The Future of Ubiquitous Learning

This book explores emerging pedagogical perspectives based on the design of new learning spaces supported by digital technologies and brings together some of the best research in this field. The book is divided into three themes: foundations of emerging pedagogies, learning designs for emerging pedagogies and, adaptive and personalized learning. The chapters provide up-to-date information about new pedagogical proposals, and examples for acquiring the requisite skills to both design and support learning opportunities that improve the potential of available technologies.

Rahmenwerk für zielgruppenorientiertes Blended E-Learning im MINT-Bereich im Kontext des Lebenslangen Lernens

Das heutige Leben der Menschen ist vom Internet durchdrungen, kaum etwas ist nicht „vernetzt“ oder „elektronisch verfügbar“. Die Welt befindet sich im Wandel, die „Informationsgesellschaft“ konsumiert in Echtzeit Informationen auf mobilen Endgeräten, unabhängig von Zeit und Ort. Dies gilt teilweise auch für den Aus- und Weiterbildungssektor: Unter „E-Learning“ versteht man die elektronische Unterstützung des Lernens. Gelernt wird „online“; Inhalte sind digital verfügbar. Zudem hat sich die Lebenssituation der sogenannten „Digital Natives“, der jungen Individuen in der Informationsgesellschaft, verändert. Sie fordern zeitlich und räumlich flexible Ausbildungssysteme, erwarten von Bildungsinstitutionen umfassende digitale Verfügbarkeit von Informationen und möchten ihr Leben nicht mehr Lehr- und Zeitplänen unterordnen – das Lernen soll zum eigenen Leben passen, lebensbegleitend stattfinden. Neue „Lernszenarien“, z.B. für alleinerziehende Teilzeitstudierende oder Berufstätige, sollen problemlos möglich werden. Dies soll ein von der europäischen Union erarbeitetes Paradigma leisten, das unter dem Terminus „Lebenslanges Lernen“ zusammengefasst ist. Sowohl E-Learning, als auch Lebenslanges Lernen gewinnen an Bedeutung, denn die (deutsche) Wirtschaft thematisiert den „Fachkräftemangel“. Die Nachfrage nach speziell ausgebildeten Ingenieuren im MINT-Bereich soll schnellstmöglich befriedigt, die „Mitarbeiterlücke“ geschlossen werden, um so weiterhin das Wachstum und den Wohlstand zu sichern. Spezielle E-Learning-Lösungen für den MINT-Bereich haben das Potential, eine schnelle sowie flexible Aus- und Weiterbildung für Ingenieure zu bieten, in der Fachwissen bezogen auf konkrete Anforderungen der Industrie vermittelt wird. Momentan gibt es solche Systeme allerdings noch nicht. Wie sehen die Anforderungen im MINT-Bereich an eine solche E-Learning-Anwendung aus? Sie muss neben neuen Technologien vor allem den funktionalen Anforderungen des MINTBereichs, den verschiedenen Zielgruppen (wie z.B. Bildungsinstitutionen, Lerner oder „Digital Natives“, Industrie) und dem Paradigma des Lebenslangen Lernens gerecht werden, d.h. technische und konzeptuelle Anforderungen zusammenführen. Vor diesem Hintergrund legt die vorliegende Arbeit ein Rahmenwerk für die Erstellung einer solchen Lösung vor. Die praktischen Ergebnisse beruhen auf dem Blended E-Learning-System des Projekts „Technische Informatik Online“ (VHN-TIO).

Learning in Virtual Worlds: Research and Applications

Three-dimensional (3D) immersive virtual worlds have been touted as being capable of facilitating highly interactive, engaging, multimodal learning experiences. Much of the evidence gathered to support these claims has been anecdotal but the potential that these environments hold to solve traditional problems in online and technology-mediated education—primarily learner isolation and student disengagement—has resulted in considerable investments in virtual world platforms like Second Life, OpenSimulator, and Open Wonderland by both professors and institutions. To justify this ongoing and sustained investment, institutions and proponents of simulated learning environments must assemble a robust body of evidence that illustrates the most effective use of this powerful learning tool. In this authoritative collection, a team of international experts outline the emerging trends and developments in the use of 3D virtual worlds for teaching and learning. They explore aspects of learner interaction with virtual worlds, such as user wayfinding in Second Life, communication modes and perceived presence, and accessibility issues for elderly or disabled learners. They also examine advanced technologies that hold potential for the enhancement of learner immersion and discuss best practices in the design and implementation of virtual world-based learning interventions and tasks. By evaluating and documenting different methods, approaches, and strategies, the contributors to Learning in Virtual Worlds offer important information and insight to both scholars and practitioners in the field. AU Press is an open access publisher and the book is available for free in PDF format as well as for purchase on our website: http://bit.ly/1W4yTRA

Cultivo en maceta de Iris xiphium L. (Iris de Holanda) con diferentes concentraciones de humus de lombriz y sus lixiviados

Se evaluaron tres variedades de Iris xiphium L. cultivadas en maceta en cuatro proporciones de humus de lombriz y se aplicaron los lixiviados diluidos como bioabono foliar. El experimento se realizó en un diseño completamente al azar con arreglo trifactorial y se midieron ocho variables: longitud de tallo (LT), longitud de botón (LB), longitud de flor (LF), diámetro de botón (DB), diámetro de flor (DF), biomasa (B), área foliar (AF) y días de cosecha (DDC). Los resultados indicaron que la variedad Telstar resultó ser la más precoz. El mejor tratamiento en dicha variedad para las variables LT, LB, B, DF y DDC correspondió a la proporción 30/70 (% lombrihumus / % suelo) y la dilución 1:10 de lixiviado; el segundo mejor tratamiento fue en la variedad Discovery en la proporción 40/60 (%lombrihumus / %suelo) y dilución 1:10 de lixiviado para las variables LT, AF y B. El presente trabajo aporta nueva información en cuanto al uso de sustratos y abono foliar orgánicos para el manejo sustentable, con bajo impacto ambiental, en cultivos florícolas.

Efficient pyrophosphorolysis by a hepatitis B virus polymerase may be a primer-unblocking mechanism

Effective antiviral agents are thought to inhibit hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA synthesis irreversibly by chain termination because reverse transcriptases (RT) lack an exonucleolytic activity that can remove incorporated nucleotides. However, since the parameters governing this inhibition are poorly defined, fully delineating the catalytic mechanism of the HBV-RT promises to facilitate the development of antiviral drugs for treating chronic HBV infection. To this end, pyrophosphorolysis and pyrophosphate exchange, two nonhydrolytic RT activities that result in the removal of newly incorporated nucleotides, were characterized by using endogenous avian HBV replication complexes assembled in vivo. Although these activities are presumed to be physiologically irrelevant for every polymerase examined, the efficiency with which they are catalyzed by the avian HBV-RT strongly suggests that it is the first known polymerase to catalyze these reactions under replicative conditions. The ability to remove newly incorporated nucleotides during replication has important biological and clinical implications: these activities may serve a primer-unblocking function in vivo. Analysis of pyrophosphorolysis on chain-terminated DNA revealed that the potent anti-HBV drug β-l-(−)-2′,3′-dideoxy-3′-thiacytidine (3TC) was difficult to remove by pyrophosphorolysis, in contrast to ineffective chain terminators such as ddC. This disparity may account for the strong antiviral efficacy of 3TC versus that of ddC. The HBV-RT pyrophosphorolytic activity may therefore be a novel determinant of antiviral drug efficacy, and could serve as a target for future antiviral drug therapy. The strong inhibitory effect of cytoplasmic pyrophosphate concentrations on viral DNA synthesis may also partly account for the apparent slow rate of HBV genome replication.

Evolutionary changes in the expression pattern of a developmentally essential gene in three Drosophila species.

The hypothesis that morphological evolution may largely result from changes in gene regulation rather than gene structure has been difficult to test. Morphological differences among insects are often apparent in the cuticle structures produced. The dopa decarboxylase (Ddc) and alpha-methyldopa hypersensitive (amd) genes arose from an ancient gene duplication. In Drosophila, they have evolved nonoverlapping functions, including the production of distinct types of cuticle, and for Ddc, the production of the neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin. The amd gene is particularly active in the production of specialized flexible cuticles in the developing embryo. We have compared the pattern of amd expression in three Drosophila species. Several regions of expression conserved in all three species but, surprisingly, a unique domain of expression is found in Drosophila simulans that does occur in the closely related (2-5 million years) Drosophila melanogaster or in the more remote (40-50 million years) Drosophila virilis. The "sudden" appearance of a completely new and robust domain of expression provides a glimpse of evolutionary variation resulting from changes in regulation of structural gene expression.

The role of aircraft panel materials in cabin fires and their properties. Final report.

Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, D.C.

Report to the Congress on energy conservation potential of off-highway recreational motor vehicles.

Mode of access: Internet.

Air ambulance guidelines.

Mode of access: Internet.

A comparable systems analysis: comparing automated highway systems to air traffic management. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C.

Development of an intervention program to encourage shoulder harness use and aircraft retrofit in general aviation aircraft: phases I and II.

Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Aviation Medicine, Washington, D.C.

Human factors aspects of using head up displays in automobiles: a review of the literature.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Driver's enhanced vision systems (DEVS). Final report.

Federal Aviation Administration, Atlantic City International Airport, N.J.

The applicability of commercial glare test devices in the aeromedical certification of pilot applicants. Final report.

Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, D.C.

The development of a horizontal impact sled facility and subsequent crashworthiness experiments. Final report.

Federal Aviation Administration, Technical Center, Atlantic City, N.J.