For decades, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms were processed electronically by the legacy Central Processing System. In 2021 the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) initiated a system development effort and in December 2023 deployed a new system to process forms for the 2024-2025 school year. However, student aid…

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the entry ramp to federal grants and loans that many students depend on to afford college. Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in 2020 in part to make it easier to apply for federal aid. However, Education's rollout of the new FAFSA has suffered from numerous challenges and delays.…

The continuous advancement of natural user interfaces (NUIs) allows for the development of novel and creative ways to support collocated collaborative work in a wide range of areas, including teaching and learning. The use of NUIs, such as those based on interactive multi-touch surfaces and tangible user interfaces (TUIs), can offer unique…

The Teaching Factory is an emerging paradigm aiming to enforce skills and competencies of engineers and operators working in the field of manufacturing, through an alignment of the teaching and training activities to the needs of modern factories. In this research work, the Teaching Factory principles are applied to envision ManuLearning, a new…

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…

We are so used to accept new technologies being the driver of change and innovation in human computer interfaces (HCI). In our research we focus on the development of innovations as a design process--or design, for short. We also refer to the entire process of creating innovations and putting them to use as "cognitive processes"--or…

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…

Even providing several benefits and facilities with regard to teaching and learning, mobile learning environments present problems and challenges that must be investigated, especially with respect to the definition and standardization of architectural aspects. Most of these environments are still built in isolation, with particular structures and…

The English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Toolkit provides a wide range of online learning resources which are used in a mixture of self-study, blended, and classroom settings, primarily by students whose first language is not English. The Toolkit was developed by the eLanguages team at the University of Southampton and first licensed in 2004. This…

Innovation in Internet of Things (IoT) requires more than just creation of technology and use of cloud computing or big data platforms. It requires accelerated commercialization or aptly called go-to-market processes. To successfully accelerate, companies need a new type of product development, the so-called validated learning process.…

Learner categorization has a pivotal role in making e-learning systems a success. However, learner characteristics exploited at abstract level of granularity by contemporary techniques cannot categorize the learners effectively. In this paper, an architecture of e-learning framework has been presented that exploits the machine learning based…

Whereas Natural User Interface technological devices, such as tablets, are bringing physical interaction back into mathematics learning activities, existing educational theory is not geared to inform or interpret such learning. In particular, educational researchers investigating instructional interactions still need intellectual and…

The affordances of learning analytics (LA) tools and solutions are being increasingly harnessed for enhancing 21st century pedagogical and learning strategies and outcomes. However, use cases and empirical understandings of students' experiences with LA tools and environments aimed at fostering 21st century literacies, especially in the K-12…

This paper describes an existing web-based learning platform named "Third Place of Learning" (TPL)--"Dritter Lernort". This project's aim is to connect the system of vocational education with digital media by a web-based learning platform. TPL supports student's digital learning by means of interactive examples and exercises.…

Serious games seem to be a promising alternative to traditional practices for learning. Recently, their use in computer science education and learning programming became more widespread. Actually, many students in programming courses have difficulties to master all required competencies and skills especially at introductory level and games have…