As a value and end result of the user-centered design (UCD) process, user experience (UX) is constantly evolving alongside of the users with which it is concerned. Faculty, staff, and other professionals in higher education attempt to meet the academic, economic, and ability needs of students by conducting usability testing and other user…

An E-learning system based on a multi-agent (MAS) architecture combined with the Dynamic Content Manager (DCM) model of E-learning, is presented. We discuss the benefits of using such a multi-agent architecture. Finally, the MAS architecture is compared with a pure service-oriented architecture (SOA). This MAS architecture may also be used within…

Requiring savvy, online courses can present a perceived barrier to adult learners for a variety of reasons, but ease of access due to inadequate navigability should not be one of those barriers. Re-tooling online courses to standards of Quality Matters (QM) can lessen that barrier to access, making adult learners more participatory. Internal…

Despite the increasing attention given to design in business, Design Thinking has had little impact on the quality of business school education. Building upon the foundations of long-standing critiques of management education and the potential for student-centric learning, the authors propose that the use of Design in Practice can significantly…

How can educators make use of augmented reality technologies and practices to enhance learning and why would we want to embrace such technologies anyway? How can an augmented reality help a learner confront, interpret and ultimately comprehend reality itself ? In this article, we seek to initiate a discussion that focuses on these questions, and…

HTML 5 is the most significant update of HTML in the last 10 years since XHTML was introduced. It promises a vastly improved user experience, increased browser features, cross compatibility and the ability to provide semantic content. In this paper we discuss the near future position for Higher Education in terms of technological transform, the…

The current development of educational applications for language learning has experienced a qualitative change in the criteria of interaction between users and devices due to the technological advances of input and output data through keyboard, mouse, stylus, tactile screen, etc. The multiple interactions generated in a natural way by humans…

The mounting wealth of open and readily available information and the accelerated evolution of social, mobile and creative technologies call for a re-conceptualisation of the role of educators: from providers of knowledge to designers of learning. This call is reverberated by the rising trend of research in learning design (LD). Addressing this,…

Online museums could benefit from digital "lifelike" characters in order to guide users to virtual tours and to customize the tour information to users' interests. Digital characters have been explored in online museum web sites with different degrees of interaction and modes of communication. Such research, however, does not explore…

With the increased demand and interest in electronic performance support systems (EPSS), particularly for supporting knowledge-based problems solving expertise in the information age (Gustafson, 2000; Dickelman, 2000; Kasvi & Vartiainen, 2000), instructional designers are facing a new challenge designing a system that could deliver (or…

Reports on the human factors considered in the design and implementation of a digital museum for historic costume. Starting with an elicitation and analysis of the qualitative and functional needs of its users, an evolutionary prototype was developed for a model of digital archiving that delivers a gratifying Web experience, visually and…

Details the rationale, evaluation and implementation of use scenarios-structured narrative descriptions of envisioned system use-in the development of the Alexandria Digital Earth Prototype (ADEPT). Discusses the strengths of the scenario approach, obstacles to their use, and lessons learned in the overall development process. (Author/AEF)

Describes VASARI (the Visual Art System for Archiving and Retrieval of Images), a project funded by the European Community to show the feasibility of high resolution colormetric imaging directly from paintings. The hardware and software used in the system are explained, storage on optical disks is described, and initial results are reported. (five…

Presents an enriched video metadata framework including video authorization using the Video Annotation and Summarization Tool (VAST)-a video metadata authorization system that integrates both semantic and visual metadata-- metadata integration, and user level applications. Results demonstrated that the enriched metadata were seamlessly…

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact that computer based information systems (CBIS) could have on U.S. multinational corporations operating in Canada, particularly in the province of Quebec, and the implications for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that went into effect on January 1, 1994. The study focused on how the…