Social Networking, Social Network Analysis, Social Networks, Mobile Communications, Data Mining, Human-Computer Interaction, Usability, User Interfaces

Patterns of Synchronization of Non-verbal Cues and Speech in ECAs: Towards a More "Natural" Conversational Agent

by Nicla Rossini

In Esposito, A., Esposito, A. M., Martone, R. Mueller, V. C., Scarpetta, G. (Eds) Toward Autonomous, Adaptive, and Context-Aware Multimodal Interfaces: Theoretical and Practical Issues. Pp. 97-104. Springer-Verlag: Berlin.

N.B.: THIS IS A PRE-PUBLICATION EARLY DRAFT. IT MAY CONTAIN ERROS AND DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THE PUBLISHED VERSION. FOR QUOTATION PURPOSES, PLEASE ASK ME A COPY OF THE PUBLISHED VERSION.

Please find it on Springer online: http://www.springerlink.com/content/l410238375431524/

This paper presents an analysis of the verbal and non-verbal cues of Conversational Agents, with a special focus on... more This paper presents an analysis of the verbal and non-verbal cues of Conversational Agents, with a special focus on REA and GRETA, in order to allow further research aimed at correcting some traits of their performance still considered unnatural by their final users. Despite the striking performance of new generation ECA, some important features make these conversational agents unreliable to the users, who usually prefer interacting with a classical computer for information retrieval. The users’ preference can be due to several factors, such as the quality of speech synthesis, or the inevitable unnaturalness of the graphics animating the avatar. Apart from the unavoidable traits that can render ECAs unnatural to the ultimate users, instances of poor synchronization between verbal and non-verbal behaviour may contribute to unfavourable results. An instance of synchronization patterns between non-verbal cues and speech is here analysed and re-applied to the basic architecture of an ECA in order to improve the ECA’s verbal and non-verbal synchronization. A proposal for future inquiry aimed at creating alternative model for the ultimate Mp4 output is also proposed, for further development in this field.

"The changing of the User Environment. Into the user environment now! How users have changed and how libraries can adjust."

by Guus van den Brekel

Journal of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries, 2007, Vol 3, p. 8-16

This article provides an overview of causes why library services are
fading out of sight for most user groups and... more This article provides an overview of causes why library services are
fading out of sight for most user groups and how these users and their
expectations have changed without us realizing. It contains a strong plea
for a focus shift for librarians, a focus into the environments where the
users are, instead of expecting them to come to us, or our resources.
Exploration of all relevant user environments for your organization, the
use of new web-based technologies with Web 2.0 elements and certainly a more structural
technical re-design of library information systems is required to deliver library services and
resources at the place of need. A simple short-term solution like a QuickSearch Library Toolbar
is explained, as well as the more long-term ongoing work at the Libraries of the University of
Groningen and the Central Medical Library of the University Medical Center Groningen.
Keywords
User environment, Web 2.0, Library 2.0, Library Information Systems, Browser extensions,
Mash-up, Toolbars, Metalib

La profesión docente en contextos de cambio: el docente global en la sociedad de la información

by Marcelo I. Dorfsman Ph.D.

Resumen
En este trabajo nos referiremos a las transformaciones que experimenta la profesión docente en la era de la Sociedad de la Información, en el marco del surgimiento de nuevos entornos tecnológicos que impactan en su práctica y en la organización de la enseñanza.
Nuestro propósito es revisar y analizar diferentes enfoques y perspectivas que se han desarrollado en torno de la formación profesional docente y el significado y naturaleza de esta profesión. El análisis realizado nos permitirá señalar la existencia de cuatro dimensiones centrales en la formación y en el desarrollo de la profesión docente: la académico-disciplinar, la técnico-pedagógica, la personal-reflexiva y la crítico-social y comunitaria.
Como resultado del análisis sostendremos que, por un lado, el surgimiento de los nuevos entornos tecnológicos ha contribuido a modificar sustancialmente el significado de estas dimensiones; por el otro, señalaremos el surgimiento de una nueva dimensión a la que denominaremos “dimensión  digital en la formación profesional docente”.

Abstract
This paper examines the transformations of the teaching profession in the age of the Information... more Abstract
This paper examines the transformations of the teaching profession in the age of the Information Society, when new technological environments are emerging and influencing the practice of teaching and its planning.
Our aim in this study is to review and analyze different approaches and perspectives that were developed regarding professional teacher training and the meaning and nature of this profession. Following this analysis, we will confirm the existence of four core dimensions in the development and training of the teaching profession: the academic and disciplinary dimension, the technical-pedagogical dimension, the personal and reflective dimension and the dimension of social-communitarian criticism.
In the end, we will conclude that the emerging of new technological environments has contributed to essential changes in those dimensions. Besides, we will note that a fifth dimension is emerging, which will be called “digital dimension in the professional teaching training”.

The Role of Social Media in Community Colleges

by Charles H.F. Davis III

CITATION
Rios-Aguilar, C., González Canché, M.S., Deil-Amen, R., & Davis III, C.H.F. (2012). The role of social media in community colleges. Report printed by the University of Arizona and Claremont Graduate University.

This research was supported by funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Over the past decade, there has been a growing public fascination with the phenomenon of connectedness. One of the... more Over the past decade, there has been a growing public fascination with the phenomenon of connectedness. One of the most important ways in which society is now connected is through social media –such as social networking sites. While both students and higher education institutions seem to be utilizing social media more and more, there still are enormous challenges in trying to understand the new dynamics generated by social media in higher education, particularly for the context of community colleges.

This research report has several purposes. The first is to document and to describe the various ways in which social media is used specifically by community colleges across the United States. Second, this report explores community college leaders’ perspectives on the value, purpose, and challenges of social media to better understand:

1. The types of social media used by community colleges.
2. Community college leaders’ perspectives, knowledge, and opinions regarding the value of social media, the various uses of social media, the barriers to using social media, and the role social media should play in the specific context of community colleges.

Patterns in Authoring of Adaptive Educational Hypermedia: A Taxonomy of Learning Styles

by Elizabeth FitzGerald (née Brown)

Full citation:
Brown, E.,Cristea, A., Stewart, C. and T. Brailsford (2005) Patterns in Authoring of Adaptive Educational Hypermedia: A Taxonomy of Learning Styles. Journal of Educational Technology & Society 8 (3), 77-90.

This paper describes the use of adaptation patterns in the task of formulating standards for adaptive educational... more This paper describes the use of adaptation patterns in the task of formulating standards for adaptive educational hypermedia (AEH) systems that is currently under investigation by the EU ADAPT project. Within this project, design dimensions for high granularity patterns have been established. In this paper we focus on detailing lower granularity adaptive patterns based upon learning styles. Several patterns from existing AEH system case studies are identified and classified according to an extended learning style "onion" model. This model forms the basis of a learning style taxonomy, introduced here, whose components determine adaptation patterns for AEH. These patterns are of importance both for authoring, as well as for interfacing between adaptive hypermedia systems. From an authoring point of view, these patterns may be used to establish a fine-grain approach to instructional strategies that can be implemented in AEH systems, as a response to a particular learning style. The implementation of this adaptation pattern taxonomy is discussed, both generally and in detail.

Should environmental issues be securitised?

by Owais Rajput

Environmental issues
The variables that have defined national security for the most part of the World’s history... more Environmental issues
The variables that have defined national security for the most part of the World’s history have largely been military in nature. Security was primarily made up of the physical defence of the country, its people and whatever they possessed. Profound factors outside the traditional area of military operations have been realised that could affect the securities of many countries.
It is within this background that environmental issues have raised to importance, and the term ‘Environmental Security’ has entered the language of environmentalists, policy makers and security planners. With the ending of the cold war, the usual concepts of the nature of national security and the methods to achieve it have changed. The global powers at the time were engaged in military containment of each other, as in the case of America and the Soviet Union containment of each other.

THE CENTRE FOR MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER

by Owais Rajput

Hard to Reach Communities: Living in the UK, and Issues Facing British Muslims of Kashmiri Heritage Born & Bred in the UK

by Owais Rajput

In my presentation I will focus on British Muslim Communities living in UK; my main focus will be on the British local... more In my presentation I will focus on British Muslim Communities living in UK; my main focus will be on the British local community with Kashmiri heritage, as most of the time they are labelled in the media as “Home Grown Radicalised” Muslims, even if they are the fourth & fifth generation born & bred in UK.

I will also focus on Processes to Radicalisation in UK, in local communities, again particularly in the Kashmiri community.

I will also focus on design and delivery processes so far used by authorities in de-radicalisation processes and the results so far, and why we need to change those design and delivery processes, especially when we focus on the British Diaspora with Kashmiri heritage, the fourth & fifth generation born & bred in the UK.

Kashmir Conflict, South Asian Security & Global Peace

by Owais Rajput

Why is US defence spending still at Cold War levels despite the dissolution of the Soviet Union?

by Owais Rajput

Can A Gang Culture Ever Be Justified In A Culture Of Peace?

by Owais Rajput

Presentation slides International Peace Day Bradford 24.09.2011

In this presentation I tried to highligh the issues of HARD TO REACH COMMUNITIES living in UK e.g. 4th and 5th... more In this presentation I tried to highligh the issues of HARD TO REACH COMMUNITIES living in UK e.g. 4th and 5th generation born and bred in UK of British Muslims from Kashmiri heritage.

Title of Presentation:Evaluation of UK Government Led Prevent Programme, Processes to Radicalisation in Local Communities in UK & Europe and Trans-National Network Connections of Faith-Based Radicalisation

by Owais Rajput

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

To evaluate the prevent programme within the contest of UK’s effort at Global Counter Terrorism.  
Prevent... more To evaluate the prevent programme within the contest of UK’s effort at Global Counter Terrorism.  
Prevent Programme and Locality issue in UK & Europe.
Issue of Home-Grown Radicalisation
Processes to Radicalisation.
Social and Political Processes leads towards to Home-Grown Radicalisation and on later stage towards to Terrorism.

Evaluation of UK Government Led Prevent Programme, Processes to Radicalisation in Local Communities in UK & Europe and Trans-National Network Connections of Faith-Based Radicalisation.

by Owais Rajput

RESEARCH AIMS
The main aim of this research is to evaluate the Prevent program in the localities of Bradford,... more RESEARCH AIMS
The main aim of this research is to evaluate the Prevent program in the localities of Bradford, Leeds, Manchester, Oldham, Warrington, Birmingham, Leicester (UK & Europe) with the view of determining whether it is a good approach to address the issue of terrorism in these localities. This work is intended to also look at the works of key stake holders who are involved in the monitoring and trying to understand this whole concept of Prevent. Another important aspect of this study is also try to see how the prevent programme can serve as a deterrent to radicalisation and violent extremism.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
To evaluate the prevent program within the context of UK’s effort at Global Counter Terrorism
• To address the gaps in the literature on Prevent especially that which has to do with locality in the whole discourse on prevent.
• To address the issue of how even the government responds to the issue of radicalisation using the UK but in above said localities.
• To understand also the social as well as the political processes that lead people to be radicalised - what makes people to behave in a particular way which makes the government look at them as terrorist or home-grown terrorists?

Building 'Bonds' and 'Bridges': Linking Tie Evolution and Network Identity in the Creative Industries, Organization Studies.

by Maria Daskalaki

Dec 2010

This paper presents a discussion of network identity in relation to the processes of network transformation in the... more This paper presents a discussion of network identity in relation to the processes of network transformation in the creative industries. Employing the case of semi-permanent work patterns prevalent in creative projects, the paper suggests that repeated collaborations across projects result in volatile cultural and structural relations among network members. Transformations in patterns of relating are linked with shifts in network identity and members’ perceived creative potential. Future work could empirically test whether an optimal mix or a pattern of affective bonding and anti-conformist bridging could be linked to creative potential in semi-permanent work teams.

Synchronous and asynchronous interaction between librarians and library customers: Where are we heading?

by Norasieh Md Amin

Co-author: Fadzilah Abdullah
Paper presented at SKPA 2011, July 5-7, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia

With the advancement of various information and communication technologies over the past few years, we see evolving... more With the advancement of various information and communication technologies over the past few years, we see evolving ways of interaction between librarians and library customers. Librarians utilize not only phone calls, email and online forms but also online chatting, instant messaging, online social networking application and all sorts of techniques to interact with customers. This paper discusses various techniques of synchronous and asynchronous interaction and elaborates their benefits and limitations. We develop an interaction model to illustrate this phenomenon based on the IIUM Library experience, the partial findings of a research investigation and a state-of-the-art review. The model could guide librarians in decision making and finding best practices. It could also allow them to choose appropriate types of synchronous and/or asynchronous interaction techniques that serve their customers best and ultimately suit their respective institutions‟ teaching and learning.

Redes sociales y medios de comunicación (2009) / Social Networks and Media (2009)

by Ana Isabel Bernal Triviño

Published in IV Congreso Cibersociedad. Barcelona, Spain.

El auge del uso de las redes sociales en el mundo desarrollado ha provocado que los medios de comunicación centren su... more El auge del uso de las redes sociales en el mundo desarrollado ha provocado que los medios de comunicación centren su interés en ellos. En España, en el último año, los medios más importantes han creado su propia página en las redes más visitadas o bien han incluido la opción de que los usuarios compartan sus contenidos a través de las propias redes sociales. Esta nueva situación plantea no sólo un análisis básico de la repercusión que la aplicación de redes sociales puede suponer para los medios, sino también evaluar cuáles utilizan y con qué finalidad

THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS OF USERS’’ INFO-COMMUNICATIONAL BEHAVIORS ON SOCIAL NETWORKS IN INTERNET

by Leandro Libério

THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS OF USERS’’ INFO-COMMUNICATIONAL BEHAVIORS ON SOCIAL NETWORKS IN INTERNET

Leandro Libério da Silva (Universidade de Aveiro, Univ. do Porto –– Portugal)

Armando Malheiro da Silva (Universidade do Porto –– Portugal)

Fernando Hadad Zaidan (Escola de Ciência da Informação/UFMG –– Brazil)

Keywords: information behavior, information literacy, personality traits, social networks in Internet

Social networks in Internet (SNI) have become a remarkable info-communicational space, validating social changes... more Social networks in Internet (SNI) have become a remarkable info-communicational space, validating social changes potentialized by telecommunication networks and mobile content access, as pointed out by actual researchers and scholars. Information science studies focusing the role of the information users in the Web 2.0 context need a cognitive and social approach. Based on this fact, this paper aims to explore the theoretical premises of the triad: Informational literacy, Profile and Potential Assessment and SNI. This work also sought to reflect about SNI from the media convergence approach, based on Jenkins concepts over media culture convergence aiming to contribute for future researches about personality aspects of the user and its influences on their informational behavior. For these purposes, a literature review was conducted, applying an exploratory methodology, which aggregates data about Internet usage in Brazil and Portugal. In the context of SNI, the initial question that arises is: Do those twenty dimensions of Profile and Potential Assessment relate to informational competence? The results provided by the theoretical research will serve as a base for a Doctorate project in the Information Science area.

A USER-CENTERED APPROACH TO WEBSITES USABILITY EVALUATION

by Solomon Adepoju

Co Authored with Dr Oluwade and Asuquo Daniel, published in African Journal of Computing & ICT, Vol 2 No 1 2009

Usability evaluation of interactive systems has been a topical issue in human-computer interaction. People at... more Usability evaluation of interactive systems has been a topical issue in human-computer interaction. People at different times and places have attempted to evaluate software, websites, and other tools to ascertain their levels of usability. The essence is to indicate the extent to which such interactive systems are easy to learn, easy to use, easy to remember as well as to determine their effectiveness, efficiency, error tolerance, aesthetics and user satisfaction. The evaluation methods applied so far have not yielded desired results in the perspective of users. This work adopts a user-centered approach to usability evaluation of two Nigerian universities’ websites (www.unical.edu.ng and www.uniport.edu.ng) by applying a systematic methodology of involving users in performing set tasks (user testing) and using the tasks completion time as metric. Data collected from

the tasks completion time were statistically analyzed for usability criteria of learnability, efficiency, and satisfaction. Feedbacks were obtained from users through questionnaires on areas where improvements are desired from the sites, and the design-evaluate-redesign cycle recommended to the Universities’ Web Teams to amend poorly developed interfaces and contents. It is inferred in the paper that www.unical.edu.ng received more preference from the perspective of users due to its ability to allow quick tasks performance, fast downloads, effective navigation, error tolerance, consistency, and minimal background coloring.

Keywords and Phrases: Usability evaluation, interactive systems, human-computer interaction, user-centered approach, metric

Data, Dyads, and Dynamics: Exploring Data Use and Social Networks in Educational Improvement

by Alan Daly

In Press: Teachers College Record

Background. In the past decade, there has been an increasing national policy push for educators to systematically... more Background. In the past decade, there has been an increasing national policy push for educators to systematically collect, interpret, and use data for instructional decision-making. The assumption by the federal government is that having data systems will be enough to prompt the use of data for a wide range of decision-making. These policies rely on inducements to inspire local level changes; however, they leave the processes related to data use largely undefined.

Objective. In this article I argue that many of the studies on data use either invoke, or directly assess, network-related concepts and, as such, network theory and analysis provides a useful analytic and complementary framework and methods for examining the social infrastructure in the use of data for educational improvement.

Research Design. This article reports on a literature review of the data use and social network literatures and the utility of intersecting both literatures for studies on data use for educational improvement.

Conclusions. Many data use studies report that the interpretation and use of data takes place both within and between individuals who, through social interaction, are both co-constructing and making sense of data and its use. Given the increasing role of social relationships in data use studies better theorizing and understanding the dynamics of social influence and processes on the interpretation and use of data is needed. Social network theory and analysis offers a useful conceptual framework and accompanying methods for describing and analyzing the structure of a social system in an effort to understand how social relationships support and constrain the interpretation and use of data in educational improvement.

Living Maps

by Zbigniew Smoreda

C. Aguiton, D. Cardon, Z. Smoreda

In this paper, we address some sociological and political issues linked to the emerging of distributed, real-time... more In this paper, we address some sociological and political issues linked to the emerging of distributed, real-time “living maps”. A "living map" is a merger between a territory map and a dynamic localized flows representation creating visual information where places, people, activities, and time are mixed together. Starting with the hypothesis of transformation in urban meeting manners, we propose a typology of living maps and we discuss the social and privacy issues linked to each type of use.