In October 2012, Microsoft will release the commercial version of its next operating system, presently called "Windows 8." This version represents a significant departure from the past. Microsoft wants this operating system to meet user needs regardless of physical platform (e.g., desktop, notebook, tablet, mobile phone). As part of this mission,…

The Internet is creating exciting opportunities for universities and their stakeholders. Universities are experimenting with different modes of education. E-learning is one such mode, where students can learn from any place at any time, as long as they have an Internet connection. A course management system (CMS) facilitates e-learning, making it…

A comprehensive survey on the Internet based virtualisation of experiments is presented, covering several individual as well as collaborative efforts in various engineering disciplines. From this survey it could be concluded that there is a pressing need to develop full-fledged remote laboratory experiments for integrated directly into engineering…

In recent years, a considerable number of teachers in Spain have been using DERIVE to teach math subjects in High Schools and Universities. This software has been used by the authors of this work as a support tool in Mathematics courses for Engineering. Since Texas Instruments does not support DERIVE, we were faced with finding an alternative…

Courses in Computer Architecture and Organization are regularly included in Computer Engineering curricula. These courses are usually organized in such a way that students obtain not only a purely theoretical experience, but also a practical understanding of the topics lectured. This practical work is usually done in a laboratory using simulators…

Digital lecture capture and broadcast solutions have been around for only about 10 years, but are poised for healthy growth. Frost & Sullivan research analysts estimate that the market (which amounts to $25 million currently) will quadruple by 2013. It's still dominated by a few key players, however: Sonic Foundry holds a hefty 40 percent-plus…

Like any infrastructure technology, Virtual World (VW) platforms provide affordances that facilitate some activities and hinder others. Although it is theoretically possible for a VW platform to support all types of activities, designers make choices that lead technologies to be more or less suited for different learning objectives. Virtual World…

Course management systems (CMSs) are software systems designed to manage course content and course activities. These tools integrate technological and pedagogical features into a web-based system that allows instructors, even those who are unfamiliar with web-based technologies, to design, deliver, and manage an online course. However, CMSs have…