| e-Learning Applications based on 3D Graphics Annotation Techniques | | BIBAK | 1-24 | |
| Dorian Gorgan; Teodor Stefanut; Madalina Veres; Istvan Gabos | |||
| The graphics annotation in user interfaces, instead of classical radio
buttons, check boxes and other controls, supports new interaction techniques
that provide the user possibilities for free form presentation, highlighting
user's creativity, practical ability, and artistic imagination. The graphics
annotation performed directly on the 3D object's surface requires the
development of new drawing algorithms, annotation models, and interaction
techniques. The research experiments in eTrace eLearning Environment the model
and techniques for graphics annotation supporting the automatic evaluation in
the context of eLearning lessons. The paper describes shortly solutions for the
steps through which the teacher describes the annotation related constraints,
recording the annotation specifications in the lesson's model, achievement of
student's annotation, knowledge quantification, and final mark computation.
This paper details mainly the first step of the constraint description. The
paper proposes new research directions concerning with knowledge evaluation
approaches instead of the common multiple choice questions. Keywords: eLearning, learning objects, interaction techniques, 3D graphics annotation | |||
| Finding flow: some implications for the utilization of new technologies | | BIBAK | 25-38 | |
| Ana Maria Marhan | |||
| As computers and internet are becoming an increasingly prominent presence in
our daily life, a stronger need to better understand the behavior of persons
using these technologies emerges as well. During the recent years, the
psychological concept of flow has been providing the theoretical and
methodological framework for several research studies on user experience in web
navigation, e-commerce, electronic gaming or e-learning, among others. It was
Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi who, back in the 70s, proposed flow as a coined term
describing the psychological state experienced by a person fully immersed in an
activity that is performed with a maximum efficiency, producing satisfaction,
and an overall positive emotional state. Among other benefits of experiencing
flow in daily or professional activities, as well as in interacting with new
technology, the studies undertaken by now have been repeatedly emphasizing: a
better learning efficiency, intensifying the exploratory behavior, positive
emotional experience, feeling of control, but also impact on users' interaction
patters, for instance by increasing the number of revisiting of the same
website. The phenomena described above will be discussed in this article, with
the specific aim to provide an analysis of the main components of flow
experience, of the relationships among them, as well as of their potential to
inform the design of user interaction with the new technologies. Keywords: flow, task, complexity, control, autotelic | |||
| Usability evaluation of a learning scenario for Biology implemented onto an augmented reality platform | | BIBAK | 39-56 | |
| Costin Pribeanu; Dragos Daniel Iordache; Alexandru Balog | |||
| The combination between real and virtual in the augmented reality systems
requires suitable interaction techniques that need to be tested with users in
order to avoid usability problems. Formative evaluation aims at finding
usability problems as early as possible and is useful to the development of
interactive systems featuring novel interaction techniques. This paper presents
an approach to the formative evaluation of a Biology scenario developed onto an
educational augmented reality platform. The evaluation has been done during a
summer school and afterwards. Two methods have been used: usability inspection
and user testing. The basic idea of our approach was to conduct user testing
twice. In this respect, the scenario has been tested with a small number of
users during the summer school in order to get a fast feedback from students
having good Biology knowledge. The testing has been repeated in different
conditions and with a larger number of representative users. During and after
each experiment, quantitative and qualitative measures have been collected by
using a usability questionnaire and a log file analysis. In this paper we
describe the experiments, we present the methods used and we comparatively
analyze the results. Keywords: user centered design, usability, formative evaluation, augmented reality | |||
| Paronym Generation Algorithms for Malapropism Correction | | BIBAK | 57-72 | |
| Costin-Gabriel Chiru; Stefan Trausan-Matu; Traian Rebedea | |||
| The Web pages have been intensively used lately for automatic or
semiautomatic extraction of useful information. Because of the open nature of
the Web, the texts that have no spelling errors are very rare exceptions. One
of the most wide-spread errors in Internet texts is the malapropism. Thus,
malapropism detection and correction algorithms have been investigated. The
detection algorithms are based on text cohesion while the correction algorithms
use precompiled paronyms dictionaries. Therefore, it is very important to
identify efficient algorithms for generating paronyms. In the present paper, we
make an overview presentation of the paronyms and of the methods that can be
used in order to build a paronyms dictionary. A presentation of the main errors
that can lead to malapropism is also provided and the way these errors can be
corrected using a paronyms dictionary is suggested. Keywords: Paronym, Malapropism, NLP | |||
| Approaches in Automatic Usability Evaluation. Comparative Study | | BIBAK | 73-84 | |
| Adriana-Mihaela Guran; Grigoreta Sofia Cojocar | |||
| Usability testing is a growing field with more and more companies getting
aware of the importance of assuring a good usability of their products.
Specialists conduct the tests and they use various kinds of tools to help them
gather and analyze data. Some of the activities involved in the usability
evaluation process can be automated, providing a great help to the usability
specialists. This paper aims at presenting three approaches for automatic
usability evaluation, together with a comparative study. The proposed
approaches are related to the automatic gathering and analyzing interaction
data. Usually, data from the interaction between the user and the system is
acquired using logging, which involves code instrumentation. In this paper, two
alternative approaches are presented that avoid code instrumentation: the use
of Aspect Oriented Programming and the use of accessibility APIs. The first
approach is integrated in an agent based architecture having the goal of
automatic usability evaluation also. The two approaches are compared based on
development and metrics computation complexity criteria. Keywords: human-computer interaction, usability, AOP, agents, accessibility | |||
| Web-based application for the management of online debates | | BIBAK | 91-110 | |
| Oana Secasiu; Vlad Posea; Stefan Trausan-Matu | |||
| The current paper analyzes the main problems that we have when using online
debate tools (forum, chat, video-conference). Then we propose a solution, based
on Toulmin's argumentation theory, that we believe it will improve the way
these debates take place. The application that we have developed helps both the
regular user and the moderator to construct a better structure of the
conversation. This will allow users to track the ideas that have been changed
and the evolution of the arguments that have been presented. Also, a debate
that is structured using this tool will be much easier to understand by a user
that hasn't followed it from the beginning. All the steps of the debate: its
data, conclusion and backing are available in a very easy to understand format.
In order to achieve that we use advanced visualization tools. The paper also
presents a pedagogical scenario where our tool can be successfully used. The
paper presents the theory on which the application is based, the architecture
of the application, the description of the way the application it is used, a
pedagogical scenario and it ends with some conclusions and a short presentation
of the future developments. Keywords: computer supported collaborative learning, forum, argumentation, Toulmin,
Internet, community | |||
| The educational added value of augmented reality technology for a school environment | | BIBAK | 111-132 | |
| Dragos Daniel Iordache; Ioan Neacsu | |||
| In the first part of this paper are presented a set of educational
characteristics of some teaching systems based on augmented reality technology.
Next sections presents some results from the user testing of an augmented
reality technology adapted for biology and chemistry study in the scholar
environment. The evaluation was focussed on effectiveness and efficiency
measures of users who tested the augmented reality platform developed in ARiSE
(Augmented Reality in School Environment) project. These results where
determined based on analysis of log files for each user. In parallel with this
activity, before and after testing sessions, has been evaluated those student's
knowledge at biology and chemistry which are related on the specific tasks of
didactical scenario in augmented reality platform. By comparing the level of
student's knowledge before and after working with augmented reality platform,
we tried to determine the eventually formative valences associated with this
new technology. The results show that students achieved much better
performances to the knowledge tests after working with augmented reality
platform (ARTP). Therewith the quantitative measures obtained from log files
analysis offered useful information regarding usability problems and
task-solving behavior. Keywords: Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), learning environment,
evaluation | |||
| The Role and the Importance of Adaptated Information Technology (AIT) in the Process of Social Integration of Persons with Disabilities | | BIBAK | 133-144 | |
| Maria-Elena Osiceanu; Silviu Ghioc | |||
| IT&C has a great impact on building social relations, becoming a
research area in full development. Advances in technologies had allowed the
development of new services, systems, products and applications for persons
with disability. Since the development of technological systems can be
considered an essential component of everyday life, a particular interest
should be given to the role which it has in growth of personal autonomy. In the
case of persons with disabilities, computers can be accessed more easily
through the design of special software, suitable for a family as large users.
Adaptated Information Technology (ATI) allows people with disabilities to use a
computer reducing or removing obstacles arising from common interface for
users. ATI facilitates access to information resources through an offsetting
deficiency. The goal of ATI applications is to come to the aid of people with
disabilities whose job involves using a computer, and to support their
integration into the labour market, by providing a technological support. The
purpose of this article is to show the importance of technologies/ devices for
persons with disabilities, for the purpose of their integration into society. Keywords: Information technologies, technological support, persons with disability | |||
| Collaboration within co-operative tasks: the use of augmented reality in schools environments | | BIBAK | 145-162 | |
| Irina Cristescu | |||
| Some circumstances have shown that pupils and students tend to better
understand the information from their colleagues than their teachers or
professors as cooperation contributes to achieving social development and
interpersonal attitudes in the classroom. Because learning is an interactive
process of knowledge construction, social actors tend to negotiate and
contribute to finding meanings concerning the information needed. In the same
time the learning environment must provide the student with the help he needs
to develop his own abilities concerning knowledge construction. The celerity of
technology spreading and accessibility on the market contributes to fufiling
these desiderata even in the educational area. The use of augmented reality
platform is an example of computer supported collaborative learning method.
With the help of the computer is presented the task's context which influences
the interaction among pupils and students through collaboration during task
completion. This explains the different advantages regarding the analysis and
understanding of the flux of information: stimulating the collaboration,
reduced time for learning, negotiating the meanings of information analysis,
negotiating the roles each individual plays in the context of collaboration. Keywords: collaboration, cooperation, social interaction, learning models, augmented
reality | |||
| Access control in e-Commerce applications by using state machines | | BIBAK | 163-186 | |
| Mihaela Ordean; Dorian Gorgan | |||
| The paper refers to a particular domain of authorization and proposes the
SCAR-ACE model for role based access control in e-Commerce applications.
Nowadays, there are an increasing number of Web applications that require
authorization decisions. These applications include (but not limited to),
e-Commerce applications, management and sharing of distributed resources,
execution of downloaded code, etc. Authorizing these kinds of applications is
significantly different of that of centralized systems and even of that of
relatively small distributed systems. E-Commerce applications become
increasingly more complex, requiring access to heterogeneous resources of users
in different roles. Access control in e-Commerce applications is an important
subject of nowadays scientific research. The current work proposes a safe model
for role based access control without using cookies. The proposed model allows
the access to system resources only for authorized users. In order to determine
the flow and to control the access to the resources in a distributed
application, is introduced the notion of role as an intermediary between a user
and its permissions. Each role has attached a set of permissions (or
privileges) to access the resources and operations. The model is validated by a
set of tests and by experimental results. Keywords: access control, authorization, state machines | |||