Central Stores Inventory: Employing the IBM 1410 Magnetic Tape Computer System

The Property and Equipment Department has a central supply of automotive parts, tools, and maintenance supplies. This central supply is used to supply the repair shop and also to supply parts to the various field garages and all departments of the Commission. The old procedure involved keeping track manually of all of the parts, which involved some 22,000 items. All records, billings, arid re-order points were kept manually. Mani times the re-order points were located by reaching into a bin and finding nothing there. Desiring to improve this situation, an inventory control system was established for use on the computer. A complete record of the supplies that are stored in the central warehouse was prepared and this information was used to make a catalog. Each time an item is issued or received, it is processed through the inventory program. When the re-order point is reached, a notice is given to reorder. The procedure for taking inventory has been improved. A voucher invoice is now prepared by the computer for all issues to departments. These are some of the many benefits that have been de rived from this system.

Communication System : Employing the IBM 370 Computer System, 1974

The Communication System was developed for the Iowa State Highway Commission Materials Department to unitize the computer terminal system to speed up transmission of the various material test reports that flow between the central office and the six district offices. Letters may be sent from one corner of the state to the other and received in seconds instead of days going by mail.

Enhancing Quality of Life for People who are Blind or Low Vision Using Computing Technology

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Deconstruction-reconstruction of Computer Game and Immersive Environment Semiotics

Computer game technology produces compelling ‘immersive environments’ where our digitally-native youth play and explore. Players absorb visual, auditory and other signs and process these in real time, making rapid choices on how to move through the game-space to experience ‘meaningful play’. How can immersive environments be designed to elicit perception and understanding of signs? In this paper we explore game design and gameplay from a semiotic perspective, focusing on the creation of meaning for players as they play the game. We propose a theory of game design based on semiotics.

The Role of Art in Computer Game Design

Computer games are significant since they embody our youngsters’ engagement with contemporary culture, including both play and education. These games rely heavily on visuals, systems of sign and expression based on concepts and principles of Art and Architecture. We are researching a new genre of computer games, ‘Educational Immersive Environments’ (EIEs) to provide educational materials suitable for the school classroom. Close collaboration with subject teachers is necessary, but we feel a specific need to engage with the practicing artist, the art theoretician and historian. Our EIEs are loaded with multimedia (but especially visual) signs which act to direct the learner and provide the ‘game-play’ experience forming semiotic systems. We suggest the hypothesis that computer games are a space of deconstruction and reconstruction (DeRe): When players enter the game their physical world and their culture is torn apart; they move in a semiotic system which serves to reconstruct an alternate reality where disbelief is suspended. The semiotic system draws heavily on visuals which direct the players’ interactions and produce motivating gameplay. These can establish a reconstructed culture and emerging game narrative. We have recently tested our hypothesis and have used this in developing design principles for computer game designers. Yet there are outstanding issues concerning the nature of the visuals used in computer games, and so questions for contemporary artists. Currently, the computer game industry employs artists in a ‘classical’ role in production of concept sketches, storyboards and 3D content. But this is based on a specification from the client which restricts the artist in intellectual freedom. Our DeRe hypothesis places the artist at the generative centre, to inform the game designer how art may inform our DeRe semiotic spaces. This must of course begin with the artists’ understanding of DeRe in this time when our ‘identities are becoming increasingly fractured, networked, virtualized and distributed’ We hope to persuade artists to engage with the medium of computer game technology to explore these issues. In particular, we pose several questions to the artist: (i) How can particular ‘periods’ in art history be used to inform the design of computer games? (ii) How can specific artistic elements or devices be used to design ‘signs’ to guide the player through the game? (iii) How can visual material be integrated with other semiotic strata such as text and audio?

The Path between Pedagogy and Technology: Establishing a Theoretical Basis for the Development of Educational Game Environments

The power of computer game technology is currently being harnessed to produce “serious games”. These “games” are targeted at the education and training marketplace, and employ various key game-engine components such as the graphics and physics engines to produce realistic “digital-world” simulations of the real “physical world”. Many approaches are driven by the technology and often lack a consideration of a firm pedagogical underpinning. The authors believe that an analysis and deployment of both the technological and pedagogical dimensions should occur together, with the pedagogical dimension providing the lead. This chapter explores the relationship between these two dimensions, and explores how “pedagogy may inform the use of technology”, how various learning theories may be mapped onto the use of the affordances of computer game engines. Autonomous and collaborative learning approaches are discussed. The design of a serious game is broken down into spatial and temporal elements. The spatial dimension is related to the theories of knowledge structures, especially “concept maps”. The temporal dimension is related to “experiential learning”, especially the approach of Kolb. The multi-player aspect of serious games is related to theories of “collaborative learning” which is broken down into a discussion of “discourse” versus “dialogue”. Several general guiding principles are explored, such as the use of “metaphor” (including metaphors of space, embodiment, systems thinking, the internet and emergence). The topological design of a serious game is also highlighted. The discussion of pedagogy is related to various serious games we have recently produced and researched, and is presented in the hope of informing the “serious game community”.

Unreal PowerPoint™: Immersing PowerPoint Presentations in a Virtual Computer Game Engine World

At a recent conference on games in education, we made a radical decision to transform our standard presentation of PowerPoint slides and computer game demonstrations into a unified whole, inserting the PowerPoint presentation to the computer game. This opened up various questions relating to learning and teaching theories, which were debated by the conference delegates. In this paper, we reflect on these discussions, we present our initial experiment, and relate this to various theories of learning and teaching. In particular, we consider the applicability of “concept maps” to inform the construction of educational materials, especially their topological, geometrical and pedagogical significance. We supplement this “spatial” dimension with a theory of the dynamic, temporal dimension, grounded in a context of learning processes, such as Kolb’s learning cycle. Finally, we address the multi-player aspects of computer games, and relate this to the theories of social and collaborative learning. This paper attempts to explore various theoretical bases, and so support the development of a new learning and teaching virtual reality approach.

Common Environment for Undergraduate Computer Programming

We present an Integrated Environment suitable for learning and teaching computer programming which is designed for both students of specialised Computer Science courses, and also non-specialist students such as those following Liberal Arts. The environment is rich enough to allow exploration of concepts from robotics, artificial intelligence, social science, and philosophy as well as the specialist areas of operating systems and the various computer programming paradigms.

The Visual Arts as a Canvas for Teaching Computer Programming

We explore the relationships between the construction of a work of art and the crafting of a computer program in Java and suggest that the structure of paintings and drawings may be used to teach the fundamental concepts of computer programming. This movement "from Art to Science", using art to drive computing, complements the common use of computing to inform art. We report on initial experiences using this approach with undergraduate and postgraduate students. An embryonic theory of the correspondence between art and computing is presented and a methodology proposed to develop this project further.

The millennial mum: technology use by new mothers

Becoming a mother presents a woman with new challenges and a need to access new sources of information. This work considers the increase in the use of online parenting support as the first group of millennials become parents. Initial results from a survey comparing the use of technology pre and post the experience of childbirth is presented. The survey reveals that mothers are likely to increase the time they spend online and are strongly motivated by seeking social contact. The paper concludes by considering the implications of this survey for healthcare professionals wishing to give information and support through online media and suggests how HCI professionals can become involved in this work.

ASSESSING THE LEVEL OF TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION OF TITLE I TEACHERS IN A LARGE URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

By law, Title I schools employ teachers who are both competent in their subject knowledge and State certified. In addition, Title I teachers receive ongoing professional development in technology integration and are equipped with the latest innovative resources to integrate technology in the classroom. The aim is higher academic achievement and the effective use of technology in the classroom. The investment to implement technology in this large urban school district to improve student achievement has continued to increase. In order to infuse current and emerging technology throughout the curriculum, this school district needs to know where teachers have, and have not, integrated technology. Yet the level of how technology is integrated in Title I schools is unknown. This study used the Digital-Age Survey Levels of Teaching Innovation (LoTi) to assess 508 Title I teachers’ technology integration levels using three major initiatives purchased by Title I— the iPads program, the Chromebook initiative, and the interactive whiteboards program. The study used a quantitative approach. Descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and statistical correlations were used to examine the relationship between the level of technology integration and the following dependent variables: personal computer use (PCU), current instructional practices (CIP), and levels of teaching innovation (LoTi). With this information, budgetary decisions and professional development can be tailored to the meet the technology implementation needs of this district. The result of this study determined a significant relationship between the level of teaching innovation, personal computer use, and current instructional practices with teachers who teach with iPad, Chromebook, and/or interactive whiteboard. There was an increase in LoTi, PCU, and CIP scores with increasing years of experience of Title I teachers. There was also a significant relationship between teachers with 20 years or more teaching experience and their LoTi score.