E-learning provides a convenient and efficient way for learning. Formative assessment not only guides student in instruction and learning, diagnose skill or knowledge gaps, but also measures progress and evaluation. An efficient and convenient e-learning formative assessment system is the key character for e-learning. However, most e-learning…

The relatively new field of open educational resources (OER) is just now receiving more widespread attention and study. As such, there have been few opportunities thus far to share knowledge across program, organizational and national boundaries. This article presents a case study of the development of the South African project Free High School…

Distance education created new challenges regarding the delivery of large size isochronous continuous streaming media (SM) objects. In this paper, we consider the design of a framework for customized SM presentations, where each presentation consists of a number of SM objects that should be retrieved and displayed to the user in a coherent…

The nature of the multiuser object oriented (MOO) environment lends itself to flexible and rich interactive collaboration space providing interactive discussion, mail, mailing list, and news features to its virtual denizens. EdMOO (HREF1) was created in mid-1995 as an environment for teachers to experience the text based virtual reality…

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…

EX.MAIN, a model for maintenance and staff training which combines knowledge based expert systems and computer based training, was developed jointly by the Department of Production Engineering of the University of Naples and CIRCUMVESUVIANA, the largest private railroad in Italy. It is a global model in the maintenance field which contains both…

This paper presents a World Wide Web-based infrastructure for cooperation between many different parties. The infrastructure is designed for Web-based competitions involving an editorial board, designers of assignments or events, evaluators, different organizational layers, and contestants. Web-CS is entirely Web-based: all the communication…

A framework for the design of multi-channel (MC) applications in the cultural tourism domain is presented. Several heterogeneous interface devices are supported including location-sensitive mobile units, on-site stationary devices, and personalized CDs that extend the on-site experience beyond the visit time thanks to personal memories gathered…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between cultural differences and the design of personal Web pages. The research questions were: (1) What differences can be detected between how American and Chinese students employ symbol systems in their personal Web pages? (2) What differences can be detected between American and…

Sophisticated computerized school information systems (SISs) will have to provide school-based information relevant to the development of policies in areas where schools used to merely follow governmental guidelines. The large-scale research project in England, reported in this article, goes some way toward filling gaps in the knowledge on the…

Discusses the history and structure of the online database of the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the software tools developed at the University of Waterloo to manipulate the unusually complex database. Four sample searches that indicate some types of problems that might be encountered are appended. (DB)

The Food Safety Knowledge Network (FSKN) is a collaboration between Michigan State University, the Global Food Safety Initiative of the Consumer Goods Forum, and other food industry and public sector partners. FSKN's goal is to help strengthen the food industry's response to the complex food safety knowledge and training challenges that affect…

The popularity of web-based learning systems has encouraged researchers to pay attention to several new issues. One of the most important issues is the development of new techniques to provide personalized teaching materials. Although several frameworks or methods have been proposed, it remains a challenging issue to design an easy-to-realize…

This paper reports on research to investigate design features of asynchronous discussion systems for higher education. The research aims to identify features that increase the benefits of discussion systems and reduce the problems. The paper focuses on a major theme that emerged from interviews with learners and teachers: information overload.…

This work proposes an approach to remote learning of robotic cells based on internet and simulation tools. The proposed approach, which integrates remote-learning and tele-operation into a generic scheme, is designed to enable students and developers to set-up and manipulate a robotic cell remotely. Its implementation is based on a dedicated…