bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Implementing Successful Online Learning Communities
Authors: Beck Diane E. , Normann Sven A. 
Published: May 2011

In the last decade, the number of courses using onlinelearning has increased significantly and based on student demand; continued growth is projected. Although distancelearning is well accepted, when compared to traditional classroom learning, lower student satisfaction, higher student attrition, and concerns about quality have been reported (Rovai, 2002a; Rovai, 2002b). The absence of “community” has been associated with each of these issues and this has stimulated research about how tosuccessfully build a community in a virtual environment, to overcome these challenges. Successful online learningcommunities are also important for most blended learningcourses (Rovai & Jordan, 2004). Discussion boards and other tools are being increasingly used to supplement instruction during traditional classroom courses. Therefore, across most courses in higher education today it is imperative that faculty members know how to establish and sustain successful online learning communities. The goals of this article are to a) define “online learningcommunity” and delineate the factors that contribute to asuccessful learning community, b) review the evidence supporting the importance of a learning community in distance and online learning, and c) recommend strategies to promote achievement of a successful learningcommunity.
Designing the Virtual Classroom for Management Teaching
Authors: Haghirian Parissa , Simon Bernd 
Published: May 2011

With the modern business environment becoming increasingly dependent on technology, managementteaching in higher education faces the challenging task of effectively leveraging technology in diverse learning environments. This chapter discusses the use of virtualclassrooms, namely collaborative, information technology-mediated teaching endeavours in management education at universities. The overall aim of this chapter is to provide insights for those who are responsible for the development of management curricula and to give specific guidelines tomanagement educators interested in integrating IT-basedteaching to increase teaching effectiveness when designingvirtual classrooms.
Development of Online Distributed Training
Authors: Entin Eileen B. , Sidman Jason , Neal Lisa 
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses considerations and tradeoffs in designing and developing an online teamwork skills training program for geographically distributed instructors andstudents. The training program is grounded in principles of scenario-based learning, in which operationally realistic scenarios are used to engage students in actively forming links between classroom and real-world applications of key concepts. The chapter focuses on supporting active engagement of learners, and meaningful and thoughtful learner-learner interactions appropriate to the subject matter (Neal & Miller, 2006). We describe lessons learnedin the development of a distributed training program that interleaves asynchronous and synchronous training modules (Neal & Miller, 2005) to leverage the advantages of both self-paced and group learning, provide opportunities to practice the teamwork concepts being trained, create social presence, and promote interactionand reflection among the course members.
Web-Based Interface Elements in Team Interaction and Learning
Authors: Chang Klarissa Ting-Ting , Lim John , Zhong Yingqin 
Published: May 2011

The Web has increasingly become an important avenue of the learning community; nonetheless, it is wanting in terms of effective interaction among learners. This paper posits that a well-designed user interface will capably address limitations of Web-based learning, and enhance teaminteractions and learning outcomes. It reports on an experiment that investigated the effect of interfaceelements on a set of interaction processes, attitudes, andlearning outcomes. Availability of interface elements to engage and evaluate learning was found to promote participation, trust, and cooperation among learners. How these process variables impacted outcome variables, as intervened by attitudinal factors, was analyzed using structural modeling. Our analysis provided support to atheoretical model that causally links four sets of variables: input (interface elements), processes, attitudes, andlearning outcomes. The paper expounds on the implications of the findings, which have significant importance with respect to the emerging issues in Web-based learning.
Transforming Pedagogy Using Mobile Web 2.0
Authors: Cochrane Thomas , Bateman Roger 
Published: May 2011

Blogs, wikis, podcasting, and a host of free, easy to useWeb 2.0 social software provide opportunities for creating social constructivist learning environments focusing on student-centred learning and end-user content creation and sharing. Building on this foundation, mobile Web 2.0has emerged as a viable teaching and learning tool, facilitating engaging learning environments that bridge multiple contexts. Today’s dual 3G and wifi-enabled smartphones provide a ubiquitous connection to mobileWeb 2.0 social software and the ability to view, create, edit, upload, and share user generated Web 2.0 content. This article outlines how a Product Design course has moved from a traditional face-to-face, studio-based learning environment to one using mobile Web 2.0technologies to enhance and engage students in a social constructivist learning paradigm.
On Using Wiki as a Tool for Collaborative Online Blended Learning
Authors: Wheeler Steve 
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores the use of the wiki and its role as a cognitive tool to promote interaction and collaborativelearning in higher education. The importance of the software to enable student created content, storage, and sharing of knowledge is reviewed. This chapter provides an evaluation of some of the affordances and constraints ofwikis to promote critical thinking within a blended learningcontext. It assesses their potential to facilitatecollaborative learning through community focused enquiryfor geographically separated students and nomadic learners. One particular focus of the chapter is the development of new digital literacies and how students present their written work in wikis. The chapter also examines group dynamics within collaborative learningenvironments drawing on the data from a study conducted at the University of Plymouth in 2007, using wikis in teacher education. Finally, the chapter highlights some recent key contributions to the developing discourse on social software in what has been termed ‘the architecture of participation.’
A Case of Using Wikis to Foster Collaborative Learning
Authors: Lin Hong , Kelsey Kathleen D 
Published: May 2011

In recent years, Wikis, an open Web-based editing tool, have increasingly been used for collaborative writing projects in classrooms. Hailed as a collaborative learningand writing tool that is more powerful than blogs and e-mail, the pedagogical impact of using Wikis in the classroom is underrepresented in the literature. This case reviews the design and implementation of a Wikibook project for graduate students at a major land-grant university in the mid-South United States. Our findings challenge idealistic hypotheses that work using Wikis, without careful designand implementation, is naturally beneficial. The case also provides design recommendations for educators who are interested in using Wikis to enhance collaborative writing.
Online Learning
Authors: Moskal Patsy D. , Dziuban Charles , Hartman Joel 
Published: May 2011

The authors describe the distributed learning program (Online@UCF) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) that serves a number of adult learners. They present outcomes from several years of research collected by the Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness on adults enrolled inonline courses. Paradoxically, most educators in onlinelearning focus on millennial generation students, their learning styles, and preference for Web 2.0 technologies. However, research at UCF confirms that online educationresonates with adult students because it responds to their lifestyle needs, provides more active learningenvironments, and empowers their learning beyond classroom boundaries. This chapter examines the strategic elements required for successful adult online programs and explores components of online student satisfaction. The authors conclude by considering the opportunities and challenges for adults in online distance education.
Reaching Beyond Bricks and Mortar
Authors: Rockman Saul , Fontana Lynn 
Published: May 2011

Sylvan Learning has set the standard for personalized, after-school, academic support programs for students in elementary grades through high school. It has been in business for 30 years and was one of the earliest programs to demonstrate that providing direct supplemental instruction services could be successfully scaled nationally. The nearly 1,100 Sylvan centers provide academic assistance to thousands of students each dayand have helped more than 2 million students reach their full academic potential. A relatively little-known but growing component of Sylvan Learning’s offerings is Sylvan Online, a oneto- one academic assistance program that is offered to students at home in association with their local SylvanLearning centers. This Internet-based service provides the same type of individualized academic support as the centers, yet it affords greater flexibility and access. Using proprietary technologies, Sylvan Online makes it possible to reach learners—no matter their geographic area or proximity to a Sylvan Learning center—and helps them receive the kind of academic support necessary to succeed in school. This chapter describes the program andattributes of Sylvan Online and situates the program within the larger context of extended-day academic programs.
A Case Study of the Adult Learner's Perception of Instructional Quality in Web-Based Online Courses
Authors: Kidd Terry T. , Song Holim 
Published: May 2011

This study assessed the perceptions of adult learners inonline distance learning programs regarding theinstructional quality of Web-based courses via WebCT. Theresults showed an overall positive perception regarding theinstructional quality of online courses delivered via WebCT (M = 3.51, SD = 1.1362). The mean obtained for students’perceptions regarding the instructional quality items ranged from 3.7 to 3.37. The visual appeal of Web site and appropriateness of the course materials received thehighest rating (M = 3.625). Clarity and purpose in introduction to content components earned the lowest ratings (M = 3.37). These results were closely correlated to students’ responses regarding the important aspects ofinstructional quality of online courses. The most important aspect indicated by students was the idea of having onlinecourse content and materials relevant to the course. Theresults of the study also indicated other perceived aspects that affect students’ views of the instructional quality of anonline course, including interaction, design, convenience, feedback, and usability.
E-Learning University Networks
Authors: Verdú Pérez Elena , Verdú Pérez María Jesús 
Published: May 2011

The achievement of coordination activities and the creation of university networks are considered to be fundamental mechanisms to bring together the different highereducation systems as well as to promote synergies between less developed regions and more developed ones. ODISEAME (Open Distance Inter-University Synergies between Europe, Africa, and Middle East) is an interdisciplinary and intercultural e-learning project whose main goal is to create a Euro-Mediterranean network of universities for the cooperation in the design and development of tele-learning experiences. This four-year project ended in June of 2006 with its final phase when several multilingual and multicultural learning experiences were carried out in an efficient way. These experiences were developed in all the official languages of the participant countries, as well as in English, using a Web-based multilingual virtual space. This article describes the ODISEAME project and the e-learning experiences derived from it and presents some conclusions from their evaluation. It finally shows the importance of universitynetworks in the process of establishing the European higher education area.
A Pedagogical Approach to the Design of Learning Objects for Complex Domains
Authors: Busetti Emanuela , Dettori Giuliana , Forcheri Paola , Ierardi Maria Grazia 
Published: May 2011

In this article we describe an approach to the design oflearning objects (LOs) suitable to support learning incomplex domains. We briefly discuss, from an educational point of view, the methodological choices underlying thedesign of LOs to be used as didactical materials in a distributed Web-based environment, presently under development, devoted to robotics education at theuniversity level. We show how our pedagogical approach to knowledge acquisition and to the use of technological tools is realised by means of didactical units which can be implemented as LOs with various aims and correspondingly different structures. We also address the issue of supporting students’ learning in ways that differ according to the requirements of each situation and illustrate how such support can be implemented by means of ourpedagogically oriented LOs.
Cross-Cultural Differences in Perceptions of E-Learning Usability
Authors: Zaharias Panagiotis 
Published: May 2011

E-learning is gaining momentum in corporate settings as an alternative and supplementary solution to learning and performance problems. Users of e-learning applications and courses differ across regional, linguistic, and country boundaries and user requirements are strongly influenced by their local cultural perspective. Thus e-learning design needs to be sensitive to cultural parameters. Yet, there are very few empirical studies that investigate e-learningdesign and usability issues from a cultural perspective. This study: (a) discusses the cultural considerations in human computer interaction and information systems research and the specificities of usability in e-learning context, (b) focuses on the usability evaluation of e-learning courses within an international e-learning pilot initiative. Employees from four user organizations representing four countries in South Eastern Europe participated as users of the e-learning courses and evaluated their usability.
Web-Based Education Accountability System and Organisational Changes
Authors: Ma Xueguang , Rada Roy 
Published: May 2011

The learning and accountability needs in a teachereducation department drove the development of a novel,web-based Education Accountability System (EAS). To fit the EAS with the organization, Actor-Network Theory (ANT) was used to guide the social and technological development. In the course of fitting the technology to theeducational setting, a novel multi-dimensional perspective to ANT was formalized. Four dimensions of organizational culture, politics, process, and profession were used. Participant observation, field notes, and interviews were used to reveal how standard teacher education practices were created and recreated. Detailed translations occurring at multiple levels provided insight into the technical agency of the EAS and showed technology shaped the emergence of a socio-technical solution for a teacher educationprogram.
Enforcing Modeling Guidelines in an ORDBMS-based UML-Repository
Authors: Ritter N. , Steiert H.P. 
Published: May 2011

Due to its rich set of modeling concepts and its broad application spectrum the Unified Modeling Language (UML) has become widely accepted for modeling many aspects of software systems. Since UML is not related to any particular design method, each software development project has to establish its own modeling guidelines. Hence, tool support is needed for guiding the developer throughout the modeling process and for enforcing project-related integrity of UML models. In this chapter, we present our approach for enforcing guidelines in UML-based software development processes. For managing UML models, we implemented a UML repository on top of an object-relational database management system (ORDBMS). Guidelines are expressed as OCL constraints and are enforced either automatically, i. e., by the UML repository, or on user demand. For this purpose, we take advantage of ORDBMS query facilities for checking guidelines by automated mapping of OCL constraints to SQL expressions.
Workhorse Rigs", Tailor-made for Production Drilling at Existing Mature
Authors: Eikill Geir Ove 
Published: May 2011

1 Introduction:
Oil production from the Norwegian Continental Shelf is declining, and it is the production of gas that keeps the number of oil equivalents up. To make the reduction in production curve as low as possible in the years ahead, it is essential to drain the existing fields in an optimal and cost-effective manner. New discoveries will also have to be exploited faster than before - at a lower cost. The cost of drilling offshore wells on the Norwegian continental shelf has increased far more than the general price inflation in mainland Norway.
New wells and field developments may not be economically attractive due to the accelerated costs and increased competition for capital in the market. The golden age of the giant fields offshore Norway is most likely history, and the remaining known reserves and discoveries are less accessible and of less volume. This fact makes it even more important to be as cost effective as possible in recovering these resources in a commercially interesting manner. Cost-, and drilling efficiency are key issues to make the depletion curves as gradual as possible in the next few decades on the Norwegian continental shelf. Production drilling efficiency with focus on Completion and well interventions are essential factors in keeping the recovery rate from existing fields as high as possible, and must have high focus in the industry in the years to come.
There is a shortage of mature Drilling and Completion rig design Concepts tailor-made for mid water (100-500m) for operation on the NCS, hence Statoil has decided to develop a new Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) concept, " CAT D??, which we believe will be a " Workhorse rig??, tailor-made for Production Drilling in cold climatic-, mid water conditions on marginal- and existing mature fields on the NCS.
The future on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) will consist of mature- and marginal fields where the hydrocarbons are found in smaller structures. This will require lower development costs by changing from customization to standardization of MODU concepts.
Roncador P-52 Hybrid Riser Review: Key Concepts, Construction and Installation Challenges
Authors: Mello Vinicius Costa , Lacerda Vitor Tiago , da Paixao Marcelo Monteiro , Ferreira Claudio Violante , Morais Marcos G.G. 
Published: May 2011

Abstract
The first Petrobras Hybrid Riser was installed in Campos Basin and is part of the Roncador P-52 oil export system. This system, which connects the SS platform P-52 (1800m water depth) to the fixed unit PRA-1 (100m water depth), is in operation since November 2007 comprises an 18 in diameter flowline and the Free Standing Hybrid Riser (FSHR). The FSHR is composed by a grouted foundation, 1500m of rigid steel riser, a near surface Buoyancy Can and a flexible jumper connecting the top of rigid riser to the platform. The basic design evolved almost until installation, in October 2007, due to engineering, construction and supplier restrictions.
Key concepts of design and main considerations that led to this Hybrid Riser final design are reviewed. Moreover, this paper presents some of the aspects of construction and installation that influenced the implementation and some of the lessons learned are discussed. The Riser foundation and flexible jumper were free issued by Petrobras to Contractor and some of the interfaces over the design are addressed as well.
This paper points out some of the key issues to be taken into consideration to improve the design of future projects and presents some important lessons learned that can be used for further studies in ultra deepwater large diameter Hybrid Risers.

Introduction
In November 2007 the first Petrobras' Hybrid Riser, part of P-52's oil export system - also known as PDET Profundo A project, started operating in Roncador field in Campos Basin, Brazil. The system has been operating successfully over the past years proving the efficiency of the concept. This riser concept allows for a more compact subsea arrangement compared to Steel Catenary Riser (SCR) as it was the case of P-52' FSHR which was installed nearly 300m from the platform. Some other advantages were also pointed out in Sertã et al (2001) and include:Loads: FPU motions are transferred to the Flexible Jumper and not to the main catenary (in case of SCR).Reduced Loads on the FPU: the loads come uniquely from the weight of the catenary flexible jumper and are shared between the buoyancy can and the FPU.
Installation with Pipelay Vessel: The installation can be done by standard pipelay vessels with standard laying methods (J-Lay, Reel-Lay or S-Lay) depending on the specific design restrictions which, in this case, were suitable only to J-Lay method.
Improved Installation Schedule: It does not depend on the FPU schedule. The installation campaign can start with much anticipation to the platform's arrival.
Suitable for Ultra Deepwater: In certain situations like water depths beyond 2000m it may be impractical to have a flexible riser (or bundle). This was the case with P-52 where the concept was installed in depths of 1800m.
A Simple Model for Hydrodynamic Slug Flow
Authors: Danielson Thomas John 
Published: May 2011

Abstract
Hydrodynamic slug flow is the prevailing flow regime in oil production, yet industry still lacks a comprehensive model, based on first principles, which fully describes hydrodynamic slug flow. This paper describes a very simple, time-dependent, two-phase (gas-liquid) model which is capable of producing hydrodynamic slugging from first principles.
The new method can be applied for evaluation of slugging potential for oil pipelines. The model is capable of producing slug lengths and frequencies, as well as slug hold-ups. The model has been compared to the published Prudhoe Bay field data gathered by Brill et al. The model has been able to predict the transition from homogeneous to slug flow, and also give information about slug lengths and frequencies.
Such a simple model could be a very excellent jumping off point for building more complex models capable of predicting slug distributions from first principles, without any need for additional user input. No such model currently exists.

Theoretical Background
While hydrodynamic slug flow is an inherently transient phenomenon, it has historically been modeled as a ‘pseudo steady-state’ which ignores the fundamentally transient nature of the flow. Even in instances where the individual slugs are introduced and tracked in a Lagrangian frame (so-called ‘slug tracking’)1, the results have been somewhat disappointing, in that the ultimate slug distributions are heavily influenced by user input. This paper examines another approach - where the fundamental transient nature of hydrodynamic slug flow is accounted for in the model.
In order to formulate a model for slug flow, we must first develop a ‘point model’ for an individual pipeline segment, or computational cell, in a pipeline. This pipeline segment must then be joined with other pipeline segments upstream and downstream of it to form a ‘steady-state’ model for the pipeline. Lastly, these steady-state solutions must be implemented into a transient scheme; a proper model of hydrodynamic slug flow absolutely requires that slugging not be treated as a pseudo-steady-state, but as an inherently transient phenonenon.