Evaluating the quality of learning in Computer Supported Co-operative Learning

Can learning quality be maintained in the face of increasing class size by the use of Computer Supported Co-operative Learning (CSCL) technologies? In particular, can Computer-Mediated Communication promote critical thinking in addition to surface information transfer? We compared face-to-face seminars with asynchronous computer conferencing in the same Information Management class. From Garrison's theory of critical thinking and Henri's critical reasoning skills, we developed two ways of evaluating critical thinking: a student questionnaire and a content analysis technique. We found evidence for critical thinking in both situations, with some subtle differences in learning style. This paper provides an overview of this work.

An experiment in group learning technology: evaluating critical thinking in face-to-face and computer-supported seminars

Can learning quality be maintained in the face of increasing class size by the use of Computer Supported Co-operative Learning (CSCL) technologies? In particular, can Computer-Mediated Communication promote critical thinking in addition to surface information transfer? We compared face-to-face seminars with asynchronous computer conferencing in the same Information Management class. From Garrison's theory of critical thinking and Henri's critical reasoning skills, we developed two ways of evaluating critical thinking: a student questionnaire and a content analysis technique. We found evidence for critical thinking in both situations, with some subtle differences in learning style. This paper provides an overview of this work.

Are Shy Adults Really Bolder Online? It Depends on the Context

We examined whether individual differences in shyness and context influenced the amount of computer-mediated self-disclosure and use of affective language during an unfamiliar dyadic social interaction. Unfamiliar young adults were selected for high and low self-reported shyness and paired in mixed dyads (one shy and one nonshy). Each dyad was randomly assigned to either a live webcam or no webcam condition. Participants then engaged in a 20-minute online free chat over the Internet in the laboratory. Free chat conversations were archived, and the transcripts were objectively coded for traditional communication variables, conversational style, and the use of affective language. As predicted, shy adults engaged in significantly fewer spontaneous self-disclosures than did their nonshy counterparts only in the webcam condition. Shy versus nonshy adults did not differ on spontaneous self-disclosures in the no webcam condition. However, context did not influence the use of computer-mediated affective language. Although shy adults used significantly less active and pleasant words than their nonshy counterparts, these differences were not related to webcam condition. The present findings replicate and extend earlier work on shyness, context, and computer-mediated communication to a selected sample of shy adults. Findings suggest that context may influence some, but not all, aspects of social communication in shy adults.

Is shyness context specific? Relation between shyness and online self-disclosure with and without a live webcam in young adults

The Internet provides a new tool to investigate old questions in experimental social psychology regarding Person x Context interaction. We examined the interaction of self-reported shyness and context on computer-mediated communication measures. Sixty female undergraduates unfamiliar were paired in dyads and engaged in a 10 min free chat conversation on the Internet with and without a live webcam. Free chat conversations were archived, transcripts were objectively coded for communication variables, and a linear mixed model used for data analysis of dyadic interaction was performed on each communication measure. As predicted, increases in self-reported shyness were significantly related to decreases in the number of prompted self-disclosures (after controlling for the number of opportunities to self-disclose) only in the webcam condition. Self-reported shyness was not related to the number of prompted self-disclosures in the no webcam condition, suggesting that shyness was context dependent. The present study appears to be the first to objectively code measures of Internet behaviour in relation to the study of personality in general and shyness in particular. Theoretical and clinical implications for understanding the contextual nature of shyness are discussed. (C) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

International on-line reciprocal peer tutoring to promote modern language development in primary schools

The paper reports data from an on-line peer tutoring project. In the project 78, 9–12-year-old students from Scotland and Catalonia peer tutored each other in English and Spanish via a managed on-line envi- ronment. Significant gains in first language (Catalonian pupils) modern language (Scottish pupils) and attitudes towards modern languages (both Catalonian and Scottish pupils) were reported for the exper- imental group as compared to the control group. Results indicated that pupils tutored each other in using Piagetian techniques of error correction during the project. Error correction provided by tutors to tutees focussed on morph syntaxys, more specifically the correction of verbs. Peer support provided via the on- line environment was predominantly based on the tutor giving the right answer to the tutee. High rates of impact on tutee corrected messages were observed. The implications for peer tutoring initiative taking place via on-line environments are discussed. Implications for policy and practice are explored

English Language Education at University: Trends and Challenges in Teaching and Learning Academic Discourse in the UK

This chapter discusses English Language Education at university and highlights a number of trends and their associated challenges in teaching and learning academic discourse. Academic discourse refers to the ways in which language is used by participants in academia. It encompasses written discourse, from article and book publishing, PhD theses to course assignments; spoken discourse, from study groups, tutorials, conference presentations to inaugural lectures; and more recently, computer-mediated discourse, from asynchronous text-based conferencing to academic blogs. The role of English language educators in preparing students and academics for successful participation in these academic events, or the academy, in English is not to be underestimated. Academic communication is not only vital to an individual’s success at university, but to the maintenance and creation of academic communities and to scientific progress itself (Hyland, 2009). This chapter presents an overview of academic discourse and discusses recent issues which have an impact on teaching and learning English at university and discusses their associated challenges: first, the increasing internationalisation of universities. Second, the emergence of a mobile academe in its broadest sense, in which students and academics move across traditional geopolitical, institutional and disciplinary boundaries, is discussed. Third, the growth of UK transnational higher education is examined as a trend which sees academics and students vicariously or otherwise involved in English language teaching and learning. Fourth, the chapter delves into the rapid and ongoing development in technology assisted and online learning. While responding to trends can be difficult, they can also inspire ingenuity. Furthermore, such trends and challenges will not emerge in the same manner in different contexts. The discussion in this chapter is illustrated with examples from a UK context but the implications of the trends and challenges are such that they reach beyond borders.

A Novel Packet Marking Function for Real-Time Interactive MPEG-4 Video Applications in a Differentiated Services Network

The future convergence of voice, video and data applications on the Internet requires that next generation technology provides bandwidth and delay guarantees. Current technology trends are moving towards scalable aggregate-based systems where applications are grouped together and guarantees are provided at the aggregate level only. This solution alone is not enough for interactive video applications with sub-second delay bounds. This paper introduces a novel packet marking scheme that controls the end-to-end delay of an individual flow as it traverses a network enabled to supply aggregate- granularity Quality of Service (QoS). IPv6 Hop-by-Hop extension header fields are used to track the packet delay encountered at each network node and autonomous decisions are made on the best queuing strategy to employ. The results of network simulations are presented and it is shown that when the proposed mechanism is employed the requested delay bound is met with a 20% reduction in resource reservation and no packet loss in the network.

Coordination, Efficiency and Two-Sided Cheap Talk

We consider the Battle of the Sexes game with incomplete information and allow two-sided cheap talk before the game is played. We characterise the set of fully revealing symmetric cheap talk equilibria. The best fully revealing symmetric cheap talk equilibrium, when exists, has a desirable characteristic. When the players' types are different, it fully coordinates on the ex-post efficient pure Nash equilibrium. We also analyse the mediated communication equilibria of the game. We find the range of the prior for which this desirable equilibrium exists under unmediated and mediated communication processes.

Ambiguous Devices

Developed and performed in collaboration with Tom Davis (Bournemouth University), the work explores notions of presence and absence, technologically mediated communication and audience perception through the staging of ambiguous but repeatable performative interactions taking place on a co-located but distributed musical instrument. Public performances and installations include: CCRMA, Stanford University (2012); NIME conference, University of Michigan (2012); SARC, Queen's University Belfast (2013); INTIME symposium, Coventry University (2013); RE-NEW digital arts festival, Copenhagen (2013).

Putrescine Reduces Antibiotic-Induced Oxidative Stress as a Mechanism of Modulation of Antibiotic Resistance in Burkholderia cenocepacia

Communication of antibiotic resistance among bacteria via small molecules is implicated in transient reduction of bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics, which could lead to therapeutic failures aggravating the problem of antibiotic resistance. Released putrescine from the extremely antibiotic resistant bacterium Burkholderia cenocepacia protects less resistant cells from different species against the antimicrobial peptide polymyxin B (PmB). Exposure of B. cenocepacia to sub-lethal concentrations of PmB and other bactericidal antibiotics induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and expression of the oxidative stress response regulator OxyR. We evaluated whether putrescine alleviates antibiotic-induced oxidative stress. The accumulation of intracellular ROS such as superoxide ion and hydrogen peroxide was assessed fluorometrically with dichlorofluorescein diacetate, while the expression of OxyR and putrescine synthesis enzymes was determined in luciferase assays using chromosomal promoter-lux reporter system fusions. We evaluated wild type and isogenic deletion mutant strains with defects in putrescine biosynthesis after exposure to sub-lethal concentrations of PmB and other bactericidal antibiotics. Exogenous putrescine protected against oxidative stress induced by PmB and other antibiotics, whereas reduced putrescine synthesis resulted in increased ROS generation, and a parallel increased sensitivity to PmB. Of the 3 B. cenocepacia putrescine synthesizing enzymes, PmB induced only BCAL2641, an ornithine decarboxylase. This study exposes BCAL2641 as a critical component of the putrescine-mediated communication of antibiotic resistance, and as a plausible target for designing inhibitors that would block the communication of such resistance among different bacteria, ultimately reducing the window of therapeutic failure in treating bacterial infections.

Special issue on design and programming of signal processors for multimedia communication:Special issue on design and programming of signal processors for multimedia communication

The technical challenges in the design and programming of signal processors for multimedia communication are discussed. The development of terminal equipment to meet such demand presents a significant technical challenge, considering that it is highly desirable that the equipment be cost effective, power efficient, versatile, and extensible for future upgrades. The main challenges in the design and programming of signal processors for multimedia communication are, general-purpose signal processor design, application-specific signal processor design, operating systems and programming support and application programming. The size of FFT is programmable so that it can be used for various OFDM-based communication systems, such as digital audio broadcasting (DAB), digital video broadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-T) and digital video broadcasting-handheld (DVB-H). The clustered architecture design and distributed ping-pong register files in the PAC DSP raise new challenges of code generation.

Evocative Listening : Mediated Practices in Everyday Life

The history of sonic arts is charged with transgressive practices that seek to expose the social, aural and cultural thresholds across various listening experiences, posing new questions in terms of the dialogue between listener and place. Recent work in sonic art exposes the need for an experiential understanding of listening that foregrounds the use of new personal technologies, environmental philosophy and the subject–object relationship. This paper aims to create a vocabulary that better contextualises recent installations and performances produced within the context of everyday life, by researchers and artists at the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queen's University Belfast.