Showing papers by "Mauro Coccoli published in 2011"

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning in software engineering

Abstract: Collaboration is one of the keywords in education as well as in computer-assisted instruction. In this respect, e-learning platforms provide users with specific tools, enabling them to collaborate and/or to cooperate so to reach common objectives. Collaboration is considered as a teaching strategy but, in many cases such as in the software engineering classes, collaboration has to be a learning outcome itself, since students must acquire a specific ability in team working. Thus a suited working environment is needed, that has to be much more than just a flexible Learning Management System. Consequently, a specific project has been launched within the Italian Eclipse Community in the framework of the Enforcing Team Cooperation (ETC) activity. The aim of the project is that of enforcing and enlarging cooperation activities among a large number of students, all attending software engineering courses at different Universities in Italy. The main idea behind the project is the implementation of a really effective Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) paradigm, to be used for higher education on team cooperation, in software engineering classes for the analysis, design, and development of software programs along their lifecycle.

Opportunities, integration and issues of applying new technologies over e-learning platforms

Abstract: Recent advancements in the field of social networking, Web 2.0 technologies, grid and cloud computing, and mobile communications have significantly changed many concepts at the basis of e-learning. The latter is also a valuable tool for teaching in developing Countries, especially when jointly used with satellites allowing to overcome the digital divide. In this perspective, this paper investigates several enabling technologies that can be used to improve e learning platforms, reflecting in the so-called e-learning 2.0 and m-learning. Specifically, this work showcases: i) the mobile paradigm applied to e-learning process; ii) the usage of p2p to better exploit the more “social” nature of modern frameworks; iii) the adoption of cloud computing concepts to bring e-learning services to the nextstep and iv) hazards and opportunities when employing satellite communication.

A framework for the delivery of contents in RFID-driven smart environments

Abstract: The increasing availability of sophisticated mobile network appliances, such as smartphones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), jointly with the maturity and costeffectiveness of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology, allow the rapid development of smart environments. This can dramatically increase the users experience enabling new interaction models. In this perspective, we present a framework to deploy RFID-driven smart environments to provide ad-hoc and personalized contents, to visitors in cultural settings (e.g., museums). The work showcases the architectural choices, from both the viewpoint of the needed hardware and the related interaction paradigm. Lastly, it also presents a preliminary performance evaluation to quantify the produced network traffic.

Managing a software project leveraging students' cooperation: on the road to Eclipse (OTRE) experience

Abstract: The world of software analysis, design and development has dramatically changed, owing to the availability of novel patterns and architectures derived from the Internet experience. In particular, the Jazz framework joined to the Eclipse Integrated Development Environment enables programmers working in a collaborative environment, by means of cooperation strategies. This gave birth to the idea of launching an experimental project for the teaching of software engineering disciplines in a collaborative environment. To this aim, students from different Universities are encouraged to conduct software development projects together, exploring new opportunities for intra-university collaboration, and promoting the sharing of knowledge and expertise gained during the projects. This paper reports on the state of the art of the OTRE project. In more details, OTRE stands for On The Road to Eclipse, and its ambition is developing a full-featured software environment for managing the annual conference of the Italian Eclipse Community. The vision, management, achievements and future development of the project will be addressed in this work.

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning in Software Engineering (ETC - Enforcing Team Cooperation)

Abstract: Collaboration is one of the keywords in education as well as in computer-assisted instruction. In this respect, e- learning platforms provide users with specific tools, enabling them to collaborate and/or to cooperate so to reach common objectives. Collaboration is considered as a teaching strategy but, in many cases such as in the software engineering classes, collaboration has to be a learning outcome itself, since students must acquire a specific ability in team working. Thus a suited working environment is needed, that has to be much more than just a flexible Learning Management System. Consequently, a specific project has been launched within the Italian Eclipse Community in the framework of the Enforcing Team Cooperation (ETC) activity. The aim of the project is that of enforcing and enlarging cooperation activities among a large number of students, all attending software engineering courses at different Universities in Italy. The main idea behind the project is the implementation of a really effective Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) paradigm, to be used for higher education on team cooperation, in software engineering classes for the analysis, design, and development of software programs along their lifecycle.

A task allocation middleware targeting an RFID-enhanced environment

Abstract: This paper presents a middleware for managing task allocation to agents (humans, robots, or software artifacts) operating in environments equipped with RFID technology. The system uses workflows and task decomposition techniques for preparing a task plan, and exploits the RFID technology for distributing and deploying the tasks within the environment. RFID tags are used for both labeling relevant objects and modeling the physical environment as a graph of deployed RFID tag nodes. The acquisition of new tasks and their distribution take place by means of the proposed infrastructure.

Educational Concept Maps: a Knowledge Based Aid for Instructional Design

Abstract: This paper discusses a knowledge-based model for the design and development of units of learning and teaching aids. The idea behind this model originates from both the analysis of the open issues in instructional authoring systems, and the lack of a well-defined process able to merge pedagogical strategies with systems for the knowledge organization of the domain. In particular, it is presented the Educational Concept Map (ECM): a, pedagogically founded (derived from instructional design theories), abstract annotation system that was developed with the aim of guaranteeing the reusability of both teaching materials and knowledge structures. By means of ECMs, it is possible to design lessons and/or learning paths from an ontological structure characterized by the integration of hierarchical and associative relationships among the educational objectives. The paper also discusses how the ECMs can be implemented by means of the ISO/IEC 13250 Topic Maps standard. Based on the same model, it is also considered the possibility of visualizing, through a graphical model, and navigate, through an ontological browser, the knowledge structure and the relevant resources