1522 research outputs found
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A Pan European Initiative to Formulate a Framework for Blended Learning Targeting Continuing Professional Development in the Construction Industry
Get PDFLearning is a complex set of inter-related cognitive processes. In higher education changes that can be identified are the need to become more flexible in the delivery of lifelong learning opportunities to meet the needs of construction professionals and integrating e-learning technology in the delivery of these programmes. The evolution of ICT continues at a rapid rate and technological standards continue to evolve to allow for adaptability, interoperability and reuseability of online material. For higher education, the intensive resource requirements required in the development of e-learning content and the challenges in accommodating different learning styles, developing an e-learning programme can be a resource intensive exercise for higher education. Coupled with this, many e-learning initiatives have been less than successful for a number of reasons. A network of educational institutions in Europe has come together to develop a framework focused on the lifelong learning needs of engineers and other professionals in the construction industry while participants remain in employment. The main objective of this network is to establish a platform where different instructional strategies to accommodate different learning styles and cognitive processes will be developed. Other target groupings include other higher-level institutes outside of the partner institutes and professional and industrial representative bodies in the construction industry who may integrate the lessons learned into their programmes. The major expected outputs are a database of learning resources that may be integrated into CPD learning programmes delivered in a blended learning format. A methodology to formulate this framework is outlined
Autonomic Management of Smart Spaces
Get PDFManagement complexity of Smart Space environments increases with advances in
pervasive computing domains. Extensive research work has been carried out to demonstrate the
power of pervasive computing across a wide spectrum of domains. This research shows the
significance of pervasive computing and it also highlights the complexity issues in the
development, deployment and maintenance of such environments.
To allow industry to adopt pervasive computing, especially its offspring Smart Spaces, a method of
management must be devised. While research is being carried out in this area, a new and exciting
area has emerged known as Autonomic Computing. Autonomic Computing has now become an
umbrella term for computer environments that display forms of autonomic control over
themselves.
This paper explores the overlap of Pervasive Computing and Autonomic Computing with
particular reference to Smart Spaces. It shows how the self-administrating properties of an
autonomic computing solution, using IBM’s Autonomic Toolkit, complements a Smart Space
enabled framework such as Open Service Gateway initiative (OSGi). The conclusion reached is
that the convergence of Autonomic Computing and Pervasive Computing research areas could
provide a more promising future for the management of pervasive environments resulting in a
reduction in cost and complexity
Using UML 2.0 to Create Executable Code from Requirements Capture and Consistent Requirement Specifications for Real Time Automotive Software Development
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A Distributed Hierarchical Structure for Object Networks Supporting Activity Recognition
Get PDFPervasive environments will witness heterogeneous smart embedded devices (e.g. sensors, actuators) integrated into user’s living environment (e.g. smart homes and hospitals) and provide a multitude of information that can transparently support user’s lifestyle. One promising application resulting from the management and exploitation of this information is the human activity recognition. In this paper we briefly describe our activity recognition architecture and focus on an important management component of this architecture using the concept of object networks. We explore how object networks can integrate various sensor networks and heterogeneous devices into a coherent network through embedded context and role profile and at the same time support distributed context reasoning. The paper also describes the mechanisms used to eliminate and refine context information that is deemed irrelevant due to user behaviour changes over time, by employing the idea of role fitness
Antimicrobial polymers from polypropylene/silver composites—Ag+ release measured by anode stripping voltammetry
Get PDFPolypropylene/silver composites were subjected to silver ion release experiments in order to investigate their Ag+ release capabilities, a pertinent condition for antimicrobial efficacy. Polypropylene containing elementary silver powder having a specific surface area of 0.78 m2/g was considered as the principal antimicrobial filler. In addition the effectiveness of other commercial antimicrobials based on silver were also examined. Evidence is presented for the release of silver ions from these composites in an aqueous environment. The silver ion release depends on the nature of the antimicrobial filler and the polymer matrix. Scanning electron microscopy has been employed to investigate the morphology of the composite and they were found to be active against the microbes. An excellent correlation between the silver ion release experiments and the antimicrobial efficacy was found. Multifilament yarns produced from polypropylene containing elementary silver powder show excellent long term Ag+ release properties. � 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
WALT: Weblogs as Learning Tools
Get PDFAbstract: Traditional e-learning platforms have many shortcomings. It has been suggested
that Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) may actually impede learning. Weblogs are a
new tool that can provide a means for students to reflect on their learning, and for students to
easily collaborate with their teachers and with one another. This research aims to determine
whether weblogs can provide effective support for learning in an online environment. A pilot
study was conducted with a group of second-year Networking & Communications students
over a 10-week period. Data was collected both from the weblogs used by the students, and
from a questionnaire administered at the end of the study
Crossing a bridge: The challenges of developing & delivering a pilot information literacy course for international students
Get PDFThe article fits into the category of Case Study as defined by the Emerald Publishing Group :
Describes actual interventions or experiences within organisations. May well be subjective and will not generally report on research.
Purpose
To describe the challenges involved in developing and delivering a pilot library skills course to a group of international Bridging Studies students from China and Pakistan. To provide guidelines for other libraries who may be faced with similar challenges.
Design / Methodology / Approach
The article documents the development and delivery of a pilot course for international students. The course described formed part of an accredited Critical Thinking & Research Skills module. The challenges of the project are described and a number of recommendations for its future development are outlined.
Findings
The project underlined the challenges involved in teaching library skills to international students. The main barrier that emerged throughout the course related to communication difficulties. Language levels amongst the group were poorer than anticipated. The group did display excellent IT skills, however, and enjoyed class work that actively engaged them in the learning process.
Research limitations / implications
The project is still at a pilot stage of development. The paper provides a short-term view of one small academic library‘s experience of working with international students. No full-scale student survey has been conducted to date.
Practical implications
This account of WIT Libraries experience of developing and delivering an accredited information skills course for the Bridging Studies group is likely to be a useful source of practical information for libraries in similar positions, of similar scale, faced with similar challenges.
Originality / value
Offers practical solutions for libraries in similar positions. The successful diversification of the traditional library role is likely to be of interest to all members of the library profession.
Keywords: Academic libraries, ESL, Information literacy, International students, Learning outcomes, Learning support, User educatio
Bio-inspired Policy Based Management (bioPBM) for Autonomic Communication Systems
Get PDFThe tremendous development of Internet
infrastructures as well as communication technologies
has led to an increase in network management
complexity. Autonomic control is one way to manage
complexity. Policy Based Management Systems (PBMS)
provide a consistent model for decision making using a
set of abstractions (i.e., to manage the system in a manner
that is independent from the complexities of low level
network technologies). In this paper, we develop a
hierarchical bio-inspired PBMS based on mechanisms for
organism regulation that supports self-organisation and
self-management at different levels of the hierarchy. We
employ this mechanism towards network management of
autonomic communications systems
An Architecture Supporting Human Activity Recognition
No full textThis paper addresses issues surrounding human activity recognition. While our main focus is health-care, the architecture presented in this paper is flexible enough to be applied to other domains. The architecture is the basis of a non-obtrusive system combining distributed and centralised paradigms founded on the concept of object networks. Object networks are created on the basis of user-to-object and object-to-object interactions. An object is consid-ered everyday artefact that is relevant in inferring user’s activity. The activity inference process is distributed throughout the environment and is carried out by the inference engine that operates over the object networks. This process actively exploits various events generated from the object network, describing the proximity relationships, or depicting specific object functionality in addi-tion to the state of the environment to infer user’s current activity. Moreover we utilise information representing user’s behaviour history as well as behav-iour of similar users in equivalent context to advance the activity inference process