Modern robots, like today's smartphones, are complex devices with intricate software systems. Introductory robot programming courses must evolve to reflect this reality, by teaching students to make use of the sophisticated tools their robots provide rather than reimplementing basic algorithms. This paper focuses on teaching with Tekkotsu, an open…

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) shows demonstrable signs of simplifying software integration. It provides the necessary framework for building applications that can be integrated and can reduce the cost of integration significantly. Organizations are beginning to architect new integration solutions following the SOA approach. As such,…

In this article we demonstrate how the combination of a system for dynamic geometry with a freely programmable scripting environment can be advantageously used in teaching and research. We explain the reasons behind various design decisions that were made by us when designing the language "CindyScript" and give examples that proof how…

Formal mathematical methods remain, for most high school students, mysterious, artificial and not a part of their regular intuitive thinking. The authors develop some themes that could lead to a radically new approach. According to this thesis, the teaching of programming languages as a regular part of academic progress can contribute effectively…

Present Educational Modelling Languages are used to formally specify abstract learning scenarios in a machine-interpretable format. Current tooling does not provide teachers/designers with some graphical facilities to help them in reusing existent scenarios. They need human-readable representations. This paper discusses the UML4LD experimental…

Despite a growing development of virtual laboratories which use the advantages of multimedia and Internet for distance education, learning by means of such tutorial tools would be more effective if they were specifically tailored to each student needs. The virtual teaching process would be well adapted if an artificial tutor can identify the…

Discusses computational tools for learning programming and describes a system that was developed to help university students acquire the capability to model computational problems independently of a specific programming language. User-system interaction is explained; and system architecture is described, including specification acquisition, a…

Discusses the issue of education versus training in computer science based on the author's personal experiences. Highlights include early uses of computers, learning programming languages, initial computer-assisted instruction, the use of courseware, Web-based instruction that will need both education and more practical training, and realizing the…

Describes and compares two methods for developing multimedia courseware for use on the Internet: an authoring tool called Shockwave, and an object-oriented language called Java. Topics include vector graphics, browsers, interaction with network protocols, data security, multithreading, and computer languages versus development environments. (LRW)

XML, the extensible markup language, is a quickly evolving technology that presents a viable alternative to courseware products and promises to ease the burden of Web authors, who edit their course pages directly. XML uses tags to label kinds of contents, rather than format information. The use of XML enables faculty to focus on providing…

Explains how modern programming systems empower beginning college students taking computer literacy courses; provides suggestions for designing courses and on the selection of appropriate software; and gives examples of course content and of approaches to course development using the Visual Basic programming environment. (22 references) (LRW)

The last decade has brought about a major change in higher education. Course design has developed from a craftsmanship-like process to a structured production, which involves interdisciplinary teams and requires more complex communication skills. This conceptual article introduces E[superscript 2]ML--Educational Environment Modeling Language--a…

This paper examines the impact the use of the Java programming language has had on the way our students learn to program and the success they achieve. The importance of a properly constructed first course in programming cannot be overstated. A course well experienced will leave students with good programming habits, the ability to learn on their…

This paper reports on a study aiming to develop a metadata model for e-learning coordination based on semantic web languages. A survey of e-learning modes are done initially in order to identify content such as phases, activities, data schema, rules and relations, etc. relevant for a coordination model. In this respect, the study looks into the…

Discusses the use of computers in undergraduate mathematics. Highlights include external software, including spreadsheets and theorem provers; computer generated assessment; multimedia software; computer programming languages; geometric visualization tools; computer algebra systems; and examples from the United States, the United Kingdom, and…