Agile methodologies have become increasingly popular among software developers as evidenced by industrial participation at related conferences. The popularity of agile practices over traditional techniques partly stems from the fact that these practices provide for more customer involvement and better accommodate rapidly changing requirements,…

One of the first big shifts in how libraries manage resources was the move from print-journal purchasing models to database-subscription and electronic-journal purchasing models. Libraries found that this transition helped them scale their resources and provide better service just by thinking a bit differently about their services. Likewise,…

Context-awareness techniques can support learners in learning without time or location constraints by using mobile devices and associated learning activities in a real learning environment. Enrichment of context-aware technologies has enabled students to learn in an environment that integrates learning resources from both the real world and the…

Preservation has long been considered a fundamental responsibility of research libraries. Data on preservation activities by its members has been collected by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) since 1987, but changing digital technologies and the research, teaching, and learning environments in which research libraries are engaged…

Whether for an entire district, a single campus, or one classroom, allowing authorized access to a computer network can be fraught with challenges. The login process should be fairly seamless to approved users, giving them speedy access to approved Web sites, databases, and other sources of information. It also should be tough on unauthorized…

This article discusses the research findings from the start-up phase of an innovative information and communication technology (ICT) project focused on ICT integration as a complex process involving many factors such as leadership, school readiness and organisational culture. Known locally as Hermes, the project's core objective was to provide an…

This paper describes a competition-style of exercise to teach system and network security and to reinforce themes taught in class. The exercise, called NetSecLab, is conducted on a closed network with student-formed teams, each with their own Linux system to defend and from which to launch attacks. Students are expected to learn how to: 1) install…

Individuals in contact with the criminal justice system are a key population of concern to public health. Record linkage studies can be useful for studying health outcomes for this group, but the use of aliases complicates the process of linking records across databases. This study was undertaken to determine the impact of aliases on sensitivity…

The Web 2.0 "buzz" starts with new technologies such as virtual worlds, cell phones and handheld devices that offer 24/7 web access, tagging, social networks, and blogs and brings together various web capabilities in unique combinations. Web 2.0, however, is about much more than the technology--it is about a change in focus to participation, user…

In this paper we describe the development and refinement of "evidence rules" and "measurement models" within the "evidence model" of the "evidence-centered design" (ECD) framework in the context of the "Packet Tracer" digital learning environment of the "Cisco Networking Academy." Using…

"Evidence-centered design" (ECD) is a comprehensive framework for describing the conceptual, computational and inferential elements of educational assessment. It emphasizes the importance of articulating inferences one wants to make and the evidence needed to support those inferences. At first blush, ECD and "educational data…

Location is fundamental information in Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs). Almost all VANET applications rely on location information. Therefore it is of importance to ensure location information integrity, meaning that location information is original (from the generator), correct (not bogus or fabricated) and unmodified (value not changed). We…

In this article, a course on high-frequency wireless communications systems is presented. With the 145-MHz baseband subsystem available from a prerequisite course, the present course emphasizes the design and implementation of the 2.45-GHz front-end subsystem as well as system integration issues. In this curriculum, the 2.45-GHz front-end…

Making learning objects available is critical to reuse learning resources. Making content transparently available and providing added value to different stakeholders is among the goals of the European Commission's eContentplus programme. This paper analyses standards and protocols relevant for making learning objects accessible in distributed data…

Twitter (www.twitter.com) has become kind of a popular culture punch line. It's often used as a shorthand to represent how self-obsessed and self-involved the American culture has become, and while Twitter does lend itself to a kind of needless sharing, it also has some potentially useful features. Twitter is a microblogging service that allows…