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Showing papers by "Open University of Catalonia published in 2006"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The studies show that the Internet is used for connectivity locally as well as globally, although the nature of its use varies in different countries, and Internet use is adding on to other forms of communication, rather than replacing them.
Abstract: We review the evidence from a number of surveys in which our NetLab has been involved about the extent to which the Internet is transforming or enhancing community. The studies show that the Internet is used for connectivity locally as well as globally, although the nature of its use varies in different countries. Internet use is adding on to other forms of communication, rather than replacing them. Internet use is reinforcing the pre-existing turn to societies in the developed world that are organized around networked individualism rather than group or local solidarities. The result has important implications for civic involvement.

739 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: When familiarity with technology is high among respondents and sample procedures are followed to maximize control for potential participants, Web-based and paper and pencil formats are virtually equivalent, as in the two brief measures of psychological distress used in this study.

192 citations


Proceedings Article
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: This work defines a grounded and holistic conceptual model that describes on-line collaborative learning interactions sufficiently and applies it in a real, web-based, complex and long-term collaborative learning situation.
Abstract: Evaluating on-line collaborative learning interactions is a complex task due to the variety of elements and factors that take place and intervene in the way a group of students comes together to collaborate in order to achieve a learning goal. The aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of group interaction and determine how to best support the collaborative learning process. To that end, we propose a principled framework for the study and analysis of group interaction and group scaffolding which is built by combining different aspects and issues of collaboration, learning and evaluation. In particular, we define learning activity indicators at several levels of description which prompt to the application of a mixed interaction analysis scheme and the use of different data types and specific tools. At an initial layer, the basis of the approach is set by applying a qualitative process for evaluating the individual and group task performance as well as the group functioning and scaffolding. The interaction analysis process is completed by defining and applying two more layers: a social network analysis of the group activity and participation behaviour and a quantitative analysis of group effectiveness as regards task achievement and active interaction involvement. Our work defines a grounded and holistic conceptual model that describes on-line collaborative learning interactions sufficiently and applies it in a real, web-based, complex and long-term collaborative learning situation. An in-depth empirical evaluation of the conceptual model is fully discussed, which demonstrates the usefulness and value of the approach.

140 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a principled framework for the study and analysis of group interaction and group scaffolding which is built by combining different aspects and issues of collaboration, learning and evaluation.
Abstract: Evaluating on-line collaborative learning interactions is a complex task due to the variety of elements and factors that take place and intervene in the way a group of students comes together to collaborate in order to achieve a learning goal. The aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of group interaction and determine how to best support the collaborative learning process. To that end, we propose a principled framework for the study and analysis of group interaction and group scaffolding which is built by combining different aspects and issues of collaboration, learning and evaluation. In particular, we define learning activity indicators at several levels of description which prompt to the application of a mixed interaction analysis scheme and the use of different data types and specific tools. At an initial layer, the basis of the approach is set by applying a qualitative process for evaluating the individual and group task performance as well as the group functioning and scaffolding. The interaction analysis process is completed by defining and applying two more layers: a social network analysis of the group activity and participation behaviour and a quantitative analysis of group effectiveness as regards task achievement and active interaction involvement. Our work defines a grounded and holistic conceptual model that describes on-line collaborative learning interactions sufficiently and applies it in a real, web-based, complex and long-term collaborative learning situation. An in-depth empirical evaluation of the conceptual model is fully discussed, which demonstrates the usefulness and value of the approach.

132 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 May 2006
TL;DR: The main elements of the Holsapple and Joshi KM ontology and some existing work on e-learning ontologies are explicitly linked to OpenCyc definitions, providing a framework for the development of functionalities that use the built-in reasoning services of Open Cyc in KM activities.
Abstract: Ontologies have been recognized as a fundamental infrastructure for advanced approaches to Knowledge Management (KM) automation, and the conceptual foundations for them have been discussed in some previous reports. Nonetheless, such conceptual structures should be properly integrated into existing ontological bases, for the practical purpose of providing the required support for the development of intelligent applications. Such applications should ideally integrate KM concepts into a framework of commonsense knowledge with clear computational semantics. In this paper, such an integration work is illustrated through a concrete case study, using the large OpenCyc knowledge base. Concretely, the main elements of the Holsapple and Joshi KM ontology and some existing work on e-learning ontologies are explicitly linked to OpenCyc definitions, providing a framework for the development of functionalities that use the built-in reasoning services of OpenCyc in KM activities. The integration can be used as the point of departure for the engineering of KM-oriented systems that account for a shared understanding of the discipline and rely on public semantics provided by one of the largest open knowledge bases available.

68 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
20 Apr 2006
TL;DR: A secure e-exam management system where all exam related information is in digital format and a cryptographic scheme that has to be executed in order to achieve the desired security levels at every exam stage is proposed.
Abstract: Secure electronic exams are one of the most difficult challenges in e-learning security. The relevance of the examination process for any academic institution implies that different security mechanisms must be applied in order to preserve some security properties during different examination stages. In this paper, we present a secure e-exam management system where all exam related information is in digital format. We propose a cryptographic scheme that has to be executed in order to achieve the desired security levels at every exam stage.

57 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A linguistic analysis of a corpus of messages written in Catalan and Spanish, which come from several informal newsgroups on the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia; henceforth, UOC) Virtual Campus, sheds empirical light on the relevance of characteristics of the e-mail register, the impact of language contact and interference, and their implications for the use of machine translation for CMC data in order to facilitate cross-linguistic communication on the Internet.
Abstract: This paper presents a linguistic analysis of a corpus of messages written in Catalan and Spanish, which come from several informal newsgroups on the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia; henceforth, UOC) Virtual Campus. The surrounding environment is one of extensive bilingualism and contact between Spanish and Catalan. The study was carried out as part of the INTERLINGUA project conducted by the UOC's Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3). Its main goal is to ascertain the linguistic characteristics of the e-mail register in the newsgroups in order to assess their implications for the creation of an online machine translation environment. The results shed empirical light on the relevance of characteristics of the e-mail register, the impact of language contact and interference, and their implications for the use of machine translation for CMC data in order to facilitate cross-linguistic communication on the Internet.

53 citations


Book ChapterDOI
10 Jul 2006
TL;DR: The features of an ideal code-generation method for integrity constraints are established and it is believed that such a method is required to extend MDA adoption in the development of industrial projects, where constraints play a key role.
Abstract: The growing interest in the MDA (Model-Driven Architecture) and MDD (Model-Driven Development) approaches has largely increased the number of tools and methods including code-generation capabilities. Given a platform-independent model (PIM) of an application, these tools generate (part of) the application code either by defining first a platform-specific model or by executing a direct PIM to code transformation. However, current tools present several limitations regarding code generation of the integrity constraints defined in the PIMs. This paper compares these tools and shows that they lack expressiveness in the kind of constraints they can handle or efficiency in the code generated to verify them. Based on this evaluation, the features of an ideal code-generation method for integrity constraints are established. We believe such a method is required to extend MDA adoption in the development of industrial projects, where constraints play a key role.

50 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, la iniciativa de Open Access for Universities and Knowledge Society Journal, mediante el portal Redalyc, is presented. 14 paginas.
Abstract: Articulo en PDF. 14 paginas. Publicado bajo la iniciativa de Open Access por el RUSC. Universities and Knowledge Society Journal, mediante el portal Redalyc

37 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a portfolio electronic aplicat in un context universitari densenyament en linia, in which the authors discuss the caracteristiques of the portfolio.
Abstract: L'article exposa el sentit i les caracteristiques d'un portfolio electronic aplicat en un context universitari d'ensenyament en linia. El portfolio que es presenta posa l'emfasi en el seguiment dels treballs dels estudiants a partir del progres continuat de les competencies professionals que s'han desenvolupat al llarg dels Estudis de Psicopedagogia i que es resumeixen en la seva assignatura de Practicum. L'avenc de les competencies s'exposa mitjancant la publicacio d'evidencies d'assoliment que documenten el nivell de progres de les competencies esmentades. El portfolio electronic que es planteja es de caracter individual i esta sostingut per un mecanisme de suport per part del professor per mitja del qual aporta retroalimentacio continuada als estudiants, la qual cosa els facilita l'ajustament de les seves actuacions a les competencies professionals plantejades.

32 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an experientia d'innovacio de la docencia universitaria en l'ambit disciplinar de la psicologia de l'educacio basada en una metodologia d"analisi i resolucio de casesos problema en petits groups en col·laboracio, i en lus de tecnologies de la informacio i de la comunicacio (TIC).
Abstract: L'article presenta i discuteix una experiencia d'innovacio de la docencia universitaria en l'ambit disciplinar de la psicologia de l'educacio basada en una metodologia d'analisi i resolucio de casos problema en petits grups en col·laboracio, i en l'us de tecnologies de la informacio i de la comunicacio (TIC). L'experiencia, que s'ha portat a terme al llarg de dos cursos academics, es fonamenta en una visio constructivista i sociocultural dels processos d'ensenyament i aprenentatge. S'hi descriu amb detall el disseny instruccional desenvolupat, que prioritza tres formes d'usar les TIC: 1) com a suport al treball en col·laboracio en petit grup dels estudiants; 2) com a defensa al seguiment, el suport i la tutoritzacio del professor, i 3) com a suport a la reflexio i la regulacio dels estudiants sobre el seu propi proces de treball i aprenentatge. Aquestes formes d'us estenen i amplifiquen l'activitat presencial de professor i estudiants, i donen lloc a un context hibrid (presencial i virtual) d'ensenyament i aprenentatge. La valoracio global de l'experiencia es molt positiva, tant des del punt de vista del rendiment academic dels estudiants com des del de la satisfaccio d'aquests darrers i de professors. Amb tot, s'hi identifiquen tambe alguns aspectes susceptibles de revisio i millora; en particular, s'assenyala la dificultat que suposa integrar eines i espais virtuals d'ensenyament i aprenentatge en una "cultura institucional" i dels estudiants centrada en la presencialitat, i es destaca la necessitat d'ajudar i ensenyar de manera explicita als alumnes habilitats especifiques per al treball i l'aprenentatge en entorns virtuals.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: Bates et al. as mentioned in this paper define a mediador entre el docente y el discente as a tecnologia, which can be seen as a kind of epistemic mediador.
Abstract: Con el objetivo de hacer llegar la educacion a todo aquel que la necesita, aparecieron las practicas de educacion a distancia. Estas practicas han exigido siempre la existencia de un elemento mediador entre el docente y el discente. Generalmente, este mediador ha sido una tecnologia, que ha ido variando en cada momento. Si historicamente nos referiamos al correo convencional, que establecia una relacion epistolar entre el profesor y el estudiante, con el tiempo hemos ido introduciendo nuevas tecnologias que, por su coste y su accesibilidad, nos permiten evolucionar en esta relacion a distancia (Bates, 1995).

Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: This work is a scalable and improvable attempt for a formalization of a benchmarking methodology in the triangle of transparency, capacity and robustness for digital robust watermarking algorithms.
Abstract: Digital watermarking is a growing research area to mark digital content (image, audio, video, etc.) by embedding information into the content itself. This technique opens or provides additional and useful features for many application fields (like DRM, annotation, integrity proof and many more). The role of watermarking algorithm evaluation (in a broader sense benchmarking) is to provide a fair and automated analysis of a specific approach if it can fulfill certain application requirements and to perform a comparison with different or similar approaches. Today most algorithm designers use their own methodology and therefore the results are hardly comparable. Derived from the variety of actually presented evaluation procedures in this paper, firstly we introduce a theoretical framework for digital robust watermarking algorithms where we focus on the triangle of robustness, transparency and capacity. The main properties and measuring methods are described. Secondly, a practical environment shows the predefined definition and introduces the practical relevance needed for robust audio watermarking benchmarking. Our goal is to provide a more partial precise methodology to test and compare watermarking algorithms. The hope is that watermarking algorithm designers will use our introduced methodology for testing their algorithms to allow a comparison with existing algorithms more easily. Our work should be seen as a scalable and improvable attempt for a formalization of a benchmarking methodology in the triangle of transparency, capacity and robustness.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, els antecedents i les caracteristiques principals of les revistes cientifiques digitals are presented, as well as unes reflexions sobre la credibilitat d'aquest tipus de publicacions.
Abstract: Es presenten els antecedents i les caracteristiques principals de les revistes cientifiques digitals. A continuacio es repassen els principals indicadors que es tenen en compte per avaluar revistes digitals, agrupats en tres grans apartats: aspectes formals, adequacio al mitja digital, difusio i impacte. Per acabar, es presenten unes reflexions sobre la credibilitat d'aquest tipus de publicacions.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe iniciativas existentes en America Latina for desarrollar criterios, mediadores, medidas, and metodologias with el objetivo of evaluar the calidad of la educación virtual and a distancia.
Abstract: Es deseable lograr una alta calidad en la educacion virtual y a distancia, y su mejoramiento permanente, pero mas aun es hacerlo procurando que esa educacion alcance la mayor equidad y pertinencia social. Este trabajo intenta aportar algunas propuestas para lograr este objetivo. El articulo se inicia con consideraciones sobre cada uno de los conceptos por separado: su definicion, significacion e implicaciones para la educacion virtual y a distancia. Como evidencias empiricas, se describen las iniciativas existentes en America Latina para desarrollar criterios, indicadores, medidas y metodologias con el objetivo de evaluar la calidad de la educacion a distancia y su acreditacion, en el marco del desarrollo de los sistemas de educacion superior en su conjunto, asi como investigaciones en esa region sobre sistemas de evaluacion y acreditacion de la calidad de la educacion superior virtual. Igualmente, se comenta la ausencia de proyectos similares para evaluar la equidad y la pertinencia, y relacionarla con la calidad. Finalmente, a manera de sintesis, se analizan las interrelaciones entre las dimensiones mencionadas y se formulan propuestas con miras a evaluar la educacion a distancia en cuanto a su calidad, equidad y pertinencia, y las relaciones entre estas dimensiones de manera integrada y sinergica.

01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: A theory/model-based approach applied to a distance education course that is developed and taught in a virtual learning environment to encourage and enhance learning through collaborative construction of knowledge and reflective interaction which contribute to a deeper understanding of the course contents.
Abstract: This work presents a report on research carried out in the field of networked collaborative learning. In particular, we present a theory/model-based approach applied to a distance education course that is developed and taught in a virtual learning environment. In this educational practice, our objective has been twofold: first, to improve distance teaching and learning, and second, to facilitate social interaction among students and between tutor and students via the Web. To that end, our research approach has been based on the following actions: First, we analysed the goals, needs, expectations and preferences of our students, based on a previous pilot experience on distance collaborative learning, in order to understand what is actually happening in networked learning when collaboration becomes an integrated part of the whole learning process. Second, we proceeded to the design, development and implementation of a new pedagogical practice, called Virtual Study Group, to encourage and enhance learning through collaborative construction of knowledge and reflective interaction which contribute to a deeper understanding of the course contents. The paper focuses mainly on the latter. Finally, we provide a critical analysis and evaluation of the outcomes of this experience and of the many issues arising from applying this collaborative pedagogical practice to a virtual learning environment.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: This chapter proposes a framework that supports the analysis and assessment of collaborative learning of online groups of students working on a complex task (software project, or case study) in a real web-based, distance learning context.
Abstract: In this chapter we propose a framework that supports the analysis and assessment of collaborative learning of online groups of students working on a complex task (software project, or case study) in a real web-based, distance learning context. On the one hand, our approach is based on principled evaluation criteria that involve and measure a variety of elements and factors as well as on a combination of a basic qualitative process and a quantitative method that provide a grounded and holistic framework to analyse and assess group and individual performance more effectively and objectively. On the other hand, the approach has been fully implemented and tested on an asynchronous collaboration platform. All in all, the aim of our work is to provide a better understanding of group interaction and determine how to best support the collaborative learning process.

Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: This paper presents a set of conceptual modelling patterns for the role concept that include both the static and dynamic aspects of roles, and proposes the Role as Entity Types conceptual modelling pattern to deal with the full role semantics.
Abstract: Roles are meant to capture dynamic and temporal aspects of real-world objects. The role concept has been used with many semantic meanings: dynamic class, aspect, perspective, interface or mode. This paper identifies common semantics of different role models found in the literature. Moreover, it presents a set of conceptual modelling patterns for the role concept that include both the static and dynamic aspects of roles. In particular, we propose the Role as Entity Types conceptual modelling pattern to deal with the full role semantics. A conceptual modelling pattern is aimed at representing a specific structure of knowledge that appears in different domains. The use of these patterns eases the definition of roles in conceptual schemas. In addition, we describe the design of schemas defined by using the patterns in order to implement them in any object-oriented language.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
23 Apr 2006
TL;DR: The method presented in this paper assists the designer during the definition of ICs by means of automatically transforming the initially defined constraints into equivalent alternatives, useful in the context of the MDA, where the choice of a particular alternative has a direct effect on the efficiency of the automatically generated implementation.
Abstract: Integrity constraints (ICs) play a key role in the definition of conceptual schemas. In the UML, ICs are usually specified as invariants written in the OCL. However, due to the high expressiveness of the OCL, the designer has different syntactic alternatives to express each IC, mainly depending on the type used as a context of the constraint. The method presented in this paper assists the designer during the definition of ICs by means of automatically transforming the initially defined constraints into equivalent alternatives. The method is also useful in the context of the MDA, where the choice of a particular alternative has a direct effect on the efficiency of the automatically generated implementation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptualizacion psicoeducativa basada on un enfoque sociocognitivo of significado de la ayuda al aprendizaje con las TIC (las tecnologias de la informacion and de la comunicacion) in the educación superior is presented.
Abstract: En este articulo presentamos de manera general algunas reflexiones sobre una conceptualizacion psicoeducativa basada en un enfoque sociocognitivo del significado de la ayuda al aprendizaje con las TIC (las tecnologias de la informacion y de la comunicacion) en la educacion superior. Hemos organizado los contenidos del articulo en tres partes. En la primera parte desarrollamos el significado de la ayuda al aprendizaje desde una vision constructivista sociocognitiva, con el uso del concepto de andamiaje educativo; en la segunda parte tratamos algunas de las implicaciones conceptuales mas relevantes sobre la introduccion de la tecnologia para la ayuda al aprendizaje, y en la tercera parte caracterizamos diversas dimensiones didacticas de los contextos de educacion superior desarrollados con tecnologia.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: Most challenges are related with management in higher education institutions and the difficulty of considering students as "clients" more than "users" and definitely different of "products" as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Most challenges are related with management in Higher Education institutions and the difficulty of considering students as “clients” more than “users” and definitely different of “products”

Proceedings ArticleDOI
11 Jul 2006
TL;DR: The goal of this paper is to present a general framework to facilitate the integration of efficient integrity checking methods in Web applications by studying a set of parameters that can be inferred from high level Web application modeling, for allowing the tuning of the constraint optimization techniques for each specific Web application.
Abstract: Since the Web is becoming a platform for implementing complex B2C and B2B applications instead of simple content publishing sites, the need arises of imposing constraints on the navigation and on the managed information. Web conceptual modeling languages allow to a small extent to specify constraints on the application, by means of some extensions to their basic primitives; however these approaches do not provide a comprehensive framework for efficient and effective constraint management. The goal of this paper is to present a general framework to facilitate the integration of efficient integrity checking methods in Web applications. Our main contribution is the study of a set of parameters that can be inferred from high level Web application modeling, for allowing the tuning of the constraint optimization techniques for each specific Web application. From these parameters we derive the optimal enforcement techniques to be implemented.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 May 2006-Digithum
TL;DR: This paper presents an English grammar and style checker for non-native English speakers using an Internet search engine that suggests use of other expressions that appear on the Web more often than the expression the user actually wrote.
Abstract: This paper presents an English grammar and style checker for non-native English speakers. The main characteristic of this checker is the use of an Internet search engine. As the number of web pages written in English is immense, the system hypothesises that a piece of text not found on the Web is probably badly written. The system also hypothesises that the Web will provide examples of how the content of the text segment can be expressed in a grammatically correct and idiomatic way. Thus, when the checker warns the user about the odd nature of a text segment, the Internet engine searches for contexts that can help the user decide whether he/she should correct the segment or not. By means of a search engine, the checker also suggests use of other expressions that appear on the Web more often than the expression he/she actually wrote.

Book ChapterDOI
05 Jun 2006
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a new method for dealing with the incremental evaluation of the OCL integrity constraints specified in UML conceptual schemas, which works at a conceptual level and is useful in efficiently evaluating constraints regardless of the technology platform in which the conceptual schema is to be implemented.
Abstract: Integrity checking is aimed at determining whether an operation execution violates a given integrity constraint. To perform this computation efficiently, several incremental methods have been developed. The main goal of these methods is to consider as few of the entities in an information base as possible, which is generally achieved by reasoning from the structural events that define the effect of the operations. In this paper, we propose a new method for dealing with the incremental evaluation of the OCL integrity constraints specified in UML conceptual schemas. Since our method works at a conceptual level, its results are useful in efficiently evaluating constraints regardless of the technology platform in which the conceptual schema is to be implemented.

Journal Article
TL;DR: The architecture of LaCOLLA, a fully decentralised peer-to-peer middleware that aims to simplify the process of incorporating collaborative functionalities into any application, is presented and its API and key aspects of its implementation are evaluated.
Abstract: In a decentralised and distributed environment, collaboration requiring the sharing and building of applications is a complex task. For this reason, we propose LaCOLLA, a fully decentralised peer-to-peer middleware that aims to simplify the process of incorporating collaborative functionalities into any application. It provides applications with certain essential collaborative functionalities: dissemination of information, storage, presence and transparency of location, management of members and groups, and execution of tasks. A distinguishing feature of LaCOLLA is that participants provide resources for the benefit of the group. This enables collaboration activities to take place in a collective environment using only the resources provided by participants in the collaboration (self-sufficiency). In this paper we present and evaluate the architecture of LaCOLLA, its API, and key aspects of its implementation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe how to fix the organization mission, its strategy and goals, and also how to make its action map, as well as the way on how to put it into practice.
Abstract: Currently, the traditional states-nation, as far as their social commitments are concerned, are giving way to the nongovernmental organizations (NGO) These organizations have a mission, strategy, and goals different from those organizations looking simply for profits Nevertheless, NGOs are concerned about using management and information systems at least as good as those used by private companies Organizations try to develop a social strategy taking their social responsibility as starting point In this paper, the authors describe how to fix the organization mission, its strategy and goals, and also how to make its action map A strategy proposal will be described, as well as the way on how to put it into practice The main goals of this paper is to describe the mission, strategy, and goals of the organization; design its strategic social map; fix the limits of the organization's action; apply the theoretical model to a NGO; and design an information model in order to manage the strategic development

Proceedings Article
27 May 2006
TL;DR: The state of the art for social currencies and cognitive capitalism is described, which is used to found a new currency based on knowledge, which better reflects the wealth of nations throughout the world, supports more social economic activity and is better adapted to the challenges of digital business ecosystems.
Abstract: This paper describes the state of the art for social currencies and cognitive capitalism, which is used to found a new currency based on knowledge. This new currency better reflects the wealth of nations throughout the world, supports more social economic activity and is better adapted to the challenges of digital business ecosystems. The basic premise of the new currency is a knowledge measurement pattern that is formulated as a new alternative social currency. Therefore, it is a first step contributing to the worldwide evolution towards a knowledge society. It is a currency to facilitate the conservation and storage of knowledge, its organization and categorization, but chiefly its transference and exploitation. The proposal turns recommender agents into the new currency. An example is presented to show how recommender agents receive a new use, transforming them into objects of transaction.

Book ChapterDOI
11 Jul 2006
TL;DR: This project specifically tackles the design of educational technical applications specifically developed for the visually impaired, following a user-centered design perspective.
Abstract: The new Information Society context entails new risks of social exclusion due to the digital exclusion even when it generates new possibilities for inclusion thanks to accessible Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and universal design [15]. In this context, we see that e-learning provides a powerful tool towards social inclusion. Yet, we have seen that compliance with accessibility and e-learning standards together with the usage of adequate devices does not guarantee a satisfactory experience for those with a disability [9]. As a result, our project specifically tackles the design of educational technical applications specifically developed for the visually impaired, following a user-centered design perspective


Proceedings ArticleDOI
05 Jul 2006
TL;DR: A key issue is the evolution of the teacher roles in such new ICT environment and the results are based on the author experience in both conventional and e-learning environments.
Abstract: The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education has made feasible distance learning in the form of e-learning. To succeed in e-learning we cannot just try to replicate traditional educational methods. ICT force us to review some long-held assumptions in relation to pedagogical principles and practices. In this sense, a key issue is the evolution of the teacher roles in such new ICT environment. This is the main focus of this paper. The results are based on the author experience in both conventional and e-learning environments.