The existing Learning Management Systems (LMSs) are profoundly effective in empowering the organization of e-learning, however, lacking in usability and learnability. The complex navigation and an immature search system are catalysing the issues that needs vigorous improvement. This paper aims to enhance the usability of LMSs by introducing an…

Learning has transcended into a life-long endeavor in the information age. It is no longer restricted to confines of formal classrooms. Consequently, a student is not restricted to traditional learning resources like teachers, textbooks or printed content. Digital resources available on the Internet form a very significant component of…

This paper presents two interactive visualization tools for learning management systems (LMS) in order to improve learning and teaching in online courses. The first tool was developed at the Intelligent Information Systems Laboratory (IISLab) at the Tampere University of Technology (TUT). The tool is used to analyse students' activity from…

Given the pace of innovation, not only in the gadget market but in how social media is changing society, the future isn't what it used to be, which is to say, it is not that far off, out of reach, and "gee whiz" tomorrow. The planning horizon has moved closer than ever. And far-off eventualities are here and gone before you know it. In this…

This article describes the Project Lefty, a search system that, at a minimum, adds a layer on top of traditional federated search tools that will make the wait for results more worthwhile for researchers. At best, Project Lefty improves search queries and relevance rankings for web-scale discovery tools to make the results themselves more relevant…

Expands on existing concepts and notions regarding hypertext-based information retrieval. Topics include document characterization; characterization networks; query by navigation; navigation networks; and adding new links to the characterization networks with information about semantic relations. (LRW)

Discusses data exchange over the Internet and describes the architecture and implementation of an XML document repository that promotes a navigation paradigm for XML documents based on content and context. Topics include information retrieval and semistructured documents; and file systems as information storage infrastructure, particularly XMLFS.…

Discusses the concept of information scent in a Web site, which is based on mental associations between concepts. Describes research in the field of human-computer interaction, including how humans locate information and semantic networks; and discusses navigation success, user testing, good links, and facet-based browsing. (LRW)

Discusses access methods in hypermedia and information retrieval and describes a research project in which similarity measures have been extended to include imprecise matching over different dimensions of structured classification schemes. The semantic similarity of information units forms the basis for the automatic construction of links and is…

Presents a texture-based image-retrieval system for browsing large-scale aerial photographs. System components include texture-feature extraction, image segmentation and grouping, learning-similarity measure, and a texture-thesaurus model for fast search and indexing. Testing has demonstrated the system's effectiveness in searching and selecting…

Presents a brief historical overview of research in individual differences in the context of virtual environments. Highlights the notion of structure in the perception of individual users of an information system and the role of individuals' abilities to recognize and use such structures to perform various information-intensive tasks. (Author/LRW)

End users think of file names as a way to identify file contents, whereas computer programs often assign special meaning to file extensions. This article discusses different kinds of files on the World Wide Web: text, document, sound, video, and multimedia; file compression; and encoding formats. Includes a chart of file formats and lists Web…

Describes wearable computers, or information and communication technology devices that are designed to be mobile. Discusses how such technologies can enhance computer-mediated communications, focusing on collaborative working for learning. Describes an experimental system, MetaPark, which explores communications, data retrieval and recording, and…

Discusses agent technology within educational settings and describes two information systems, SMILE (Solution, Mapping, Intelligent, Learning, Environment) and AIMS (Agent based Information Management System) that use concept mapping to address issues including adaptive learner support, problem solving, information navigation, information…

Describes the visualization of a navigation classification scheme in an information retrieval (IR) system. Highlights include Charles Cutter's rules for creating a dictionary catalog; user needs; an example of undergraduate research using this scheme; and user interaction with the IR system. (Contains 64 references.) (Author/LRW)