masanori
Published: May 2011

Mobile devices have so far been personal tools. With their evolution of increased functionality, however, these devices have begun to be used in a shared fashion by multiple people. This chapter discusses techniques allowing multiple people to share mobile devices by projecting their displays and conducting intuitive manipulations on them. The chapter first shows overviews of systems and technologies related to location-aware projection and several interaction techniques. Then, a system called Hotaru that implements intuitive manipulation techniques on projected displays of multiple mobile devices is described. Hotaru allows a user to annotate or rotate a picture or a document on a projected display by using his finger and intuitively to transfer a file between multiple devices by overlapping their projected displays. User studies of Hotaru indicated that the proposed manipulation techniques could support multiple people in a single location in conducting their tasks. Research issues on projected displays of mobile devices are raised.
Evaluating Learner Satisfaction in a Multiplatform E-Learning System
Authors: Goh Tiong T. , Kinshuk  , Chen Nian-Shing
Published: May 2011

The main objective of this chapter is to present a comparative evaluation between two e-learning systems from the end user (learner) perspective. The evaluation instrument is based on a multiplatform e-learning systems framework and a modified version of the Questionnaire for User Interface Satisfaction (QUIS). First, the evaluation intends to compare the achievable level of overall the learner satisfaction score between a Blackboard e-learning system and a multiplatform e-learning system with three different accessing devices. Second, the evaluation intends to explore the degree of influence and identifies grouping relationships among the factors that influence learner satisfaction while engaged in a multiplatform e-learning system. Lastly, the evaluation determines the gain in the learner satisfaction score between the two systems with respect to three different accessing devices. The findings and the process of evaluation can play an important role for the designer to improve the adaptation process and to enhance the level of learner satisfaction in future multiplatform e-learning systems.