Practical learning methodologies have become the need of the hour in the education sector, in particular in engineering education, to achieve technical competencies and skills. Advancements in web-based learning strategies have evolved over the years, and technology has played a major role in creating e-learning resources, among which remote labs…

Instructors often use spreadsheet software (e.g., Microsoft Excel) in their statistics courses so that students can gain experience conducting computerized analyses. Unfortunately, students tend to make several predictable errors when programming spreadsheets. Without immediate feedback, programming errors are likely to go undetected, and as a…

Whenever thousands of users need to connect seamlessly to a vast number of online resources, identity management (IDM) becomes a critical capability. Although several products on the market can deliver a robust identity management solution, there is no one-size-fits-all. Identity management requires business processes and a supporting…

Large-sized repositories of learning objects (LOs) are difficult to create and also to maintain. In this paper we propose a way to reduce this drawback by improving the classification mechanisms of the LO repositories. Specifically, we present a solution to automate the LO classification of the Universia repository, a collection of more than 15…

The education sector remains abuzz with cost-cutting expectations despite pressures to increase services. Automation of costly manual tasks could save funds for many of these institutions, specifically in data protection. The IT departments of schools and universities can take advantage of a proven cost-savings opportunity in data protection that…

Automated scoring of constructed responses is already operational in several testing programmes. However, as the methodology matures and the demand for the utilisation of constructed responses increases, the volume of automated scoring is likely to increase at a fast pace. Quality assurance and control of the scoring process will likely be more…

The Hint Factory is an implementation of our novel method to automatically generate hints using past student data for a logic tutor. One disadvantage of the Hint Factory is the time needed to gather enough data on new problems in order to provide hints. In this paper we describe the use of expert sample solutions to "seed" the hint generation…

Automation of power systems is gaining momentum across the world, and there is a need to expose graduate and undergraduate students to the latest developments in hardware, software, and related protocols for power automation. This paper presents the design, development, and commissioning of an automation lab to facilitate the understanding of…

This work describes a new "Moodle" module developed to give support to the practical content of a basic computer organization course. This module goes beyond the mere hosting of resources and assignments. It makes use of an automatic checking and verification engine that works on the VHDL designs submitted by the students. The module automatically…

In past years, higher education's financial management side has been riddled with manual processes and aging mainframe applications. This article discusses schools which had taken advantage of an array of technologies that automate billing, payment processing, and refund processing in the case of overpayment. The investments are well worth it:…

It has been recognized that in order to drive Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) into mainstream use by the teaching community, it is essential to support teachers through the entire ITS process: Design, Development, Deployment, Reflection and Adaptation. Although research has been done on supporting teachers through design to deployment of ITSs,…

This paper describes how digital talking books (DTBs) with embedded functionality for learners can be generated from content structured according to the OU OpenLearn schema. It includes examples showing how a software transformation developed from open source components can be used to remix OpenLearn content, and discusses issues concerning the…

Discusses the digital reformatting project of the Archivo General de Indias (AGI) in Seville, Spain; the goal was to design, develop, and implement an automated data system capable of integrated management of common functions of a historical archive. Describes the general system architecture, and the design and attributes of the information and…

Recent progress in wireless and sensor technologies has lead to a new development of learning environments, called context-aware ubiquitous learning environment, which is able to sense the situation of learners and provide adaptive supports. Many researchers have been investigating the development of such new learning environments; nevertheless,…

Addresses the growth of signatures in document management. Describes the three basic types of electronic signature technology: image signatures, digital signatures, and digitized biometric signatures. Discusses legal and regulatory acceptability and bringing signatures into document management. (AEF)