Use Contexts and Usage Patterns of Interactive Case Simulation Tools by HIV Healthcare Providers in a Statewide Online Clinical Education Program.

PubMed

Wang, Dongwen

2017-01-01

We analyzed four interactive case simulation tools (ICSTs) from a statewide online clinical education program. Results have shown that ICSTs are increasingly used by HIV healthcare providers. Smart phone has become the primary usage platform for specific ICSTs. Usage patterns depend on particular ICST modules, usage stages, and use contexts. Future design of ICSTs should consider these usage patterns for more effective dissemination of clinical evidence to healthcare providers.

Expanding Academic Vocabulary with an Interactive On-Line Database

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horst, Marlise; Cobb, Tom; Nicolae, Ioana

2005-01-01

University students used a set of existing and purpose-built on-line tools for vocabulary learning in an experimental ESL course. The resources included concordance, dictionary, cloze-builder, hypertext, and a database with interactive self-quizzing feature (all freely available at www.lextutor.ca). The vocabulary targeted for learning consisted…

A Study of the Predictive Relationship between Online Social Presence and ONLE Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tu, Chih-Hsiung; Yen, Cherng-Jyh; Blocher, J. Michael; Chan, Junn-Yih

2012-01-01

Open Network Learning Environments (ONLE) are online networks that afford learners the opportunity to participate in creative content endeavors, personalized identity projections, networked mechanism management, and effective collaborative community integration by applying Web 2.0 tools in open environments. It supports social interaction by…

Online Students' Perceptions of Interactive Tools to Support Postgraduate Learning of Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prieto, Elena; Holmes, Kathryn

2014-01-01

With the advent of new technologies, methods of blended learning are used in online mathematics classrooms to facilitate interactions and provide a richer experience for students. This paper analyses data obtained from practising teachers during their participation in two postgraduate mathematics courses. We conclude that discussion forum…

Task and Tool Interface Design for L2 Speaking Interaction Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Appel, Christine; Robbins, Jackie; Moré, Joaquim; Mullen, Tony

2012-01-01

Learners and teachers of a foreign language in online and blended learning environments are being offered more opportunities for speaking practice from technological developments. However, in order to maximise these learning opportunities, appropriate task-based materials are required which promote and direct student to student interaction in…

Freiburg RNA tools: a central online resource for RNA-focused research and teaching.

PubMed

Raden, Martin; Ali, Syed M; Alkhnbashi, Omer S; Busch, Anke; Costa, Fabrizio; Davis, Jason A; Eggenhofer, Florian; Gelhausen, Rick; Georg, Jens; Heyne, Steffen; Hiller, Michael; Kundu, Kousik; Kleinkauf, Robert; Lott, Steffen C; Mohamed, Mostafa M; Mattheis, Alexander; Miladi, Milad; Richter, Andreas S; Will, Sebastian; Wolff, Joachim; Wright, Patrick R; Backofen, Rolf

2018-05-21

The Freiburg RNA tools webserver is a well established online resource for RNA-focused research. It provides a unified user interface and comprehensive result visualization for efficient command line tools. The webserver includes RNA-RNA interaction prediction (IntaRNA, CopraRNA, metaMIR), sRNA homology search (GLASSgo), sequence-structure alignments (LocARNA, MARNA, CARNA, ExpaRNA), CRISPR repeat classification (CRISPRmap), sequence design (antaRNA, INFO-RNA, SECISDesign), structure aberration evaluation of point mutations (RaSE), and RNA/protein-family models visualization (CMV), and other methods. Open education resources offer interactive visualizations of RNA structure and RNA-RNA interaction prediction as well as basic and advanced sequence alignment algorithms. The services are freely available at http://rna.informatik.uni-freiburg.de.

Evaluation of a Teaching Tool--Wiki--in Online Graduate Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Caroline L.; Crocker, Cheryl; Nussey, Janice; Springate, Joyce; Hutchings, Darlene

2010-01-01

This study provides information on ways to enhance learning for students using online educational programs. Technologies that foster and engage students in the learning process are necessary in the online learning environment. Wiki is an online teaching strategy used to promote student interaction. A Wiki was introduced into three sections of a…

Development of Interactive and Reflective Learning among Malaysian Online Distant Learners: An ESL Instructor's Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murugaiah, Puvaneswary; Thang, Siew Ming

2010-01-01

Technology has brought tremendous advancements in online education, spurring transformations in online pedagogical practices. Online learning in the past was passive, using the traditional teacher-centred approach. However, with the tools available today, it can be active, collaborative, and meaningful. A well-developed task can impel learners to…

Investigation of Interactive Online Visual Tools for the Learning of Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobs, K. L.

2005-01-01

For many years, educators have been discussing benefits of educational practices such as the use of real-world examples, visualisation, interactivity, constructivism, self-paced learning and self-paced testing. Macromedia Flash MX has been used to develop online modules for the course Differential Equations offered at the University of South…

A Visualisation Tool to Aid Exploration of Students' Interactions in Asynchronous Online Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jyothi, Sujana; McAvinia, Claire; Keating, John

2012-01-01

Much research in recent years has focused on the introduction of virtual learning environments (VLEs) to universities, documenting practice, and sharing experience ([2], [9], [45] and [58]). Attention has been directed towards the importance of online dialogue for learning as a defining feature of the VLE. Communicative tools are an important…

Survey of Consumer Informatics for Palliation and Hospice Care

PubMed Central

Corn, Milton; Gustafson, David H.; Harris, Linda M.; Kutner, Jean S.; McFarren, Ann E.; Shad, Aziza T.

2012-01-01

Context Palliation in patient care is under-utilized in part because many patients have insufficient knowledge about this management option. Information technology can improve awareness by providing access to numerous sources of trustworthy information. Evidence Acquisition To estimate what a patient interested in palliation might find online, online resources were searched in July 2010, using terms relevant to palliation. PubMed was searched for publications relevant to discussed topics. Evidence Synthesis Search engines returned vast numbers of hits, and identifying trustworthy sites was difficult. Products judged as trustworthy were classified as information, decision tool, or extended interaction tool. Sites with useful educational material were relatively plentiful; decision guides and interactive tools were much rarer. Available consumer informatics did not address well some terminal illnesses, and some subpopulations such as children, nor was there sufficient attention to literacy levels or principles of instructional design. Online or published information about usage numbers, effectiveness, and cost/benefit considerations was scant. Many sectors, including commercial, government, healthcare, research, and wellness/advocacy groups, have created consumer informatics for palliation. Conclusions Online information about palliation is available, although identifying trustworthy sources can be problematic. General information sites are relatively plentiful, but more tools for decision making, and interaction would increase value of web resources. More attention to literacy levels, instructional principles, and needs of special populations would improve products. Research to measure usage of such tools, ability to influence behavior, and cost/benefit issues is needed. PMID:21521592

A Case Study of Using a Social Annotation Tool to Support Collaboratively Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gao, Fei

2013-01-01

The purpose of the study was to understand student interaction and learning supported by a collaboratively social annotation tool--Diigo. The researcher examined through a case study how students participated and interacted when learning an online text with the social annotation tool--Diigo, and how they perceived their experience. The findings…

The Cost of Online Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milshtein, Amy

2001-01-01

Examines development considerations and tips for controlling costs when a university decides to develop an online distance learning service. Use of the interactive Web Site for Determining Costs tool for unveiling hidden costs is highlighted. (GR)

iCOSSY: An Online Tool for Context-Specific Subnetwork Discovery from Gene Expression Data

PubMed Central

Saha, Ashis; Jeon, Minji; Tan, Aik Choon; Kang, Jaewoo

2015-01-01

Pathway analyses help reveal underlying molecular mechanisms of complex biological phenotypes. Biologists tend to perform multiple pathway analyses on the same dataset, as there is no single answer. It is often inefficient for them to implement and/or install all the algorithms by themselves. Online tools can help the community in this regard. Here we present an online gene expression analytical tool called iCOSSY which implements a novel pathway-based COntext-specific Subnetwork discoverY (COSSY) algorithm. iCOSSY also includes a few modifications of COSSY to increase its reliability and interpretability. Users can upload their gene expression datasets, and discover important subnetworks of closely interacting molecules to differentiate between two phenotypes (context). They can also interactively visualize the resulting subnetworks. iCOSSY is a web server that finds subnetworks that are differentially expressed in two phenotypes. Users can visualize the subnetworks to understand the biology of the difference. PMID:26147457

Researching Online Foreign Language Interaction and Exchange: Theories, Methods and Challenges. Telecollaboration in Education. Volume 3

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dooly, Melinda; O'Dowd, Robert

2012-01-01

This book provides an accessible introduction to some of the methods and theoretical approaches for investigating foreign language (FL) interaction and exchange in online environments. Research approaches which can be applied to Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) are outlined, followed by discussion of the way in which tools and techniques for…

Translating statistical species-habitat models to interactive decision support tools

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wszola, Lyndsie S.; Simonsen, Victoria L.; Stuber, Erica F.; Gillespie, Caitlyn R.; Messinger, Lindsey N.; Decker, Karie L.; Lusk, Jeffrey J.; Jorgensen, Christopher F.; Bishop, Andrew A.; Fontaine, Joseph J.

2017-01-01

Understanding species-habitat relationships is vital to successful conservation, but the tools used to communicate species-habitat relationships are often poorly suited to the information needs of conservation practitioners. Here we present a novel method for translating a statistical species-habitat model, a regression analysis relating ring-necked pheasant abundance to landcover, into an interactive online tool. The Pheasant Habitat Simulator combines the analytical power of the R programming environment with the user-friendly Shiny web interface to create an online platform in which wildlife professionals can explore the effects of variation in local landcover on relative pheasant habitat suitability within spatial scales relevant to individual wildlife managers. Our tool allows users to virtually manipulate the landcover composition of a simulated space to explore how changes in landcover may affect pheasant relative habitat suitability, and guides users through the economic tradeoffs of landscape changes. We offer suggestions for development of similar interactive applications and demonstrate their potential as innovative science delivery tools for diverse professional and public audiences.

Translating statistical species-habitat models to interactive decision support tools.

PubMed

Wszola, Lyndsie S; Simonsen, Victoria L; Stuber, Erica F; Gillespie, Caitlyn R; Messinger, Lindsey N; Decker, Karie L; Lusk, Jeffrey J; Jorgensen, Christopher F; Bishop, Andrew A; Fontaine, Joseph J

2017-01-01

Understanding species-habitat relationships is vital to successful conservation, but the tools used to communicate species-habitat relationships are often poorly suited to the information needs of conservation practitioners. Here we present a novel method for translating a statistical species-habitat model, a regression analysis relating ring-necked pheasant abundance to landcover, into an interactive online tool. The Pheasant Habitat Simulator combines the analytical power of the R programming environment with the user-friendly Shiny web interface to create an online platform in which wildlife professionals can explore the effects of variation in local landcover on relative pheasant habitat suitability within spatial scales relevant to individual wildlife managers. Our tool allows users to virtually manipulate the landcover composition of a simulated space to explore how changes in landcover may affect pheasant relative habitat suitability, and guides users through the economic tradeoffs of landscape changes. We offer suggestions for development of similar interactive applications and demonstrate their potential as innovative science delivery tools for diverse professional and public audiences.

Translating statistical species-habitat models to interactive decision support tools

PubMed Central

Simonsen, Victoria L.; Stuber, Erica F.; Gillespie, Caitlyn R.; Messinger, Lindsey N.; Decker, Karie L.; Lusk, Jeffrey J.; Jorgensen, Christopher F.; Bishop, Andrew A.; Fontaine, Joseph J.

2017-01-01

Understanding species-habitat relationships is vital to successful conservation, but the tools used to communicate species-habitat relationships are often poorly suited to the information needs of conservation practitioners. Here we present a novel method for translating a statistical species-habitat model, a regression analysis relating ring-necked pheasant abundance to landcover, into an interactive online tool. The Pheasant Habitat Simulator combines the analytical power of the R programming environment with the user-friendly Shiny web interface to create an online platform in which wildlife professionals can explore the effects of variation in local landcover on relative pheasant habitat suitability within spatial scales relevant to individual wildlife managers. Our tool allows users to virtually manipulate the landcover composition of a simulated space to explore how changes in landcover may affect pheasant relative habitat suitability, and guides users through the economic tradeoffs of landscape changes. We offer suggestions for development of similar interactive applications and demonstrate their potential as innovative science delivery tools for diverse professional and public audiences. PMID:29236707

Why people continue to play online games: in search of critical design factors to increase customer loyalty to online contents.

PubMed

Choi, Dongseong; Kim, Jinwoo

2004-02-01

As people increasingly play online games, numerous new features have been proposed to increase players' log-on time at online gaming sites. However, few studies have investigated why people continue to play certain online games or which design features are most closely related to the amount of time spent by players at particular online gaming sites. This study proposes a theoretical model using the concepts of customer loyalty, flow, personal interaction, and social interaction to explain why people continue to play online network games. The study then conducts a large-scale survey to validate the model. Finally, it analyzes current online games to identify design features that are closely related to the theoretical concepts. The results indicate that people continue to play online games if they have optimal experiences while playing the games. This optimal experience can be attained if the player has effective personal interaction with the system or pleasant social interactions with other people connected to the Internet. Personal interaction can be facilitated by providing appropriate goals, operators and feedback; social interaction can be facilitated through appropriate communication places and tools. This paper ends with the implications of applying the study results to other domains such as e-commerce and cyber communities.

Open, Online, and Blended: Transactional Interactions with MOOC Content by Learners in Three Different Course Formats

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emanuel, Jeffrey P.; Lamb, Anne

2017-01-01

During the 2013-14 academic year, Harvard University piloted the use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as tools for blended learning in select undergraduate and graduate residential and online courses. One of these courses, The Ancient Greek Hero, combined for-credit (Harvard College and Harvard Extension School) and open online (HarvardX)…

The library as a reference tool: online catalogs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stark, M.

1991-01-01

Online catalogs are computerized listings of materials in a particular library or group of libraries. General characteristics of online catalogs include ability for searching interactively and for locating descriptions of books, maps, and reports on regional or topical geology. Suggestions for searching, evaluating results, modifying searches, and limitations of searching are presented. -Author

Using Social Media to Improve Student-Instructor Communication in an Online Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guo, Rong; Shen, Yide; Li, Lei

2018-01-01

The lack of effective faculty-student interaction has been identified as a main contributor to the high dropout rate in online education. For this paper, the authors conducted an empirical study using a social networking tool, specifically Facebook, to improve student-instructor communication and student performance in an online learning…

Evaluating Technology to Prevent Academic Integrity Violations in Online Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Victoria

2018-01-01

Protection of academic integrity in online environments can be challenging. Understanding how the technology works and concerns about each of the methods for monitoring online interactions can assist in the selection of the best proctoring tools. Depending on the content, the type of assessment and the comfort level with the technology, a…

Distraction, Domination, and Disconnection in Whole-Class Online Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dooley, Kim E.; Wickersham, Leah E.

2007-01-01

Online courses continue to gain popularity at colleges and universities, with a primary tool for demonstrating critical thinking and interaction being the discussion forum. Instructors and students of online courses are faced with the dilemma of sifting through potentially hundreds of postings when all students are placed within a forum. The…

Student Interaction and Community Building: An Evaluation of Social Networking in Online Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cardona-Divale, Maria Victoria

2012-01-01

Learners often report difficulty maintaining social connectivity in online courses. Technology is quickly changing how people communicate, collaborate and learn using online social networking sites (SNSs). These sites have transformed education in a way that provides new learning opportunities when integrated with web 2.0 tools. Little research is…

A Chaperone: Using Twitter for Professional Guidance, Social Support and Personal Empowerment of Novice Teachers in Online Workshops

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pieterse, Efrat; Peled, Yehuda

2014-01-01

This research examines the feasibility and benefits of using Twitter as a support tool to enhance social interaction among teachers in their first year of service, as they participate in an online induction workshop, and as a tool to aid the workshop's moderator in monitoring the group and enhancing and supporting the early-service teachers'…

Implementation of Online Peer Assessment in a Design for Learning and Portfolio (D4L+P) Program to Help Students Complete Science Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wuttisela, Karntarat; Wuttiprom, Sura; Phonchaiya, Sonthi; Saengsuwan, Sayant

2016-01-01

Peer assessment was one of the most effective strategies to improve students' understanding, metacognitive skills, and social interaction. An online tool, "Designing for Learning and Portfolio (D4L+P)", was developed solely to support the T5 (tasks, tools, tutorials, topicresources, and teamwork) method of teaching and learning. This…

The Effects of a Synchronous Communication Tool (Yahoo Messenger) on Online Learners' Sense of Community and Their Multimedia Authoring Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Shiang-Kwei

2008-01-01

Literature suggests that developing a community of learners is the key to a successful online-learning experience. In this study, the instructor of a multimedia authoring course adopted a synchronous communication tool (Yahoo Messenger) to interact with learners orally on a weekly basis and, thereby, to establish a sense among the learners that…

Group dynamics and social interaction in a South Asian online learning forum for faculty development of medical teachers.

PubMed

Anshu; Sharma, M; Burdick, W P; Singh, T

2010-04-01

Group dynamics of online medical faculty development programs have not been analyzed and reported in literature. Knowledge of the types of content of posted messages will help to understand group dynamics and promote participation in an asynchronous learning environment. This paper assesses group dynamics and social interactivity in an online learning environment for medical teachers in the South Asian context. Participants of a medical education fellowship program conducted by the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) Regional Institute at Christian Medical College, Ludhiana (CMCL) in India interact on a listserv called the Mentoring-Learning Web (ML-Web). Monthly topics for online discussion are chosen by fellows through a standard tool called "multi-voting". Fellows volunteer to moderate sessions and direct the pace of the discussion. We analyzed the content and process of the discussion of one particular month. The emails were categorized as those that reflected cognitive presence (dealing with construction and exploration of knowledge), teacher presence (dealing with instructional material and learning resources), and social presence, or were administrative in nature. Social emails were further classified as: affective, cohesive and interactive. Social emails constituted one-third of the total emails. Another one-quarter of the emails dealt with sharing of resources and teacher presence, while cognitive emails comprised 36.2% of the total. More than half of the social emails were affective, while a little less than one-third were cohesive. Social posts are an inevitable part of online learning. These posts promote bonding between learners and contribute to better interaction and collaboration in online learning. Moderators should be aware of their presence and use them as tools to promote interactivity.

Interactive Learning Modules: Enabling Near Real-Time Oceanographic Data Use In Undergraduate Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kilb, D. L.; Fundis, A. T.; Risien, C. M.

2012-12-01

The focus of the Education and Public Engagement (EPE) component of the NSF's Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is to provide a new layer of cyber-interactivity for undergraduate educators to bring near real-time data from the global ocean into learning environments. To accomplish this, we are designing six online services including: 1) visualization tools, 2) a lesson builder, 3) a concept map builder, 4) educational web services (middleware), 5) collaboration tools and 6) an educational resource database. Here, we report on our Fall 2012 release that includes the first four of these services: 1) Interactive visualization tools allow users to interactively select data of interest, display the data in various views (e.g., maps, time-series and scatter plots) and obtain statistical measures such as mean, standard deviation and a regression line fit to select data. Specific visualization tools include a tool to compare different months of data, a time series explorer tool to investigate the temporal evolution of select data parameters (e.g., sea water temperature or salinity), a glider profile tool that displays ocean glider tracks and associated transects, and a data comparison tool that allows users to view the data either in scatter plot view comparing one parameter with another, or in time series view. 2) Our interactive lesson builder tool allows users to develop a library of online lesson units, which are collaboratively editable and sharable and provides starter templates designed from learning theory knowledge. 3) Our interactive concept map tool allows the user to build and use concept maps, a graphical interface to map the connection between concepts and ideas. This tool also provides semantic-based recommendations, and allows for embedding of associated resources such as movies, images and blogs. 4) Education web services (middleware) will provide an educational resource database API.

State College Scavenger: Evaluating the Perspectives of Mobile Computing Interactions within Community Spaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoffman, Blaine

2013-01-01

This work focuses on the impact of mobile computing on individuals' perspectives of places within their community. A technological intervention is designed and deployed to augment the user experience of visiting different locations around town, physically exploring them while also interacting with an online tool. The tool-supported activity serves…

The HealthierU Portal for Supporting Behaviour Change and Diet Programs.

PubMed

Berkovsky, Shlomo; Hendrie, Gilly; Freyne, Jill; Noakes, Manny; Usic, Kathy

2015-01-01

The use of online technologies for supporting participants of behaviour change and diet program is a timely and important research direction. We present HealthierU, adaptive online portal offering a suite of interactive support tools. The portal was evaluated in a 24-week study, which shows that regular reminders trigger increased interaction with the portal. We also analyse interaction patters conducive to weight loss and discuss possible factors of the attrition rates observed in the study.

MaGnET: Malaria Genome Exploration Tool.

PubMed

Sharman, Joanna L; Gerloff, Dietlind L

2013-09-15

The Malaria Genome Exploration Tool (MaGnET) is a software tool enabling intuitive 'exploration-style' visualization of functional genomics data relating to the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. MaGnET provides innovative integrated graphic displays for different datasets, including genomic location of genes, mRNA expression data, protein-protein interactions and more. Any selection of genes to explore made by the user is easily carried over between the different viewers for different datasets, and can be changed interactively at any point (without returning to a search). Free online use (Java Web Start) or download (Java application archive and MySQL database; requires local MySQL installation) at http://malariagenomeexplorer.org joanna.sharman@ed.ac.uk or dgerloff@ffame.org Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Changing learning with new interactive and media-rich instruction environments: virtual labs case study report.

PubMed

Huang, Camillan

2003-01-01

Technology has created a new dimension for visual teaching and learning with web-delivered interactive media. The Virtual Labs Project has embraced this technology with instructional design and evaluation methodologies behind the simPHYSIO suite of simulation-based, online interactive teaching modules in physiology for the Stanford students. In addition, simPHYSIO provides the convenience of anytime web-access and a modular structure that allows for personalization and customization of the learning material. This innovative tool provides a solid delivery and pedagogical backbone that can be applied to developing an interactive simulation-based training tool for the use and management of the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) image information system. The disparity in the knowledge between health and IT professionals can be bridged by providing convenient modular teaching tools to fill the gaps in knowledge. An innovative teaching method in the whole PACS is deemed necessary for its successful implementation and operation since it has become widely distributed with many interfaces, components, and customizations. This paper will discuss the techniques for developing an interactive-based teaching tool, a case study of its implementation, and a perspective for applying this approach to an online PACS training tool. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Students' Collaborative Peer Reviewing in an Online Writing Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradley, Linda; Thouësny, Sylvie

2017-01-01

Peer review is applied as a powerful tool to enhance student collaboration online writing. The purpose of this paper is to analyse learners' mechanisms of peer reviewing in the nature of student interventions and interactions in written online peer reviewing and how categorization of student comments can be used as a means for analysing student…

Going Blended with a Triple-Entry Activity: Students' Online Discussions of Assigned Readings Using "Marginalia"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kanevsky, Lannie; Xin, Cindy; Ram, Ilana

2016-01-01

In this paper, we describe and investigate small group discussions of assigned readings in an online version of a "triple-entry activity" in a blended course used an annotation tool, "Marginalia". We wondered if students would interact in this structured, critical, reflective reading activity as effectively online as they had…

The Multimedia Case as a Tool for Professional Development: An Analysis of Online and Face-to-Face Interaction among Mathematics Pre-Service Teachers, In-Service Teachers, Mathematicians, and Mathematics Teacher Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGraw, Rebecca; Lynch, Kathleen; Koc, Yusuf; Budak, Ayfer; Brown, Catherine A.

2007-01-01

In this study, we consider the potential of multimedia cases as tools for teacher professional development. Specifically, we examined online and face-to-face discussions that occurred within groups composed of pre-service mathematics teachers, in-service mathematics teachers, mathematicians, and mathematics teacher educators. Discussions within…

The Visual Geophysical Exploration Environment: A Multi-dimensional Scientific Visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandya, R. E.; Domenico, B.; Murray, D.; Marlino, M. R.

2003-12-01

The Visual Geophysical Exploration Environment (VGEE) is an online learning environment designed to help undergraduate students understand fundamental Earth system science concepts. The guiding principle of the VGEE is the importance of hands-on interaction with scientific visualization and data. The VGEE consists of four elements: 1) an online, inquiry-based curriculum for guiding student exploration; 2) a suite of El Nino-related data sets adapted for student use; 3) a learner-centered interface to a scientific visualization tool; and 4) a set of concept models (interactive tools that help students understand fundamental scientific concepts). There are two key innovations featured in this interactive poster session. One is the integration of concept models and the visualization tool. Concept models are simple, interactive, Java-based illustrations of fundamental physical principles. We developed eight concept models and integrated them into the visualization tool to enable students to probe data. The ability to probe data using a concept model addresses the common problem of transfer: the difficulty students have in applying theoretical knowledge to everyday phenomenon. The other innovation is a visualization environment and data that are discoverable in digital libraries, and installed, configured, and used for investigations over the web. By collaborating with the Integrated Data Viewer developers, we were able to embed a web-launchable visualization tool and access to distributed data sets into the online curricula. The Thematic Real-time Environmental Data Distributed Services (THREDDS) project is working to provide catalogs of datasets that can be used in new VGEE curricula under development. By cataloging this curricula in the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE), learners and educators can discover the data and visualization tool within a framework that guides their use.

Design Interactive: A Nonlinear, Multimedia Approach to Teaching Introduction to Visual Communication and Principles of Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palilonis, Jennifer; Butler, Darrell; Leidig-Farmen, Pamela

2013-01-01

As online teaching techniques continue to evolve, new opportunities surface for research and insight regarding best practices for the development and implementation of interactive, multimedia teaching and learning tools. These tools are particularly attractive for courses that lend themselves to a rich media approach. Such is the case for visual…

Predicting cancer prognosis using interactive online tools: A systematic review and implications for cancer care providers

PubMed Central

Rabin, Borsika A.; Gaglio, Bridget; Sanders, Tristan; Nekhlyudov, Larissa; Dearing, James W.; Bull, Sheana; Glasgow, Russell E.; Marcus, Alfred

2013-01-01

Cancer prognosis is of keen interest for cancer patients, their caregivers and providers. Prognostic tools have been developed to guide patient-physician communication and decision-making. Given the proliferation of prognostic tools, it is timely to review existing online cancer prognostic tools and discuss implications for their use in clinical settings. Using a systematic approach, we searched the Internet, Medline, and consulted with experts to identify existing online prognostic tools. Each was reviewed for content and format. Twenty-two prognostic tools addressing 89 different cancers were identified. Tools primarily focused on prostate (n=11), colorectal (n=10), breast (n=8), and melanoma (n=6), though at least one tool was identified for most malignancies. The input variables for the tools included cancer characteristics (n=22), patient characteristics (n=18), and comorbidities (n=9). Effect of therapy on prognosis was included in 15 tools. The most common predicted outcome was cancer specific survival/mortality (n=17). Only a few tools (n=4) suggested patients as potential target users. A comprehensive repository of online prognostic tools was created to understand the state-of-the-art in prognostic tool availability and characteristics. Use of these tools may support communication and understanding about cancer prognosis. Dissemination, testing, refinement of existing, and development of new tools under different conditions are needed. PMID:23956026

Creating and Sustaining Online Professional Learning Communities. Technology, Education--Connections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Falk, Joni K., Ed.; Drayton, Brian, Ed.

2009-01-01

This volume presents the work of trailblazing researchers and developers of electronic communities for professional learning. It illuminates the essential work behind the scenes in building successful online communities and scaffolding site interactions, including content selection, creation and management, administrative structures, tools and…

Can social support work virtually? Evaluation of rheumatoid arthritis patients' experiences with an interactive online tool.

PubMed

Kostova, Zlatina; Caiata-Zufferey, Maria; Schulz, Peter J

2015-01-01

There is strong empirical evidence that the support that chronic patients receive from their environment is fundamental for the way they cope with physical and psychological suffering. Nevertheless, in the case of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), providing the appropriate social support is still a challenge, and such support has often proven to be elusive and unreliable in helping patients to manage the disease. To explore whether and how social support for RA patients can be provided online, and to assess the conditions under which such support is effective. An online support tool was designed to provide patients with both tailored information and opportunities to interact online with health professionals and fellow sufferers. The general purpose was to identify where the support provided did - or did not - help patients, and to judge whether the determinants of success lay more within patients - their engagement and willingness to participate - or within the design of the website itself. The present study reports qualitative interviews with 19 users of the tool. A more specific purpose was to elaborate qualitatively on results from a quantitative survey of users, which indicated that any positive impact was confined to practical matters of pain management rather than extending to more fundamental psychological outcomes such as acceptance. Overall, online learning and interaction can do much to help patients with the everyday stresses of their disease; however, its potential for more durable positive impact depends on various individual characteristics such as personality traits, existing social networks, and the severity and longevity of the disease.

Web GIS in practice III: creating a simple interactive map of England's Strategic Health Authorities using Google Maps API, Google Earth KML, and MSN Virtual Earth Map Control

PubMed Central

Boulos, Maged N Kamel

2005-01-01

This eye-opener article aims at introducing the health GIS community to the emerging online consumer geoinformatics services from Google and Microsoft (MSN), and their potential utility in creating custom online interactive health maps. Using the programmable interfaces provided by Google and MSN, we created three interactive demonstrator maps of England's Strategic Health Authorities. These can be browsed online at – Google Maps API (Application Programming Interface) version, – Google Earth KML (Keyhole Markup Language) version, and – MSN Virtual Earth Map Control version. Google and MSN's worldwide distribution of "free" geospatial tools, imagery, and maps is to be commended as a significant step towards the ultimate "wikification" of maps and GIS. A discussion is provided of these emerging online mapping trends, their expected future implications and development directions, and associated individual privacy, national security and copyrights issues. Although ESRI have announced their planned response to Google (and MSN), it remains to be seen how their envisaged plans will materialize and compare to the offerings from Google and MSN, and also how Google and MSN mapping tools will further evolve in the near future. PMID:16176577

Online Reading Informs Classroom Instruction and Promotes Collaborative Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, L. Kate; Zyto, Sacha; Karger, David R.; Newman, Dina L.

2013-01-01

Web-based collaborative annotation tools can facilitate communication among students and their instructors through online reading and communication. Collaborative reading fosters peer interaction and is an innovative way to facilitate discussion and participation in larger enrollment courses. It can be especially powerful as it creates an…

GeneWiz browser: An Interactive Tool for Visualizing Sequenced Chromosomes.

PubMed

Hallin, Peter F; Stærfeldt, Hans-Henrik; Rotenberg, Eva; Binnewies, Tim T; Benham, Craig J; Ussery, David W

2009-09-25

We present an interactive web application for visualizing genomic data of prokaryotic chromosomes. The tool (GeneWiz browser) allows users to carry out various analyses such as mapping alignments of homologous genes to other genomes, mapping of short sequencing reads to a reference chromosome, and calculating DNA properties such as curvature or stacking energy along the chromosome. The GeneWiz browser produces an interactive graphic that enables zooming from a global scale down to single nucleotides, without changing the size of the plot. Its ability to disproportionally zoom provides optimal readability and increased functionality compared to other browsers. The tool allows the user to select the display of various genomic features, color setting and data ranges. Custom numerical data can be added to the plot allowing, for example, visualization of gene expression and regulation data. Further, standard atlases are pre-generated for all prokaryotic genomes available in GenBank, providing a fast overview of all available genomes, including recently deposited genome sequences. The tool is available online from http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/gwBrowser. Supplemental material including interactive atlases is available online at http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/gwBrowser/suppl/.

The Delphi Method Online: Medical Expert Consensus Via the Internet

PubMed Central

Cam, Kenneth M.; McKnight, Patrick E.; Doctor, Jason N.

2002-01-01

Delphi is an expert consensus method. The theory behind the Delphi method is that the interaction of experts may lead to a reduction in individual bias. We have developed software that carries out all aspects of the Delphi method via the Internet. The Delphi method online consists of three components: 1) authorship, 2) interactive polling, and 3) reporting/results. We hope that researchers use this tool in future medical expert systems.

SLIDE - a web-based tool for interactive visualization of large-scale -omics data.

PubMed

Ghosh, Soumita; Datta, Abhik; Tan, Kaisen; Choi, Hyungwon

2018-06-28

Data visualization is often regarded as a post hoc step for verifying statistically significant results in the analysis of high-throughput data sets. This common practice leaves a large amount of raw data behind, from which more information can be extracted. However, existing solutions do not provide capabilities to explore large-scale raw datasets using biologically sensible queries, nor do they allow user interaction based real-time customization of graphics. To address these drawbacks, we have designed an open-source, web-based tool called Systems-Level Interactive Data Exploration, or SLIDE to visualize large-scale -omics data interactively. SLIDE's interface makes it easier for scientists to explore quantitative expression data in multiple resolutions in a single screen. SLIDE is publicly available under BSD license both as an online version as well as a stand-alone version at https://github.com/soumitag/SLIDE. Supplementary Information are available at Bioinformatics online.

Student engagement in pharmacology courses using online learning tools.

PubMed

Karaksha, Abdullah; Grant, Gary; Anoopkumar-Dukie, Shailendra; Nirthanan, S Niru; Davey, Andrew K

2013-08-12

To assess factors influencing student engagement with e-tools used as a learning supplement to the standard curriculum in pharmacology courses. A suite of 148 e-tools (interactive online teaching materials encompassing the basic mechanisms of action for different drug classes) were designed and implemented across 2 semesters for third-year pharmacy students. Student engagement and use of this new teaching strategy were assessed using a survey instrument and usage statistics for the material. Use of e-tools during semester 1 was low, a finding attributable to a majority (75%) of students either being unaware of or forgetting about the embedded e-tools and a few (20%) lacking interest in accessing additional learning materials. In contrast to semester 1, e-tool use significantly increased in semester 2 with the use of frequent reminders and announcements (p<0.001). The provision of online teaching and learning resources were only effective in increasing student engagement after the implementation of a "marketing strategy" that included e-mail reminders and motivation.

Student Engagement in Pharmacology Courses Using Online Learning Tools

PubMed Central

Karaksha, Abdullah; Grant, Gary; Anoopkumar-Dukie, Shailendra; Nirthanan, S. Niru

2013-01-01

Objective. To assess factors influencing student engagement with e-tools used as a learning supplement to the standard curriculum in pharmacology courses. Design. A suite of 148 e-tools (interactive online teaching materials encompassing the basic mechanisms of action for different drug classes) were designed and implemented across 2 semesters for third-year pharmacy students. Assessment. Student engagement and use of this new teaching strategy were assessed using a survey instrument and usage statistics for the material. Use of e-tools during semester 1 was low, a finding attributable to a majority (75%) of students either being unaware of or forgetting about the embedded e-tools and a few (20%) lacking interest in accessing additional learning materials. In contrast to semester 1, e-tool use significantly increased in semester 2 with the use of frequent reminders and announcements (p<0.001). Conclusion. The provision of online teaching and learning resources were only effective in increasing student engagement after the implementation of a “marketing strategy” that included e-mail reminders and motivation. PMID:23966728

How School Counselors Can Help Prevent Online Victimization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burrow-Sanchez, Jason J.; Call, Megan E.; Zheng, Robert; Drew, Clifford J.

2011-01-01

Although the Internet is a beneficial tool, some youth are at risk for being victimized by Internet predators. School counselors are in a unique position to assist in efforts to prevent online victimizations because of their continual interaction with students, parents, and other school faculty. This article provides school counselors with…

Exploring Asynchronous and Synchronous Tool Use in Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oztok, Murat; Zingaro, Daniel; Brett, Clare; Hewitt, Jim

2013-01-01

While the independent contributions of synchronous and asynchronous interaction in online learning are clear, comparatively less is known about the pedagogical consequences of using both modes in the same environment. In this study, we examine relationships between students' use of asynchronous discussion forums and synchronous private messages…

Online Social Media Applications for Constructivism and Observational Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mbati, Lydia

2013-01-01

Web 2.0 technologies have a range of possibilities for fostering constructivist learning and observational learning. This is due to the available applications which allow for synchronous and asynchronous interaction and the sharing of knowledge between users. Web 2.0 tools include online social media applications which have potential pedagogical…

High Impact Creative Pedagogy Using a Maker Model of Composition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Stephanie

2017-01-01

This article recommends that faculty developers promote online writing assignments--from blogs to podcasts--that make use of the interactive tools of the "social Web." Unlike traditional essays, which are typically private documents exchanged between student and instructor, online writing tasks can become sites of engagement and…

Online Interactive Tutorials for Creating Graphs With Excel 2007 or 2010

PubMed Central

Vanselow, Nicholas R

2012-01-01

Graphic display of clinical data is a useful tool for the behavior-analytic clinician. However, graphs can sometimes be difficult to create. We describe how to access and use an online interactive tutorial that teaches the user to create a variety of graphs often used by behavior analysts. Three tutorials are provided that cover the basics of Microsoft Excel 2007 or 2010, creating graphs for clinical purposes, and creating graphs for research purposes. The uses for this interactive tutorial and other similar programs are discussed. PMID:23326629

Online interactive tutorials for creating graphs with excel 2007 or 2010.

PubMed

Vanselow, Nicholas R; Bourret, Jason C

2012-01-01

Graphic display of clinical data is a useful tool for the behavior-analytic clinician. However, graphs can sometimes be difficult to create. We describe how to access and use an online interactive tutorial that teaches the user to create a variety of graphs often used by behavior analysts. Three tutorials are provided that cover the basics of Microsoft Excel 2007 or 2010, creating graphs for clinical purposes, and creating graphs for research purposes. The uses for this interactive tutorial and other similar programs are discussed.

MaGnET: Malaria Genome Exploration Tool

PubMed Central

Sharman, Joanna L.; Gerloff, Dietlind L.

2013-01-01

Summary: The Malaria Genome Exploration Tool (MaGnET) is a software tool enabling intuitive ‘exploration-style’ visualization of functional genomics data relating to the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. MaGnET provides innovative integrated graphic displays for different datasets, including genomic location of genes, mRNA expression data, protein–protein interactions and more. Any selection of genes to explore made by the user is easily carried over between the different viewers for different datasets, and can be changed interactively at any point (without returning to a search). Availability and Implementation: Free online use (Java Web Start) or download (Java application archive and MySQL database; requires local MySQL installation) at http://malariagenomeexplorer.org Contact: joanna.sharman@ed.ac.uk or dgerloff@ffame.org Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:23894142

Online and Certifiable Spectroscopy Courses Using Information and Communication Tools. a Model for Classrooms and Beyond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishnan, Mangala Sunder

2015-06-01

Online education tools and flipped (reverse) class models for teaching and learning and pedagogic and andragogic approaches to self-learning have become quite mature in the last few years because of the revolution in video, interactive software and social learning tools. Open Educational resources of dependable quality and variety are also becoming available throughout the world making the current era truly a renaissance period for higher education using Internet. In my presentation, I shall highlight structured course content preparation online in several areas of spectroscopy and also the design and development of virtual lab tools and kits for studying optical spectroscopy. Both elementary and advanced courses on molecular spectroscopy are currently under development jointly with researchers in other institutions in India. I would like to explore participation from teachers throughout the world in the teaching-learning process using flipped class methods for topics such as experimental and theoretical microwave spectroscopy of semi-rigid and non-rigid molecules, molecular complexes and aggregates. In addition, courses in Raman, Infrared spectroscopy experimentation and advanced electronic spectroscopy courses are also envisaged for free, online access. The National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) and the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) are two large Government of India funded initiatives for producing certified and self-learning courses with financial support for moderated discussion forums. The learning tools and interactive presentations so developed can be used in classrooms throughout the world using flipped mode of teaching. They are very much sought after by learners and researchers who are in other areas of learning but want to contribute to research and development through inter-disciplinary learning. NPTEL is currently is experimenting with Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) strategy, but with proctored and certified examination processes for large numbers in some of the above courses. I would like to present a summary of developments in these areas to help focus classroom (online and offline) learning of Molecular spectroscopy.

Future Challenges and Opportunities in Online Prescription Drug Promotion Research

PubMed Central

Southwell, Brian G.; Rupert, Douglas J.

2016-01-01

Despite increased availability of online promotional tools for prescription drug marketers, evidence on online prescription drug promotion is far from settled or conclusive. We highlight ways in which online prescription drug promotion is similar to conventional broadcast and print advertising and ways in which it differs. We also highlight five key areas for future research: branded drug website influence on consumer knowledge and behavior, interactive features on branded drug websites, mobile viewing of branded websites and mobile advertisements, online promotion and non-US audiences, and social media and medication decisions. PMID:26927597

Fair Use Education for the Twenty-First Century: A Comparative Study of Students' Use of an Interactive Tool to Guide Decision Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenhow, Christine; Walker, J. D.; Donnelly, Dan; Cohen, Brad

2008-01-01

Christine Greenhow, J. D. Walker, Dan Donnelly, and Brad Cohen describe the implementation and evaluation of the University of Minnesota's Fair Use Analysis (FUA) tool, an interactive online application intended to educate users and foster defensible fair use practice in accordance with copyright law by guiding users through a robust,…

Mobilizing Rural Communities to Prevent Childhood Obesity: A Tool Kit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smathers, Carol A.; Lobb, Jennifer M.

2017-01-01

The tool kit Mobilizing Rural Communities to Prevent Childhood Obesity is the product of a seven-state multidisciplinary research project focused on enhancing obesity prevention efforts by integrating community coaching into the work of rural community coalitions. The interactive tool kit is available at no cost both in print form and online, and…

The use of selective adsorbents in capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry for analyte preconcentration and microreactions: a powerful three-dimensional tool for multiple chemical and biological applications.

PubMed

Guzman, N A; Stubbs, R J

2001-10-01

Much attention has recently been directed to the development and application of online sample preconcentration and microreactions in capillary electrophoresis using selective adsorbents based on chemical or biological specificity. The basic principle involves two interacting chemical or biological systems with high selectivity and affinity for each other. These molecular interactions in nature usually involve noncovalent and reversible chemical processes. Properly bound to a solid support, an "affinity ligand" can selectively adsorb a "target analyte" found in a simple or complex mixture at a wide range of concentrations. As a result, the isolated analyte is enriched and highly purified. When this affinity technique, allowing noncovalent chemical interactions and biochemical reactions to occur, is coupled on-line to high-resolution capillary electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, a powerful tool of chemical and biological information is created. This paper describes the concept of biological recognition and affinity interaction on-line with high-resolution separation, the fabrication of an "analyte concentrator-microreactor", optimization conditions of adsorption and desorption, the coupling to mass spectrometry, and various applications of clinical and pharmaceutical interest.

Can social support work virtually? Evaluation of rheumatoid arthritis patients’ experiences with an interactive online tool

PubMed Central

Kostova, Zlatina; Caiata-Zufferey, Maria; Schulz, Peter J

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: There is strong empirical evidence that the support that chronic patients receive from their environment is fundamental for the way they cope with physical and psychological suffering. Nevertheless, in the case of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), providing the appropriate social support is still a challenge, and such support has often proven to be elusive and unreliable in helping patients to manage the disease. OBJECTIVES: To explore whether and how social support for RA patients can be provided online, and to assess the conditions under which such support is effective. An online support tool was designed to provide patients with both tailored information and opportunities to interact online with health professionals and fellow sufferers. The general purpose was to identify where the support provided did – or did not – help patients, and to judge whether the determinants of success lay more within patients – their engagement and willingness to participate – or within the design of the website itself. METHODS: The present study reports qualitative interviews with 19 users of the tool. A more specific purpose was to elaborate qualitatively on results from a quantitative survey of users, which indicated that any positive impact was confined to practical matters of pain management rather than extending to more fundamental psychological outcomes such as acceptance. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Overall, online learning and interaction can do much to help patients with the everyday stresses of their disease; however, its potential for more durable positive impact depends on various individual characteristics such as personality traits, existing social networks, and the severity and longevity of the disease. PMID:26252664

Feasibility of lane closures using probe data : technical brief.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-04-01

This study developed an on-line system analysis tool called the Work Zone Interactive : Management Application - Planning (WIMAP-P), an easy-to-use and easy-to-learn tool for : predicting the traffic impact caused by work zone lane closures on freewa...

Interaction matters: Strategies to promote engaged learning in an online introductory nutrition course.

PubMed

Banna, Jinan; Grace Lin, Meng-Fen; Stewart, Maria; Fialkowski, Marie K

2015-06-01

Fostering interaction in the online classroom is an important consideration in ensuring that students actively create their own knowledge and reach a high level of achievement in science courses. This study focuses on fostering interaction in an online introductory nutrition course offered in a public institution of higher education in Hawai'i, USA. Interactive features included synchronous discussions and polls in scheduled sessions, and social media tools for sharing of information and resources. Qualitative student feedback was solicited regarding the new course features. Findings indicated that students who attended monthly synchronous sessions valued live interaction with peers and the instructor. Issues identified included technical difficulties during synchronous sessions, lack of participation on the part of fellow students in discussion and inability to attend synchronous sessions due to scheduling conflicts. In addition, few students made use of the opportunity to interact via social media. While students indicated that the interactive components of the course were valuable, several areas in which improvement may be made remain. Future studies may explore potential solutions to issues identified with new features to further promote interaction and foster learning in the course. Recommendations for instructors who are interested in offering online science courses in higher education are provided.

Online learning in dentistry: an overview of the future direction for dental education.

PubMed

Schönwetter, D J; Reynolds, P A; Eaton, K A; De Vries, J

2010-12-01

This paper provides an overview of the diversity of tools available for online learning and identifies the drivers of online learning and directives for future research relating to online learning in dentistry. After an introduction and definitions of online learning, this paper considers the democracy of knowledge and tools and systems that have democratized knowledge. It identifies assessment systems and the challenges of online learning. This paper also identifies the drivers for online learning, including those for instructors, administrators and leaders, technology innovators, information and communications technology personnel, global dental associations and government. A consideration of the attitudes of the stakeholders and how they might work together follows, using the example of the unique achievement of the successful collaboration between the Universities of Adelaide, Australia and Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The importance of the interaction of educational principles and research on online learning is discussed. The paper ends with final reflections and conclusions, advocating readers to move forward in adopting online learning as a solution to the increasing worldwide shortage of clinical academics to teach dental clinicians of the future. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Best Practices of Online Professional Development for K-12 Teachers: A Quantitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smirniotis-Giambatista, Cynthia

2017-01-01

Online flipped professional development allows direct instruction to take place through an interactive learning setting and allows the face-to-face contact to provide guidance and apply the concept. As technology advances, education needs instruments and tools used for effectively teaching using the enhanced technology to increase student…

Online Collaboration: Using Roleplay to Develop Skills in Resolving Conflict

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, Cherry; Edwards, Helen

2012-01-01

The introduction of digital tools to a distance education environment often creates tensions due to students' past educational experiences and can require a shift in their concepts of the lecturers' and learners' responsibilities. The purpose of the study was to determine how well distance education students adapt to interactive online learning…

Appropriation of a Representational Tool in a Second-Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wen, Yun; Looi, Chee-Kit; Chen, Wenli

2015-01-01

While the affordances of face-to-face and online environments have been studied somewhat extensively, there is relatively less research on how technology-mediated learning takes place across multiple media in the networked classroom environment where face-to-face and online interactions are intertwined, especially in the context of language…

Fostering Students' Participation in Online Environments: Focus on Interaction, Communication and Problem Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zacharis, Nick Z.

2009-01-01

Rapid technological advances in the areas of telecommunications, computer technology and the Internet have made available to tutors and learners in the domain of online learning, a broad array of tools that provide the possibility to facilitate and enhance learning to higher levels of critical reflective thinking. Computer mediated communication…

Histology in 3D: development of an online interactive student resource on epithelium.

PubMed

Sieben, Anna; Oparka, Richard; Erolin, Caroline

2017-04-01

Epithelium is an important and highly specialised tissue type that makes up the lining of inner and outer surfaces of the human body. It is proposed that a self-study tool adds to efficient learning and lecturing on this complicated topic in medical curricula. This paper describes the development and evaluation of an online interactive 3D resource on epithelium for undergraduate medical students. A first evaluation was carried out by means of an online survey (n = 37). The resource was evaluated positively on the website in general, its visual contents and its value and potential for the medical curriculum.

2014 National Park visitor spending effects: economic contributions to local communities, states, and the nation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Huber, Christopher; Koontz, Lynne

2015-01-01

New this year, results from the Visitor Spending Effects report series are available online via an interactive tool. Users can explore current year visitor spending, jobs, labor income, value added, and output effects by sector for national, state, and local economies. This interactive tool is available via the NPS Social Science Program webpage at http://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/economics.cfm.

SACA: Software Assisted Call Analysis--an interactive tool supporting content exploration, online guidance and quality improvement of counseling dialogues.

PubMed

Trinkaus, Hans L; Gaisser, Andrea E

2010-09-01

Nearly 30,000 individual inquiries are answered annually by the telephone cancer information service (CIS, KID) of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). The aim was to develop a tool for evaluating these calls, and to support the complete counseling process interactively. A novel software tool is introduced, based on a structure similar to a music score. Treating the interaction as a "duet", guided by the CIS counselor, the essential contents of the dialogue are extracted automatically. For this, "trained speech recognition" is applied to the (known) counselor's part, and "keyword spotting" is used on the (unknown) client's part to pick out specific items from the "word streams". The outcomes fill an abstract score representing the dialogue. Pilot tests performed on a prototype of SACA (Software Assisted Call Analysis) resulted in a basic proof of concept: Demographic data as well as information regarding the situation of the caller could be identified. The study encourages following up on the vision of an integrated SACA tool for supporting calls online and performing statistics on its knowledge database offline. Further research perspectives are to check SACA's potential in comparison with established interaction analysis systems like RIAS. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fast Assessments with Digital Tools Using Multiple-Choice Questions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howell, Dusti D.; Tseng, Daphne ChingYu; Colorado-Resa, Jozenia T.

2017-01-01

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) have come a long way since they were used in "The Kansas Silent Reading Test" in 1915. After over 100 years of MCQs, new innovative digital tools using this form of assessment can help foster interactivity in today's classrooms. This article describes three free online MCQ tools that are relatively quick…

HYPATIA--An Online Tool for ATLAS Event Visualization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kourkoumelis, C.; Vourakis, S.

2014-01-01

This paper describes an interactive tool for analysis of data from the ATLAS experiment taking place at the world's highest energy particle collider at CERN. The tool, called HYPATIA/applet, enables students of various levels to become acquainted with particle physics and look for discoveries in a similar way to that of real research.

A virtual therapeutic environment with user projective agents.

PubMed

Ookita, S Y; Tokuda, H

2001-02-01

Today, we see the Internet as more than just an information infrastructure, but a socializing place and a safe outlet of inner feelings. Many personalities develop aside from real world life due to its anonymous environment. Virtual world interactions are bringing about new psychological illnesses ranging from netaddiction to technostress, as well as online personality disorders and conflicts in multiple identities that exist in the virtual world. Presently, there are no standard therapy models for the virtual environment. There are very few therapeutic environments, or tools especially made for virtual therapeutic environments. The goal of our research is to provide the therapy model and middleware tools for psychologists to use in virtual therapeutic environments. We propose the Cyber Therapy Model, and Projective Agents, a tool used in the therapeutic environment. To evaluate the effectiveness of the tool, we created a prototype system, called the Virtual Group Counseling System, which is a therapeutic environment that allows the user to participate in group counseling through the eyes of their Projective Agent. Projective Agents inherit the user's personality traits. During the virtual group counseling, the user's Projective Agent interacts and collaborates to recover and increase their psychological growth. The prototype system provides a simulation environment where psychologists can adjust the parameters and customize their own simulation environment. The model and tool is a first attempt toward simulating online personalities that may exist only online, and provide data for observation.

The Impact of a Question-Embedded Video-Based Learning Tool on E-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vural, Omer Faruk

2013-01-01

In this study, it is mainly focused on investigating the effect of question-embedded online interactive video environment on student achievement. A quasi-experimental design was development to compare the effectiveness of a question-embedded interactive video environment (QVE) and an interactive video environment without the question component…

The Social Interactive Coding System (SICS): An On-Line, Clinically Relevant Descriptive Tool.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Mabel L.; And Others

1990-01-01

The Social Interactive Coding System (SICS) assesses the continuous verbal interactions of preschool children as a function of play areas, addressees, script codes, and play levels. This paper describes the 26 subjects and the setting involved in SICS development, coding definitions and procedures, training procedures, reliability, sample…

Extending Face-to-Face Interactions: Understanding and Developing an Online Teacher and Family Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Chun; Du, Jianxia; Sun, Li; Ding, Yi

2018-01-01

Technology has been quickly changing human interactions, traditional practices, and almost every aspect of our lives. It is important to maintain effective face-to-face communication and interactions between teachers and families. Nonetheless, technology and its tools can also extend and enhance family-teacher relationships and partnerships. This…

NMRPro: an integrated web component for interactive processing and visualization of NMR spectra.

PubMed

Mohamed, Ahmed; Nguyen, Canh Hao; Mamitsuka, Hiroshi

2016-07-01

The popularity of using NMR spectroscopy in metabolomics and natural products has driven the development of an array of NMR spectral analysis tools and databases. Particularly, web applications are well used recently because they are platform-independent and easy to extend through reusable web components. Currently available web applications provide the analysis of NMR spectra. However, they still lack the necessary processing and interactive visualization functionalities. To overcome these limitations, we present NMRPro, a web component that can be easily incorporated into current web applications, enabling easy-to-use online interactive processing and visualization. NMRPro integrates server-side processing with client-side interactive visualization through three parts: a python package to efficiently process large NMR datasets on the server-side, a Django App managing server-client interaction, and SpecdrawJS for client-side interactive visualization. Demo and installation instructions are available at http://mamitsukalab.org/tools/nmrpro/ mohamed@kuicr.kyoto-u.ac.jp Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The iPhyClassifier, an interactive online tool for phytoplasma classification and taxonomic assignment

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The iPhyClassifier is an Internet-based research tool for quick identification and classification of diverse phytoplasmas. The iPhyClassifier simulates laboratory restriction enzyme digestions and subsequent gel electrophoresis and generates virtual restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) p...

Virtual Learning Circles: Utilizing Online Message Board Interactions for Strengthening Literacy Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Matt; Hofmeister, David

Educators need to better understand how Internet discussion boards can be used in their classrooms. The process of trying to learn more about potential efficacy of a merger of two potent education tools (Learning or Literature Circles and online discussion boards) is currently underway. A large research study has been designed to examine the…

Animal Agriculture in a Changing Climate Online Course: An Effective Tool for Creating Extension Competency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitefield, Elizabeth; Schmidt, David; Witt-Swanson, Lindsay; Smith, David; Pronto, Jennifer; Knox, Pam; Powers, Crystal

2016-01-01

There is a need to create competency among Extension professionals on the topic of climate change adaptation and mitigation in animal agriculture. The Animal Agriculture in a Changing Climate online course provides an easily accessible, user-friendly, free, and interactive experience for learning science-based information on a national and…

"Elven Elder LVL59 LFP/RB. Please PM Me": Immersion, Collaborative Tasks and Problem-Solving in Massively Multiplayer Online Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Voulgari, Iro; Komis, Vassilis

2010-01-01

Although there is strong evidence that massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) constitute environments of social interactions and effective learning, we currently lack the tools for investigating the effectiveness of the social networks emerging as well as the cognitive aspects and knowledge acquisition such environments involve. Within this…

The Acquisition of Skill and Expertise in Massively Multiplayer Online Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schrader, P. G.; McCreery, Michael

2008-01-01

Educational learning environments have changed dramatically in the last 20 years. Advances in technology have enabled the World Wide Web and a sundry of other tools. In response, many researchers have argued that one way to understand learning in a complex world is to examine user interactions within Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) [Gee…

Microsoft or Google Web 2.0 Tools for Course Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rienzo, Thomas; Han, Bernard

2009-01-01

While Web 2.0 has no universal definition, it always refers to online interactions in which user groups both provide and receive content with the aim of collective intelligence. Since 2005, online software has provided Web 2.0 collaboration technologies, for little or no charge, that were formerly available only to wealthy organizations. Academic…

High-Tech Cruelty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hinduja, Sameer; Patchin, Justin W.

2011-01-01

Cyberbullying is a growing problem because increasing numbers of young people use computers, cell phones, and other interactive devices as their main form of social interaction. Cyberbullies use technology to harass, threaten, or humiliate their peers. Online aggression isn't just traditional bullying with new tools. It's widespread, devastating,…

Reducing the distance: providing challenging and engaging online postgraduate education in pain management.

PubMed

Devonshire, Elizabeth; Henderson, Sarah E

2012-05-01

1. Health professionals need access to flexible, high-quality, advanced education in pain management. 2. There are multiple pedagogical distances to be negotiated in the delivery of effective postgraduate education. 3. A critical consideration in the design and delivery of effective online learning for postgraduate education in pain management is how to: actively engage students in the learning process; and encourage students to become lifelong learners. 4. Conceptual frameworks for encouraging student interaction online provide a useful tool in the design of postgraduate online learning activities.

Online social networking for radiology.

PubMed

Auffermann, William F; Chetlen, Alison L; Colucci, Andrew T; DeQuesada, Ivan M; Grajo, Joseph R; Heller, Matthew T; Nowitzki, Kristina M; Sherry, Steven J; Tillack, Allison A

2015-01-01

Online social networking services have changed the way we interact as a society and offer many opportunities to improve the way we practice radiology and medicine in general. This article begins with an introduction to social networking. Next, the latest advances in online social networking are reviewed, and areas where radiologists and clinicians may benefit from these new tools are discussed. This article concludes with several steps that the interested reader can take to become more involved in online social networking. Copyright © 2015 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Future of Web Maps in Next Generation Textbooks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DiBiase, D.; Prasad, S.

2014-12-01

The reformation of the "Object Formerly Known as Textbook" (coined by the Chronicle of Higher Education) toward a digital future is underway. Emerging nextgen texts look less like electronic books ("ebooks") and more like online courseware. In addition to text and illustrations, nextgen textbooks for STEM subjects are likely to combine quizzes, grade management tools, support for social learning, and interactive media including web maps. Web maps are interactive, multi-scale, online maps that enable teachers and learners to explore, interrogate, and mash up the wide variety of map layers available in the cloud. This presentation will show how web maps coupled with interactive quizzes enable students' purposeful explorations and interpretations of spatial patterns related to humankind's interactions with the earth. Attendees will also learn about Esri's offer to donate ArcGIS Online web mapping subscriptions to every U.S. school as part of the President Obama's ConnectED initiative.

Activity Theory and Qualitative Research in Digital Domains

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sam, Cecile

2012-01-01

Understanding the interactions between people, computer-mediated communication, and online life requires that researchers appropriate a set of methodological tools that would be best suited for capturing and analyzing the phenomenon. However, these tools are not limited to relevant technological forms of data collections and analysis programs; it…

Investigating the Effectiveness of Classroom Diagnostic Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schultz, Robert K.

2012-01-01

The primary purposes of the study are to investigate what teachers experience while using the Classroom Diagnostic Tools (CDT) and to relate those experiences to the rate of growth in students' mathematics achievement. The CDT contains three components: an online computer adaptive diagnostic test, interactive web-based student reports, and…

Interaction matters: Strategies to promote engaged learning in an online introductory nutrition course

PubMed Central

Banna, Jinan; Grace Lin, Meng-Fen; Stewart, Maria; Fialkowski, Marie K.

2016-01-01

Fostering interaction in the online classroom is an important consideration in ensuring that students actively create their own knowledge and reach a high level of achievement in science courses. This study focuses on fostering interaction in an online introductory nutrition course offered in a public institution of higher education in Hawai‘i, USA. Interactive features included synchronous discussions and polls in scheduled sessions, and social media tools for sharing of information and resources. Qualitative student feedback was solicited regarding the new course features. Findings indicated that students who attended monthly synchronous sessions valued live interaction with peers and the instructor. Issues identified included technical difficulties during synchronous sessions, lack of participation on the part of fellow students in discussion and inability to attend synchronous sessions due to scheduling conflicts. In addition, few students made use of the opportunity to interact via social media. While students indicated that the interactive components of the course were valuable, several areas in which improvement may be made remain. Future studies may explore potential solutions to issues identified with new features to further promote interaction and foster learning in the course. Recommendations for instructors who are interested in offering online science courses in higher education are provided. PMID:27441032

The Design of Modular Web-Based Collaboration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Intapong, Ploypailin; Settapat, Sittapong; Kaewkamnerdpong, Boonserm; Achalakul, Tiranee

Online collaborative systems are popular communication channels as the systems allow people from various disciplines to interact and collaborate with ease. The systems provide communication tools and services that can be integrated on the web; consequently, the systems are more convenient to use and easier to install. Nevertheless, most of the currently available systems are designed according to some specific requirements and cannot be straightforwardly integrated into various applications. This paper provides the design of a new collaborative platform, which is component-based and re-configurable. The platform is called the Modular Web-based Collaboration (MWC). MWC shares the same concept as computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) and computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), but it provides configurable tools for online collaboration. Each tool module can be integrated into users' web applications freely and easily. This makes collaborative system flexible, adaptable and suitable for online collaboration.

Exploring the Interactive Patterns of Concept Map-Based Online Discussion: A Sequential Analysis of Users' Operations, Cognitive Processing, and Knowledge Construction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Sheng-Yi; Chen, Sherry Y.; Hou, Huei-Tse

2016-01-01

Concept maps can be used as a cognitive tool to assist learners' knowledge construction. However, in a concept map-based online discussion environment, studies that take into consideration learners' manipulative actions of composing concept maps, cognitive process among learners' discussion, and social knowledge construction at the same time are…

Who Needs to Do What Where?: Using Learning Management Systems on Residential vs. Commuter Campuses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lonn, Steven; Teasley, Stephanie D.; Krumm, Andrew E.

2011-01-01

Learning Management Systems (LMS) are web-based systems allowing instructors and/or students to share materials and interact online. This study compared differences in LMS use between instructors and students at a large residential campus with students at a smaller commuter campus. Responses to an online survey about LMS activities and tools were…

The Cooperative Extension System's Use of USDA's Online Food and Physical Activity Tracker-Supertracker

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hongu, Nobuko; Martinez, Cathy L.; Billias, Natalia N.; Wyatt, Melissa A.; Turner, Rachel J.; Manore, Melinda M.

2014-01-01

Nutrition professionals within the Cooperative Extension system use the USDA's interactive online tool SuperTracker, which is designed to help individuals track diet and physical activity (PA) to apply healthy eating patterns and improve PA. An investigation of all 50 states' Extension websites and interviews of Extension educators…

Toward a Model of Sources of Influence in Online Education: Cognitive Learning and the Effects of Web 2.0

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carr, Caleb T.; Zube, Paul; Dickens, Eric; Hayter, Carolyn A.; Barterian, Justin A.

2013-01-01

To explore the integration of education processes into social media, we tested an initial model of student learning via interactive web tools and theorized three sources of influence: interpersonal, intrapersonal, and masspersonal. Three-hundred thirty-seven students observed an online lecture and then completed a series of scales. Structural…

Future Challenges and Opportunities in Online Prescription Drug Promotion Research Comment on "Trouble Spots in Online Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Promotion: A Content Analysis of FDA Warning Letters".

PubMed

Southwell, Brian G; Rupert, Douglas J

2016-01-16

Despite increased availability of online promotional tools for prescription drug marketers, evidence on online prescription drug promotion is far from settled or conclusive. We highlight ways in which online prescription drug promotion is similar to conventional broadcast and print advertising and ways in which it differs. We also highlight five key areas for future research: branded drug website influence on consumer knowledge and behavior, interactive features on branded drug websites, mobile viewing of branded websites and mobile advertisements, online promotion and non-US audiences, and social media and medication decisions. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

The Value of Interactive Assignments in the Online Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Florenthal, Bela

2016-01-01

The offerings of Web-based supplemental material for textbooks have been increasingly growing. When deciding to adopt a textbook, instructors examine the added value of the associated supplements, also called "e-learning tools," to enhance students' learning of course concepts. In this study, one such supplement, interactive assignments,…

A Web Tool for Generating High Quality Machine-readable Biological Pathways.

PubMed

Ramirez-Gaona, Miguel; Marcu, Ana; Pon, Allison; Grant, Jason; Wu, Anthony; Wishart, David S

2017-02-08

PathWhiz is a web server built to facilitate the creation of colorful, interactive, visually pleasing pathway diagrams that are rich in biological information. The pathways generated by this online application are machine-readable and fully compatible with essentially all web-browsers and computer operating systems. It uses a specially developed, web-enabled pathway drawing interface that permits the selection and placement of different combinations of pre-drawn biological or biochemical entities to depict reactions, interactions, transport processes and binding events. This palette of entities consists of chemical compounds, proteins, nucleic acids, cellular membranes, subcellular structures, tissues, and organs. All of the visual elements in it can be interactively adjusted and customized. Furthermore, because this tool is a web server, all pathways and pathway elements are publicly accessible. This kind of pathway "crowd sourcing" means that PathWhiz already contains a large and rapidly growing collection of previously drawn pathways and pathway elements. Here we describe a protocol for the quick and easy creation of new pathways and the alteration of existing pathways. To further facilitate pathway editing and creation, the tool contains replication and propagation functions. The replication function allows existing pathways to be used as templates to create or edit new pathways. The propagation function allows one to take an existing pathway and automatically propagate it across different species. Pathways created with this tool can be "re-styled" into different formats (KEGG-like or text-book like), colored with different backgrounds, exported to BioPAX, SBGN-ML, SBML, or PWML data exchange formats, and downloaded as PNG or SVG images. The pathways can easily be incorporated into online databases, integrated into presentations, posters or publications, or used exclusively for online visualization and exploration. This protocol has been successfully applied to generate over 2,000 pathway diagrams, which are now found in many online databases including HMDB, DrugBank, SMPDB, and ECMDB.

Non-traditional approaches to teaching GPS online

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matias, A.; Wolf, D. F., II

2009-12-01

Students are increasingly turning to the web for quality education that fits into their lives. Nonetheless, online learning brings challenges as well as a fresh opportunity for exploring pedagogical practices not present on traditional higher education programs, particularly in the sciences. A team of two dozen Empire State College-State University of New York instructional designers, faculty, and other staff are working on making science relevant to non-majors who may initially have anxiety about general education science courses. One of these courses, GPS and the New Geography, focuses on how Global Positioning System (GPS) technology provides a base for inquiry and scientific discovery from a range of environmental issues with local, regional, and global scope. GPS and the New Geography is an introductory level course developed under a grant supported by the Charitable Leadership Foundation. Taking advantage of the proliferation of tools currently available for online learning management systems, we explore current trends in Web 2.0 applications to aggregate and leverage data to create a nontraditional, interactive learning environment. Using our best practices to promote on-line discussion and interaction, these tools help engage students and foster deep learning. During the 15-week term students learn through case studies, problem-based exercises, and the use of scientific data; thus, expanding their spatial literacy and gain experience using real spatial technology tools to enhance their understanding of real-world issues. In particular, we present how the use of Mapblogs an in-house developed blogging platform that uses GIS interplaying with GPS units, interactive data presentations, intuitive visual working environments, harnessing RSS feeds, and other nontraditional Web 2.0 technology has successfully promoted active learning in the virtual learning environment.

ExAtlas: An interactive online tool for meta-analysis of gene expression data.

PubMed

Sharov, Alexei A; Schlessinger, David; Ko, Minoru S H

2015-12-01

We have developed ExAtlas, an on-line software tool for meta-analysis and visualization of gene expression data. In contrast to existing software tools, ExAtlas compares multi-component data sets and generates results for all combinations (e.g. all gene expression profiles versus all Gene Ontology annotations). ExAtlas handles both users' own data and data extracted semi-automatically from the public repository (GEO/NCBI database). ExAtlas provides a variety of tools for meta-analyses: (1) standard meta-analysis (fixed effects, random effects, z-score, and Fisher's methods); (2) analyses of global correlations between gene expression data sets; (3) gene set enrichment; (4) gene set overlap; (5) gene association by expression profile; (6) gene specificity; and (7) statistical analysis (ANOVA, pairwise comparison, and PCA). ExAtlas produces graphical outputs, including heatmaps, scatter-plots, bar-charts, and three-dimensional images. Some of the most widely used public data sets (e.g. GNF/BioGPS, Gene Ontology, KEGG, GAD phenotypes, BrainScan, ENCODE ChIP-seq, and protein-protein interaction) are pre-loaded and can be used for functional annotations.

A web-based online collaboration platform for formulating engineering design projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varikuti, Sainath

Effective communication and collaboration among students, faculty and industrial sponsors play a vital role while formulating and solving engineering design projects. With the advent in the web technology, online platforms and systems have been proposed to facilitate interactions and collaboration among different stakeholders in the context of senior design projects. However, there are noticeable gaps in the literature with respect to understanding the effects of online collaboration platforms for formulating engineering design projects. Most of the existing literature is focused on exploring the utility of online platforms on activities after the problem is defined and teams are formed. Also, there is a lack of mechanisms and tools to guide the project formation phase in senior design projects, which makes it challenging for students and faculty to collaboratively develop and refine project ideas and to establish appropriate teams. In this thesis a web-based online collaboration platform is designed and implemented to share, discuss and obtain feedback on project ideas and to facilitate collaboration among students and faculty prior to the start of the semester. The goal of this thesis is to understand the impact of an online collaboration platform for formulating engineering design projects, and how a web-based online collaboration platform affects the amount of interactions among stakeholders during the early phases of design process. A survey measuring the amount of interactions among students and faculty is administered. Initial findings show a marked improvement in the students' ability to share project ideas and form teams with other students and faculty. Students found the online platform simple to use. The suggestions for improving the tool generally included features that were not necessarily design specific, indicating that the underlying concept of this collaborative platform provides a strong basis and can be extended for future online platforms. Although the platform was designed to promote collaboration, adoption of the collaborative platform by students and faculty has been slow. While the platform appears to be very useful for collaboration, more time is required for it to be widely used by all the stakeholders and to fully convert from email communication to the use of the online collaboration platform.

Scale Insects, edition 2, a tool for the identification of potential pest scales at U.S.A. ports-of-entry (Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha, Coccoidea)

PubMed Central

Miller, Douglass R.; Rung, Alessandra; Parikh, Grishma

2014-01-01

Abstract We provide a general overview of features and technical specifications of an online, interactive tool for the identification of scale insects of concern to the U.S.A. ports-of-entry. Full lists of terminal taxa included in the keys (of which there are four), a list of features used in them, and a discussion of the structure of the tool are provided. We also briefly discuss the advantages of interactive keys for the identification of potential scale insect pests. The interactive key is freely accessible on http://idtools.org/id/scales/index.php PMID:25152668

Teachers' and students' perspectives on teaching and learning through virtual learning environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Limniou, M.; Smith, M.

2010-12-01

The aim of this investigation was to get an insight into how teachers and students responded to the use of virtual learning environments (VLE) in engineering education and what their expectations were from online courses. Teachers designed their online courses with the assistance of a support e-learning team and questionnaires were used for teachers and students to express their views on the online courses. Teachers pointed out that the online courses by themselves would be able to tackle limited lecture time and strengthen the students' background knowledge. Students, on the other hand, stated that their difficulties regarding the courses could be facilitated by using a more interactive teaching approach with the use of collaboration tools and receiving individual feedback. Thus, students suggested that teachers adopt a more student-centred approach by using VLE. Teachers' and students' perspectives were related to their personal characteristics, as students were more familiar with everyday e-communication tools.

MODIS Interactive Subsetting Tool (MIST)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McAllister, M.; Duerr, R.; Haran, T.; Khalsa, S. S.; Miller, D.

2008-12-01

In response to requests from the user community, NSIDC has teamed with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributive Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC) and the Moderate Resolution Data Center (MrDC) to provide time series subsets of satellite data covering stations in the Greenland Climate Network (GC-NET) and the International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere (IASOA) network. To serve these data NSIDC created the MODIS Interactive Subsetting Tool (MIST). MIST works with 7 km by 7 km subset time series of certain Version 5 (V005) MODIS products over GC-Net and IASOA stations. User- selected data are delivered in a text Comma Separated Value (CSV) file format. MIST also provides online analysis capabilities that include generating time series and scatter plots. Currently, MIST is a Beta prototype and NSIDC intends that user requests will drive future development of the tool. The intent of this poster is to introduce MIST to the MODIS data user audience and illustrate some of the online analysis capabilities.

TreeQ-VISTA: An Interactive Tree Visualization Tool withFunctional Annotation Query Capabilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gu, Shengyin; Anderson, Iain; Kunin, Victor

2007-05-07

Summary: We describe a general multiplatform exploratorytool called TreeQ-Vista, designed for presenting functional annotationsin a phylogenetic context. Traits, such as phenotypic and genomicproperties, are interactively queried from a relational database with auser-friendly interface which provides a set of tools for users with orwithout SQL knowledge. The query results are projected onto aphylogenetic tree and can be displayed in multiple color groups. A richset of browsing, grouping and query tools are provided to facilitatetrait exploration, comparison and analysis.Availability: The program,detailed tutorial and examples are available online athttp://genome-test.lbl.gov/vista/TreeQVista.

The Diverse Data, User Driven Services and the Power of Giovanni at NASA GES DISC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shen, Suhung

2017-01-01

This presentation provides an overview of remote sensing and model data at GES (Goddard Earth Sciences) DISC (Data and Information Services Center); Overview of data services at GES DISC (Registration with NASA data system; Searching and downloading data); Giovanni (Geospatial Interactive Online VisualizationANd aNalysis Infrastructure): online data exploration tool; and NASA Earth Data and Information System.

An Empirical Study of Online Discussion Forums by Library and Information Science Postgraduate Students Using Technology Acceptance Model 3

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adetimirin, Airen

2015-01-01

E-learning is an important trend globally that is believed to enhance the acquisition of knowledge by students within and outside the classroom to improve their academic pursuit. The Online Discussion Forum (ODF) is one of the tools that are used for e-learning in Nigerian universities. It facilitates interaction among postgraduate students as…

Facebook as a Tool for Learning Purposes: Analysis of the Determinants Leading to Improved Students' Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nkhoma, Mathews; Cong, Hiep Pham; Au, Bill; Lam, Tri; Richardson, Joan; Smith, Ross; El-Den, Jamal

2015-01-01

The study described in this article aims to investigate the use of out-of-class communication between students and instructors using Facebook as a means of interaction for learning. How often/how much students use such an online social network and the clarification as to the reasons for online communication are the two exogenous variables used to…

Factors Affecting English as a Foreign Language Teachers' Participation in Online Communities of Practice: The Case of Webheads in Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bostancioglu, Ali

2016-01-01

An online community of practice (OCoP) is a group of people, who are brought together by a shared interest and with the aim of deepening their understanding of an area of knowledge through regular interactions facilitated by computer mediated communication (CMC) tools. An OCoP can potentially provides teachers with those elements of effective…

Effectiveness of integrating case studies in online and face-to-face instruction of pathophysiology: a comparative study.

PubMed

Saleh, Suha M; Asi, Yara M; Hamed, Kastro M

2013-06-01

Due to growing demand from students and facilitated by innovations in educational technology, institutions of higher learning are increasingly offering online courses. Subjects in the hard sciences, such as pathophysiology, have traditionally been taught in the face-to-face format, but growing demand for preclinical science courses has compelled educators to incorporate online components into their classes to promote comprehension. Learning tools such as case studies are being integrated into such courses to aid in student interaction, engagement, and critical thinking skills. Careful assessment of pedagogical techniques is essential; hence, this study aimed to evaluate and compare student perceptions of the use of case studies in face-to-face and fully online pathophysiology classes. A series of case studies was incorporated into the curriculum of a pathophysiology class for both class modes (online and face to face). At the end of the semester, students filled out a survey assessing the effectiveness of the case studies. Both groups offered positive responses about the incorporation of case studies in the curriculum of the pathophysiology class. This study supports the argument that with proper use of innovative teaching tools, such as case studies, online pathophysiology classes can foster a sense of community and interaction that is typically only seen with face-to-face classes, based on student responses. Students also indicated that regardless of class teaching modality, use of case studies facilitates student learning and comprehension as well as prepares them for their future careers in health fields.

High Blood Pressure and Women

MedlinePlus

... fact sheet on high blood pressure . Watch interactive animations of how blood pressure works . See all the ... Matter • Find Tools & Resources HBP Resources Risk Calculator Animation Library Track Your Blood Pressure: Print (PDF) | Online ...

Technology and nursing education: an online toolkit for educators.

PubMed

Hart, Carolyn

2012-09-01

New tools that are free are available via the Internet and can successfully be used to create interactive and engaging courses designed to reach today's technologically savvy learners. Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.

Collaborative Scaffolding in Online Task-Based Voice Interactions between Advanced Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenning, Marie-Madeleine

2010-01-01

This paper reports some of the findings of a distinctive innovative use of audio-conferencing involving a population (campus-based advanced learners) and a type of application (task-based language learning) that have received little attention to date: the use of Wimba Voice Tools to provide additional opportunities for spoken interactions between…

[Design and implementation of online statistical analysis function in information system of air pollution and health impact monitoring].

PubMed

Lü, Yiran; Hao, Shuxin; Zhang, Guoqing; Liu, Jie; Liu, Yue; Xu, Dongqun

2018-01-01

To implement the online statistical analysis function in information system of air pollution and health impact monitoring, and obtain the data analysis information real-time. Using the descriptive statistical method as well as time-series analysis and multivariate regression analysis, SQL language and visual tools to implement online statistical analysis based on database software. Generate basic statistical tables and summary tables of air pollution exposure and health impact data online; Generate tendency charts of each data part online and proceed interaction connecting to database; Generate butting sheets which can lead to R, SAS and SPSS directly online. The information system air pollution and health impact monitoring implements the statistical analysis function online, which can provide real-time analysis result to its users.

Working Collectively to Design Online Teacher Education Curriculum: How Do Teacher Educators Manage to Do It?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milewski, Amanda; Gürsel, Umut; Herbst, Patricio

2017-01-01

This paper is part of a three-year inquiry that supports and investigates the work of groups of mathematics teacher educators using technological tools to design and implement multimedia practice-based teacher education curriculum materials. This paper describes the kinds of activities, interactions, and tools used by mathematics teacher educators…

The 2009 DOD Cost Research Workshop: Acquisition Reform

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-02-01

2 ACEIT Enhancement, Help-Desk/Training, Consulting DASA-CE–3 Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and...Management Information System (OSMIS) online interactive relational database DASA-CE–2 Title: ACEIT Enhancement, Help-Desk/Training, Consulting Summary...support and training for the Automated Cost estimator Integrated Tools ( ACEIT ) software suite. ACEIT is the Army standard suite of analytical tools for

Facilitating interprofessional evidence-based practice in paediatric rehabilitation: development, implementation and evaluation of an online toolkit for health professionals.

PubMed

Glegg, Stephanie M N; Livingstone, Roslyn; Montgomery, Ivonne

2016-01-01

Lack of time, competencies, resources and supports are documented as barriers to evidence-based practice (EBP). This paper introduces a recently developed web-based toolkit designed to assist interprofessional clinicians in implementing EBP within a paediatric rehabilitation setting. EBP theory, models, frameworks and tools were applied or adapted in the development of the online resources, which formed the basis of a larger support strategy incorporating interactive workshops, knowledge broker facilitation and mentoring. The highly accessed toolkit contains flowcharts with embedded information sheets, resources and templates to streamline, quantify and document outcomes throughout the EBP process. Case examples relevance to occupational therapy and physical therapy highlight the utility and application of the toolkit in a clinical paediatric setting. Workshops were highly rated by learners for clinical relevance, presentation level and effectiveness. Eight evidence syntheses have been created and 79 interventions have been evaluated since the strategy's inception in January 2011. The toolkit resources streamlined and supported EBP processes, promoting consistency in quality and presentation of outputs. The online toolkit can be a useful tool to facilitate clinicians' use of EBP in order to meet the needs of the clients and families whom they support. Implications for Rehabilitation A comprehensive online EBP toolkit for interprofessional clinicians is available to streamline the EBP process and to support learning needs regardless of competency level. Multi-method facilitation support, including interactive education, e-learning, clinical librarian services and knowledge brokering, is a valued but cost-restrictive supplement to the implementation of online EBP resources. EBP resources are not one-size-fits-all; targeted appraisal tools, models and frameworks may be integrated to improve their utility for specific sectors, which may limit them for others.

American Association of Poison Control Centers

MedlinePlus

... all alerts right left NEW! Check out PoisonHelp.org Now there are two ways to get help ... AAPCC's new interactive online poison information tool, PoisonHelp.org. PoisonHelp.org Make your smartphone even smarter. Text " ...

Data Interactive Publications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domenico, B.; Weber, J.

2012-04-01

For some years now, the authors have developed examples of online documents that allowed the reader to interact directly with datasets, but there were limitations that restricted the interaction to specific desktop analysis and display tools that were not generally available to all readers of the documents. Recent advances in web service technology and related standards are making it possible to develop systems for publishing online documents that enable readers to access, analyze, and display the data discussed in the publication from the perspective and in the manner from which the author wants it to be represented. By clicking on embedded links, the reader accesses not only the usual textual information in a publication, but also data residing on a local or remote web server as well as a set of processing tools for analyzing and displaying the data. With the option of having the analysis and display processing provided on the server (or in the cloud), there are now a broader set of possibilities on the client side where the reader can interact with the data via a thin web client, a rich desktop application, or a mobile platform "app." The presentation will outline the architecture of data interactive publications along with illustrative examples.

Data Interactive Publications Revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domenico, B.; Weber, W. J.

2011-12-01

A few years back, the authors presented examples of online documents that allowed the reader to interact directly with datasets, but there were limitations that restricted the interaction to specific desktop analysis and display tools that were not generally available to all readers of the documents. Recent advances in web service technology and related standards are making it possible to develop systems for publishing online documents that enable readers to access, analyze, and display the data discussed in the publication from the perspective and in the manner from which the author wants it to be represented. By clicking on embedded links, the reader accesses not only the usual textual information in a publication, but also data residing on a local or remote web server as well as a set of processing tools for analyzing and displaying the data. With the option of having the analysis and display processing provided on the server, there are now a broader set of possibilities on the client side where the reader can interact with the data via a thin web client, a rich desktop application, or a mobile platform "app." The presentation will outline the architecture of data interactive publications along with illustrative examples.

Three-Dimensional Online Visualization and Engagement Tools for the Geosciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cockett, R.; Moran, T.; Pidlisecky, A.

2013-12-01

Educational tools often sacrifice interactivity in favour of scalability so they can reach more users. This compromise leads to tools that may be viewed as second tier when compared to more engaging activities performed in a laboratory; however, the resources required to deliver laboratory exercises that are scalable is often impractical. Geoscience education is well situated to benefit from interactive online learning tools that allow users to work in a 3D environment. Visible Geology (http://3ptscience.com/visiblegeology) is an innovative web-based application designed to enable visualization of geologic structures and processes through the use of interactive 3D models. The platform allows users to conceptualize difficult, yet important geologic principles in a scientifically accurate manner by developing unique geologic models. The environment allows students to interactively practice their visualization and interpretation skills by creating and interacting with their own models and terrains. Visible Geology has been designed from a user centric perspective resulting in a simple and intuitive interface. The platform directs students to build there own geologic models by adding beds and creating geologic events such as tilting, folding, or faulting. The level of ownership and interactivity encourages engagement, leading learners to discover geologic relationships on their own, in the context of guided assignments. In January 2013, an interactive geologic history assignment was developed for a 700-student introductory geology class at The University of British Columbia. The assignment required students to distinguish the relative age of geologic events to construct a geologic history. Traditionally this type of exercise has been taught through the use of simple geologic cross-sections showing crosscutting relationships; from these cross-sections students infer the relative age of geologic events. In contrast, the Visible Geology assignment offers students a unique experience where they first create their own geologic events allowing them to directly see how the timing of a geologic event manifests in the model and resulting cross-sections. By creating each geologic event in the model themselves, the students gain a deeper understanding of the processes and relative order of events. The resulting models can be shared amongst students, and provide instructors with a basis for guiding inquiry to address misconceptions. The ease of use of the assignment, including automatic assessment, made this tool practical for deployment in this 700 person class. The outcome of this type of large scale deployment is that students, who would normally not experience a lab exercise, gain exposure to interactive 3D thinking. Engaging tools and software that puts the user in control of their learning experiences is critical for moving to scalable, yet engaging, online learning environments.

jSquid: a Java applet for graphical on-line network exploration.

PubMed

Klammer, Martin; Roopra, Sanjit; Sonnhammer, Erik L L

2008-06-15

jSquid is a graph visualization tool for exploring graphs from protein-protein interaction or functional coupling networks. The tool was designed for the FunCoup web site, but can be used for any similar network exploring purpose. The program offers various visualization and graph manipulation techniques to increase the utility for the user. jSquid is available for direct usage and download at http://jSquid.sbc.su.se including source code under the GPLv3 license, and input examples. It requires Java version 5 or higher to run properly. erik.sonnhammer@sbc.su.se Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Gobe: an interactive, web-based tool for comparative genomic visualization.

PubMed

Pedersen, Brent S; Tang, Haibao; Freeling, Michael

2011-04-01

Gobe is a web-based tool for viewing comparative genomic data. It supports viewing multiple genomic regions simultaneously. Its simple text format and flash-based rendering make it an interactive, exploratory research tool. Gobe can be used without installation through our web service, or downloaded and customized with stylesheets and javascript callback functions. Gobe is a flash application that runs in all modern web-browsers. The full source-code, including that for the online web application is available under the MIT license at: http://github.com/brentp/gobe. Sample applications are hosted at http://try-gobe.appspot.com/ and http://synteny.cnr.berkeley.edu/gobe-app/.

Social Presence and Interaction in Learning Environments: The Effect on Student Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kožuh, Ines; Jeremic, Zoran; Sarjaš, Andrej; Bele, Julija Lapuh; Devedžic, Vladan; Debevc, Matjaž

2015-01-01

With the increased use of social media there is a growing interest in using social interaction and social presence in education. Despite this phenomenon, no appropriate methodology was found on effective integrating of both concepts into online learning. In this study, we propose integrating two different kinds of learning tools to provide social…

The Habitable Zone Gallery 2.0: The Online Exoplanet System Visualization Suite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandler, C. O.; Kane, S. R.; Gelino, D. M.

2017-11-01

The Habitable Zone Gallery 2.0 provides new and improved visualization and data analysis tools to the exoplanet habitability community and beyond. Modules include interactive habitable zone plotting and downloadable 3D animations.

An Online Astronomy Course VS. A Interactive Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slater, Timothy F.; Bailey, Janelle M.; Jaeggli, Sarah A.; Jones, Lauren V.; Lee, Ariane C.

Contemporary science education reforms emphasize building instruction around students’ pre-instructional beliefs fostering a learning environment where students interact with information and phenomena and providing students with frequent feedback to help them monitor their own learning. Recently personal computers and the Internet have given students access to scientific data sets and visualization tools that only professional scientists could use a few years before. With these things in mind we designed a hypermedia learning experience for introductory astronomy (Astronomy Online) that matches Internet technology with how people learn. Astronomy Online was used as the sole delivery system for courses offered during the Fall 2002 semester. The courses are run online. In one manifestation the course was delivered to middle and secondary school teachers spread across the globe. In another version the course was delivered to college undergraduate non-science majors where the only class meetings were a single orientation session and three on-campus exams. We compare these with on-campus courses that use highly interactive teaching techniques by studying common examination questions the Astronomy Diagnostic Test an attitude survey and interviews with students

Facilitating interaction, communication and collaboration in online courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNeil, Sara G.; Robin, Bernard R.; Miller, Robert M.

2000-07-01

As the Internet evolves into a truly world wide communications medium, the roles of faculty and students at institutions of higher learning are changing. Traditional face-to-face classes are being converted to an online setting, where materials from syllabi to lectures to assignments are available at the click of a mouse. New technological options are challenging and changing the very nature of teaching as faculty migrate from being deliverers of information to facilitators and mentors. Students are also undergoing a transformation from passive recipients to participants in an active learning environment. Interactions are at the heart of this revolution as students and faculty create new methodologies for the online classroom. New types of interactions are emerging between faculty and students, between students and other students and between students and the educational resources they are exploring. As the online teaching and learning environment expands and matures, new social and instructional interactions are replacing the traditional occurrences in face-to-face classrooms. New communication options are also evolving as a critical component of the online classroom. The shift from a synchronous to an asynchronous communication structure has also had a significant impact on the way students and faculty interact. The use of e-mail, listservs and web-based conferencing has given teachers and learners new flexibility and has fostered a climate where learning takes place wherever and whenever it is convenient. HyperGroups, a communication tool that was developed at the University of Houston, allows students and faculty to seamlessly participate in course-related discussions and easily share multimedia resources. This article explores the many issues associated with facilitating interaction, communication and collaboration in online courses.

Children and Young People's Views on Web 2.0 Technologies. LGA Research Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rudd, Peter; Walker, Matthew

2010-01-01

Web 2.0 technologies are online tools that allow users to share, collaborate and interact with one another. This small-scale project focused on young people's personal use of social media, and on the potential to use these tools to collect the views of young people and involve them in democracy in communities and local authorities. The main…

Application of an Online Interactive Simulation Tool to Teach Engineering Concepts Using 3D Spatial Structures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Brett D.; Setareh, Mehdi; Polys, Nicholas F.; Bacim, Felipe

2014-01-01

Simulations can be powerful learning tools that allow students to explore and understand concepts in ways that are not possible in typical classroom settings. However, research is lacking as to how to use simulations most effectively in different types of learning environments. To address this need, we designed a study to examine the impact of…

Oral Proficiency Teaching with WebCERF and Skype: Scenarios for Online Production and Interaction Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jager, Sake; Meima, Estelle; Oggel, Gerdientje

2013-01-01

This article reports our findings on using WebCEF as a CEFR familiarization and self-assessment tool for oral proficiency. Furthermore, we outline how we have implemented Skype as a tool for telecollaboration in our language programmes. The primary purpose of our study was to explore how students and teachers would perceive the potential benefits…

Investigating the Social Interactions of Beginning Teachers Using a Video Annotation Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellis, Joshua; McFadden, Justin; Anwar, Tasneem; Roehrig, Gillian

2015-01-01

This study examines the use of a digital video annotation tool used by beginning in-service secondary science and mathematics teachers in the Teacher Induction Network (TIN). TIN is an online induction program in its ninth year of existence and has served over 180 teachers. The need to provide spaces for beginning teachers to reflect on their…

Moral Spaces in MySpace: Preservice Teachers' Perspectives about Ethical Issues in Social Networking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foulger, Teresa S.; Ewbank, Ann Dutton; Kay, Adam; Popp, Sharon Osborn; Carter, Heather Lynn

2009-01-01

MySpace and Facebook are innovative digital communication tools that surpass traditional means of social interaction. However, in some instances in which educators have used these tools, public reactions to them have resulted in sanctions. With the notion that traditional ideas of privacy and teacher conduct are not yet defined in online worlds,…

Success Is an Open Book: Online Diagnostic Tools and Learning Outcomes in Introduction to American Government Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reed, Ryan; Smith, Daniel E.

2016-01-01

This project examines the utility of a particular course enhancement, Cengage's Aplia, and more generally interactive tools designed to facilitate reading in the introductory American government course. Using two control and two treatment sections of the course (one section each for two instructors) during the Fall 2013 term, we measured student…

Use of Semantic Technology to Create Curated Data Albums

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramachandran, Rahul; Kulkarni, Ajinkya; Li, Xiang; Sainju, Roshan; Bakare, Rohan; Basyal, Sabin

2014-01-01

One of the continuing challenges in any Earth science investigation is the discovery and access of useful science content from the increasingly large volumes of Earth science data and related information available online. Current Earth science data systems are designed with the assumption that researchers access data primarily by instrument or geophysical parameter. Those who know exactly the data sets they need can obtain the specific files using these systems. However, in cases where researchers are interested in studying an event of research interest, they must manually assemble a variety of relevant data sets by searching the different distributed data systems. Consequently, there is a need to design and build specialized search and discover tools in Earth science that can filter through large volumes of distributed online data and information and only aggregate the relevant resources needed to support climatology and case studies. This paper presents a specialized search and discovery tool that automatically creates curated Data Albums. The tool was designed to enable key elements of the search process such as dynamic interaction and sense-making. The tool supports dynamic interaction via different modes of interactivity and visual presentation of information. The compilation of information and data into a Data Album is analogous to a shoebox within the sense-making framework. This tool automates most of the tedious information/data gathering tasks for researchers. Data curation by the tool is achieved via an ontology-based, relevancy ranking algorithm that filters out nonrelevant information and data. The curation enables better search results as compared to the simple keyword searches provided by existing data systems in Earth science.

Use of Semantic Technology to Create Curated Data Albums

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramachandran, Rahul; Kulkarni, Ajinkya; Li, Xiang; Sainju, Roshan; Bakare, Rohan; Basyal, Sabin; Fox, Peter (Editor); Norack, Tom (Editor)

2014-01-01

One of the continuing challenges in any Earth science investigation is the discovery and access of useful science content from the increasingly large volumes of Earth science data and related information available online. Current Earth science data systems are designed with the assumption that researchers access data primarily by instrument or geophysical parameter. Those who know exactly the data sets they need can obtain the specific files using these systems. However, in cases where researchers are interested in studying an event of research interest, they must manually assemble a variety of relevant data sets by searching the different distributed data systems. Consequently, there is a need to design and build specialized search and discovery tools in Earth science that can filter through large volumes of distributed online data and information and only aggregate the relevant resources needed to support climatology and case studies. This paper presents a specialized search and discovery tool that automatically creates curated Data Albums. The tool was designed to enable key elements of the search process such as dynamic interaction and sense-making. The tool supports dynamic interaction via different modes of interactivity and visual presentation of information. The compilation of information and data into a Data Album is analogous to a shoebox within the sense-making framework. This tool automates most of the tedious information/data gathering tasks for researchers. Data curation by the tool is achieved via an ontology-based, relevancy ranking algorithm that filters out non-relevant information and data. The curation enables better search results as compared to the simple keyword searches provided by existing data systems in Earth science.

The Role of Attachment Style in Facebook Use and Social Capital: Evidence from University Students and a National Sample

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Abstract Social networking sites (SNSs) can be beneficial tools for users to gain social capital. Although social capital consists of emotional and informational resources accumulated through interactions with strong or weak social network ties, the existing literature largely ignores attachment style in this context. This study employed attachment theory to explore individuals' attachment orientations toward Facebook usage and toward online and offline social capital. A university student sample (study 1) and a representative national sample (study 2) showed consistent results. Secure attachment was positively associated with online bonding and bridging capital and offline bridging capital. Additionally, secure attachment had an indirect effect on all capital through Facebook time. Avoidant attachment was negatively associated with online bonding capital. Anxious–ambivalent attachment had a direct association with online bonding capital and an indirect effect on all capital through Facebook. Interaction frequency with good friends on Facebook positively predicted all online and offline capital, whereas interaction frequency with average friends on Facebook positively predicted online bridging capital. Interaction frequency with acquaintances on Facebook was negatively associated with offline bonding capital. The study concludes that attachment style is a significant factor in guiding social orientation toward Facebook connections with different ties and influences online social capital. The study extends attachment theory among university students to a national sample to provide more generalizable evidence for the current literature. Additionally, this study extends attachment theory to the SNS setting with a nuanced examination of types of Facebook friends after controlling extraversion. Implications for future research are discussed. PMID:25751049

The role of attachment style in Facebook use and social capital: evidence from university students and a national sample.

PubMed

Lin, Jih-Hsuan

2015-03-01

Social networking sites (SNSs) can be beneficial tools for users to gain social capital. Although social capital consists of emotional and informational resources accumulated through interactions with strong or weak social network ties, the existing literature largely ignores attachment style in this context. This study employed attachment theory to explore individuals' attachment orientations toward Facebook usage and toward online and offline social capital. A university student sample (study 1) and a representative national sample (study 2) showed consistent results. Secure attachment was positively associated with online bonding and bridging capital and offline bridging capital. Additionally, secure attachment had an indirect effect on all capital through Facebook time. Avoidant attachment was negatively associated with online bonding capital. Anxious-ambivalent attachment had a direct association with online bonding capital and an indirect effect on all capital through Facebook. Interaction frequency with good friends on Facebook positively predicted all online and offline capital, whereas interaction frequency with average friends on Facebook positively predicted online bridging capital. Interaction frequency with acquaintances on Facebook was negatively associated with offline bonding capital. The study concludes that attachment style is a significant factor in guiding social orientation toward Facebook connections with different ties and influences online social capital. The study extends attachment theory among university students to a national sample to provide more generalizable evidence for the current literature. Additionally, this study extends attachment theory to the SNS setting with a nuanced examination of types of Facebook friends after controlling extraversion. Implications for future research are discussed.

Interactive web-based identification and visualization of transcript shared sequences.

PubMed

Azhir, Alaleh; Merino, Louis-Henri; Nauen, David W

2018-05-12

We have developed TraC (Transcript Consensus), a web-based tool for detecting and visualizing shared sequences among two or more mRNA transcripts such as splice variants. Results including exon-exon boundaries are returned in a highly intuitive, data-rich, interactive plot that permits users to explore the similarities and differences of multiple transcript sequences. The online tool (http://labs.pathology.jhu.edu/nauen/trac/) is free to use. The source code is freely available for download (https://github.com/nauenlab/TraC). Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluating an Innovative eLearning Pain Education Interprofessional Resource: A Pre-Post Study.

PubMed

Watt-Watson, Judy; McGillion, Michael; Lax, Leila; Oskarsson, Jon; Hunter, Judith; MacLennan, Cameron; Knickle, Kerry; Victor, J Charles

2018-06-20

The challenges of moving the pain education agenda forward are significant worldwide, and resources, including online, are needed to help educators in curriculum development. Online resources are available but with insufficient evaluation in the context of prelicensure pain education. Therefore, this pre-post study examined the impact of an innovative eLearning model: the Pain Education Interprofessional Resource (PEIR) on usability, pain knowledge, beliefs, and understanding of pain assessment skills including empathy. Participants were students (N = 96) recruited from seven prelicensure health sciences programs at the University of Toronto. They worked through three multifaceted modules, developed by an interprofessional team, that followed a patient with acute to persistent postsurgical pain up to one year. Module objectives, content, and assessment were based on International Association for the Study of Pain Pain Curricula domains and related pain core competencies. Multimedia interactive components focused on pain mechanisms and key pain care issues. Outcome measures included previously validated tools; data were analyzed in SPSS. Online exercises provided concurrent individual feedback throughout all modules. The completion rate for modules and online assessments was 100%. Overall usability scores (SD) were strong 4.27/5 (0.56). On average, pain knowledge scores increased 20% (P < 0.001). The Pain Assessment Skills Tool was sensitive to differences in student and expert pain assessment evaluation ratings and was useful as a tool to deliver formative feedback while engaged in interactive eLearning about pain assessment. PEIR is an effective eLearning program with high student ratings for educational design and usability that significantly improved pain knowledge and understanding of collaborative care.

Online Exhibits & Concept Maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Douma, M.

2009-12-01

Presenting the complexity of geosciences to the public via the Internet poses a number of challenges. For example, utilizing various - and sometimes redundant - Web 2.0 tools can quickly devour limited time. Do you tweet? Do you write press releases? Do you create an exhibit or concept map? The presentation will provide participants with a context for utilizing Web 2.0 tools by briefly highlighting methods of online scientific communication across several dimensions. It will address issues of: * breadth and depth (e.g. from narrow topics to well-rounded views), * presentation methods (e.g. from text to multimedia, from momentary to enduring), * sources and audiences (e.g. for experts or for the public, content developed by producers to that developed by users), * content display (e.g. from linear to non-linear, from instructive to entertaining), * barriers to entry (e.g. from an incumbent advantage to neophyte accessible, from amateur to professional), * cost and reach (e.g. from cheap to expensive), and * impact (e.g. the amount learned, from anonymity to brand awareness). Against this backdrop, the presentation will provide an overview of two methods of online information dissemination, exhibits and concept maps, using the WebExhibits online museum (www.webexhibits.org) and SpicyNodes information visualization tool (www.spicynodes.org) as examples, with tips on how geoscientists can use either to communicate their science. Richly interactive online exhibits can serve to engage a large audience, appeal to visitors with multiple learning styles, prompt exploration and discovery, and present a topic’s breadth and depth. WebExhibits, which was among the first online museums, delivers interactive information, virtual experiments, and hands-on activities to the public. While large, multidisciplinary exhibits on topics like “Color Vision and Art” or “Calendars Through the Ages” require teams of scholars, user interface experts, professional writers and editors, teachers, artists, and web designers, a smaller scale collaborative effort can result in an effective mini-exhibit. Online concept maps can present a large quantity of information in bite-size chunks, demonstrating interrelationships between pieces of information without inundating visitors. SpicyNodes uses radial mapping technology to enable visitors to learn about a topic or search for information in intuitive and organic ways. This online concept mapping tool can be used as a portal to invite exploration into topics, or as a means of displaying hierarchies of information. With nodes that contain text, audio, video, and links, interactive online concept maps especially engage visual, kinesthetic, and nonlinear learners. SpicyNodes is also useful for scientists who wish to complement papers, chapters, and books with an online interface that is especially appealing to nonlinear learners. Essentially, SpicyNodes shifts the burden of discovery from the reader to the author. For example, the author may create a nodemap on climate change with hundreds of nodes, but as visitors drill through the nodemap for information (e.g. from climate change to atmospheric gases to carbon dioxide), they see only a few nodes at a time and are not overwhelmed.

SOCR Motion Charts: An Efficient, Open-Source, Interactive and Dynamic Applet for Visualizing Longitudinal Multivariate Data

PubMed Central

Al-Aziz, Jameel; Christou, Nicolas; Dinov, Ivo D.

2011-01-01

The amount, complexity and provenance of data have dramatically increased in the past five years. Visualization of observed and simulated data is a critical component of any social, environmental, biomedical or scientific quest. Dynamic, exploratory and interactive visualization of multivariate data, without preprocessing by dimensionality reduction, remains a nearly insurmountable challenge. The Statistics Online Computational Resource (www.SOCR.ucla.edu) provides portable online aids for probability and statistics education, technology-based instruction and statistical computing. We have developed a new Java-based infrastructure, SOCR Motion Charts, for discovery-based exploratory analysis of multivariate data. This interactive data visualization tool enables the visualization of high-dimensional longitudinal data. SOCR Motion Charts allows mapping of ordinal, nominal and quantitative variables onto time, 2D axes, size, colors, glyphs and appearance characteristics, which facilitates the interactive display of multidimensional data. We validated this new visualization paradigm using several publicly available multivariate datasets including Ice-Thickness, Housing Prices, Consumer Price Index, and California Ozone Data. SOCR Motion Charts is designed using object-oriented programming, implemented as a Java Web-applet and is available to the entire community on the web at www.socr.ucla.edu/SOCR_MotionCharts. It can be used as an instructional tool for rendering and interrogating high-dimensional data in the classroom, as well as a research tool for exploratory data analysis. PMID:21479108

Patient seeking behaviors and online personas: social media's role in cosmetic dermatology.

PubMed

Ross, Nicholas A; Todd, Quintin; Saedi, Nazanin

2015-02-01

Social media sites, composed of providers, patients, and their social circles, facilitate health and healthcare delivery. To examine patients' perspective on social media as an information source, communication tool, and referral service through an anonymous survey. In addition, influences on patient Internet personas, an actively constructed online identity, around the time of cosmetic procedures are examined. Patients completed an anonymous institutional review board-approved survey during their initial cosmetic visit. Patients are highly active on social media using it as a multipurpose tool for physician referral services, support groups, and disease education. Patients gathered dermatology information from multiple sources, including friends, family, social media pages, and other online sources, often sharing their own experiences through social media platforms. Patients indicated a desire for provider educational materials on interactive media pages. Most preferred material written by a physician, but some indicated a preference for both physician and lay material. Online images highlighting dissatisfying skin features were influential to select patients, prompting manipulation of online personas and evaluation for aesthetic procedures. Although the study examines cosmetic patient perspectives, data highlight valuable trends for all dermatologists. Social media can improve patient education, collaboration, recruitment, and online professional image, leading to healthier patient-centered care.

Identification and Affinity-Quantification of ß-Amyloid and α-Synuclein Polypeptides Using On-Line SAW-Biosensor-Mass Spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slamnoiu, Stefan; Vlad, Camelia; Stumbaum, Mihaela; Moise, Adrian; Lindner, Kathrin; Engel, Nicole; Vilanova, Mar; Diaz, Mireia; Karreman, Christiaan; Leist, Marcel; Ciossek, Thomas; Hengerer, Bastian; Vilaseca, Marta; Przybylski, Michael

2014-08-01

Bioaffinity analysis using a variety of biosensors has become an established tool for detection and quantification of biomolecular interactions. Biosensors, however, are generally limited by the lack of chemical structure information of affinity-bound ligands. On-line bioaffinity-mass spectrometry using a surface-acoustic wave biosensor (SAW-MS) is a new combination providing the simultaneous affinity detection, quantification, and mass spectrometric structural characterization of ligands. We describe here an on-line SAW-MS combination for direct identification and affinity determination, using a new interface for MS of the affinity-isolated ligand eluate. Key element of the SAW-MS combination is a microfluidic interface that integrates affinity-isolation on a gold chip, in-situ sample concentration, and desalting with a microcolumn for MS of the ligand eluate from the biosensor. Suitable MS- acquisition software has been developed that provides coupling of the SAW-MS interface to a Bruker Daltonics ion trap-MS, FTICR-MS, and Waters Synapt-QTOF- MS systems. Applications are presented for mass spectrometric identifications and affinity (KD) determinations of the neurodegenerative polypeptides, ß-amyloid (Aß), and pathophysiological and physiological synucleins (α- and ß-synucleins), two key polypeptide systems for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, respectively. Moreover, first in vivo applications of αSyn polypeptides from brain homogenate show the feasibility of on-line affinity-MS to the direct analysis of biological material. These results demonstrate on-line SAW-bioaffinity-MS as a powerful tool for structural and quantitative analysis of biopolymer interactions.

NucleusHUB.org: A Platform for Collaboration Among Astronomers, Nuclear Astrophysicists, and Planetary Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meyer, B. S.

2018-04-01

The author and collaborators are developing nucleusHUB.org, built with HUBzero technology, to facilitate interaction among astronomers, nuclear astrophysicists, and planetary scientists. The site allows users to collaborate and publish online tools.

The development of interactive online learning tools for the study of anatomy.

PubMed

O'Byrne, Patrick J; Patry, Anne; Carnegie, Jacqueline A

2008-01-01

The study of human anatomy is a core component of health science programs. However large student enrolments and the content-packed curricula associated with these programs have made it difficult for students to have regular access to cadaver laboratories. Adobe Flash MXwas used with cadaver digital photographs and textbook-derived illustrations to develop interactive anatomy images that were made available to undergraduate health science students enrolled in first-year combined anatomy and physiology (ANP) courses at the University of Ottawa. Colour coding was used to direct student attention, facilitate name-structure association, improve visualization of structure contours, assist students in the construction of anatomical pathways, and to reinforce functional or anatomical groupings. The ability of two-dimensional media to support the visualization of three-dimensional structure was extended by developing the fade-through image (students use a sliding bar to move through tissues) as well as the rotating image in which entire organs such as the skull were photographed at eight angles of rotation. Finally, students were provided with interactive exercises that they could repeatedly try to obtain immediate feedback regarding their learning progress. Survey data revealed that the learning and self-testing tools were used widely and that students found them relevant and supportive of their self-learning. Interestingly, student summative examination outcomes did not differ between those students who had access to the online tools and a corresponding student group from the previous academic year who did not. Interactive learning tools can be tailored to meet program-specific learning objectives as a cost-effective means of facilitating the study of human anatomy. Virtual interactive anatomy exercises provide learning opportunities for students outside the lecture room that are of especial value to visual and kinesthetic learners.

Using Facebook for the Purpose of Students' Interaction and Its Correlation with Students' Academic Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Dheleai, Yahya M.; Tasir, Zaidatun

2017-01-01

Facebook has now become the most popular social networking tool among university-aged youth. Its popularity has transformed it into an acceptable platform for educational purposes. The use of Facebook is currently more suited to facilitate online interaction among learning participants. The purpose of this study is to investigate students'…

Social Media Use: An Exploratory Test of Effects on the Daily Lives of College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnett, Barbara; Cothern, Katherine

2011-01-01

This study covers the effects that social media use has on the daily lives of college students. More specifically, the current study focuses on college students' academic success, study habits, social interaction, and family interaction. Social media is a source of online tools that allow people from across the world to communicate with others.…

Pedagogical Utilization and Assessment of the Statistic Online Computational Resource in Introductory Probability and Statistics Courses.

PubMed

Dinov, Ivo D; Sanchez, Juana; Christou, Nicolas

2008-01-01

Technology-based instruction represents a new recent pedagogical paradigm that is rooted in the realization that new generations are much more comfortable with, and excited about, new technologies. The rapid technological advancement over the past decade has fueled an enormous demand for the integration of modern networking, informational and computational tools with classical pedagogical instruments. Consequently, teaching with technology typically involves utilizing a variety of IT and multimedia resources for online learning, course management, electronic course materials, and novel tools of communication, engagement, experimental, critical thinking and assessment.The NSF-funded Statistics Online Computational Resource (SOCR) provides a number of interactive tools for enhancing instruction in various undergraduate and graduate courses in probability and statistics. These resources include online instructional materials, statistical calculators, interactive graphical user interfaces, computational and simulation applets, tools for data analysis and visualization. The tools provided as part of SOCR include conceptual simulations and statistical computing interfaces, which are designed to bridge between the introductory and the more advanced computational and applied probability and statistics courses. In this manuscript, we describe our designs for utilizing SOCR technology in instruction in a recent study. In addition, present the results of the effectiveness of using SOCR tools at two different course intensity levels on three outcome measures: exam scores, student satisfaction and choice of technology to complete assignments. Learning styles assessment was completed at baseline. We have used three very different designs for three different undergraduate classes. Each course included a treatment group, using the SOCR resources, and a control group, using classical instruction techniques. Our findings include marginal effects of the SOCR treatment per individual classes; however, pooling the results across all courses and sections, SOCR effects on the treatment groups were exceptionally robust and significant. Coupling these findings with a clear decrease in the variance of the quantitative examination measures in the treatment groups indicates that employing technology, like SOCR, in a sound pedagogical and scientific manner enhances overall the students' understanding and suggests better long-term knowledge retention.

Pedagogical Utilization and Assessment of the Statistic Online Computational Resource in Introductory Probability and Statistics Courses

PubMed Central

Dinov, Ivo D.; Sanchez, Juana; Christou, Nicolas

2009-01-01

Technology-based instruction represents a new recent pedagogical paradigm that is rooted in the realization that new generations are much more comfortable with, and excited about, new technologies. The rapid technological advancement over the past decade has fueled an enormous demand for the integration of modern networking, informational and computational tools with classical pedagogical instruments. Consequently, teaching with technology typically involves utilizing a variety of IT and multimedia resources for online learning, course management, electronic course materials, and novel tools of communication, engagement, experimental, critical thinking and assessment. The NSF-funded Statistics Online Computational Resource (SOCR) provides a number of interactive tools for enhancing instruction in various undergraduate and graduate courses in probability and statistics. These resources include online instructional materials, statistical calculators, interactive graphical user interfaces, computational and simulation applets, tools for data analysis and visualization. The tools provided as part of SOCR include conceptual simulations and statistical computing interfaces, which are designed to bridge between the introductory and the more advanced computational and applied probability and statistics courses. In this manuscript, we describe our designs for utilizing SOCR technology in instruction in a recent study. In addition, present the results of the effectiveness of using SOCR tools at two different course intensity levels on three outcome measures: exam scores, student satisfaction and choice of technology to complete assignments. Learning styles assessment was completed at baseline. We have used three very different designs for three different undergraduate classes. Each course included a treatment group, using the SOCR resources, and a control group, using classical instruction techniques. Our findings include marginal effects of the SOCR treatment per individual classes; however, pooling the results across all courses and sections, SOCR effects on the treatment groups were exceptionally robust and significant. Coupling these findings with a clear decrease in the variance of the quantitative examination measures in the treatment groups indicates that employing technology, like SOCR, in a sound pedagogical and scientific manner enhances overall the students’ understanding and suggests better long-term knowledge retention. PMID:19750185

Teacher Communication Preferred over Peer Interaction: Student Satisfaction with Different Tools in a Virtual Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Small, Felicity; Dowell, David; Simmons, Peter

2012-01-01

Purpose: Teachers have access to a growing range of online tools to support course delivery, but which ones are valued by students? Expectations and satisfaction are important constructs in the delivery of a service product, and how these constructs operate in a service environment, such as education where the student can also take on the role of…

Education modules using EnviroAtlas (#2)

EPA Science Inventory

Session Title #1: Exploration and Discovery through Maps: Teaching Science with Technology. Online maps have the power to spark student interest and bring students closer to their local natural environments. EnviroAtlas is an interactive, web-based tool that was designed by the...

Education modules using EnviroAtlas

EPA Science Inventory

Proposal #1: Exploration and Discovery through Maps: Teaching Science with Technology (Elementary)Online maps have the power to bring students closer to their local natural environments. EnviroAtlas is an interactive, web-based tool that was designed by the EPA and its partners ...

Exploring JavaScript and ROOT technologies to create Web-based ATLAS analysis and monitoring tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez Pineda, A.

2015-12-01

We explore the potential of current web applications to create online interfaces that allow the visualization, interaction and real cut-based physics analysis and monitoring of processes through a web browser. The project consists in the initial development of web- based and cloud computing services to allow students and researchers to perform fast and very useful cut-based analysis on a browser, reading and using real data and official Monte- Carlo simulations stored in ATLAS computing facilities. Several tools are considered: ROOT, JavaScript and HTML. Our study case is the current cut-based H → ZZ → llqq analysis of the ATLAS experiment. Preliminary but satisfactory results have been obtained online.

Potential of social media as a tool to combat foodborne illness.

PubMed

Chapman, Benjamin; Raymond, Benjamin; Powell, Douglas

2014-07-01

The use of social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, has been increasing substantially in recent years and has affected the way that people access information online. Social media rely on high levels of interaction and user-generated context shared through established and evolving social networks. Health information providers must know how to successfully participate through social media in order to meet the needs of these online audiences. This article reviews the current research on the use of social media for public health communication and suggests potential frameworks for developing social media strategies. The extension to food safety risk communication is explored, considering the potential of social media as a tool to combat foodborne illness.

Demonstration of Data Interactive Publications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domenico, B.; Weber, J.

2012-04-01

This is a demonstration version of the talk given in session ESSI2.4 "Full lifecycle of data." For some years now, the authors have developed examples of online documents that allowed the reader to interact directly with datasets, but there were limitations that restricted the interaction to specific desktop analysis and display tools that were not generally available to all readers of the documents. Recent advances in web service technology and related standards are making it possible to develop systems for publishing online documents that enable readers to access, analyze, and display the data discussed in the publication from the perspective and in the manner from which the author wants it to be represented. By clicking on embedded links, the reader accesses not only the usual textual information in a publication, but also data residing on a local or remote web server as well as a set of processing tools for analyzing and displaying the data. With the option of having the analysis and display processing provided on the server (or in the cloud), there are now a broader set of possibilities on the client side where the reader can interact with the data via a thin web client, a rich desktop application, or a mobile platform "app." The presentation will outline the architecture of data interactive publications along with illustrative examples.

Supporting student nurses in practice with additional online communication tools.

PubMed

Morley, Dawn A

2014-01-01

Student nurses' potential isolation and difficulties of learning on placement have been well documented and, despite attempts to make placement learning more effective, evidence indicates the continuing schism between formal learning at university and situated learning on placement. First year student nurses, entering placement for the first time, are particularly vulnerable to the vagaries of practice. During 2012 two first year student nurse seminar groups (52 students) were voluntarily recruited for a mixed method study to determine the usage of additional online communication support mechanisms (Facebook, wiki, an email group and traditional methods of support using individual email or phone) while undertaking their first five week clinical placement. The study explores the possibility of strengthening clinical learning and support by promoting the use of Web 2.0 support groups for student nurses. Results indicate a high level of interactivity in both peer and academic support in the use of Facebook and a high level of interactivity in one wiki group. Students' qualitative comments voice an appreciation of being able to access university and peer support whilst working individually on placement. Recommendations from the study challenge universities to use online communication tools already familiar to students to complement the support mechanisms that exist for practice learning. This is tempered by recognition of the responsibility of academics to ensure their students are aware of safe and effective online communication. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Learning management system and e-learning tools: an experience of medical students' usage and expectations.

PubMed

Back, David A; Behringer, Florian; Haberstroh, Nicole; Ehlers, Jan P; Sostmann, Kai; Peters, Harm

2016-08-20

To investigate medical students´ utilization of and problems with a learning management system and its e-learning tools as well as their expectations on future developments. A single-center online survey has been carried out to investigate medical students´ (n = 505) usage and perception concerning the learning management system Blackboard, and provided e-learning tools. Data were collected with a standardized questionnaire consisting of 70 items and analyzed by quantitative and qualitative methods. The participants valued lecture notes (73.7%) and Wikipedia (74%) as their most important online sources for knowledge acquisition. Missing integration of e-learning into teaching was seen as the major pitfall (58.7%). The learning management system was mostly used for study information (68.3%), preparation of exams (63.3%) and lessons (54.5%). Clarity (98.3%), teaching-related contexts (92.5%) and easy use of e-learning offers (92.5%) were rated highest. Interactivity was most important in free-text comments (n = 123). It is desired that contents of a learning management system support an efficient learning. Interactivity of tools and their conceptual integration into face-to-face teaching are important for students. The learning management system was especially important for organizational purposes and the provision of learning materials. Teachers should be aware that free online sources such as Wikipedia enjoy a high approval as source of knowledge acquisition. This study provides an empirical basis for medical schools and teachers to improve their offerings in the field of digital learning for their students.

Learning management system and e-learning tools: an experience of medical students' usage and expectations

PubMed Central

Back, David A.; Behringer, Florian; Haberstroh, Nicole; Ehlers, Jan P.; Sostmann, Kai

2016-01-01

Objectives To investigate medical students´ utilization of and problems with a learning management system and its e-learning tools as well as their expectations on future developments. Methods A single-center online survey has been carried out to investigate medical students´ (n = 505) usage and perception concerning the learning management system Blackboard, and provided e-learning tools. Data were collected with a standardized questionnaire consisting of 70 items and analyzed by quantitative and qualitative methods. Results The participants valued lecture notes (73.7%) and Wikipedia (74%) as their most important online sources for knowledge acquisition. Missing integration of e-learning into teaching was seen as the major pitfall (58.7%). The learning management system was mostly used for study information (68.3%), preparation of exams (63.3%) and lessons (54.5%). Clarity (98.3%), teaching-related contexts (92.5%) and easy use of e-learning offers (92.5%) were rated highest. Interactivity was most important in free-text comments (n = 123). Conclusions It is desired that contents of a learning management system support an efficient learning. Interactivity of tools and their conceptual integration into face-to-face teaching are important for students. The learning management system was especially important for organizational purposes and the provision of learning materials. Teachers should be aware that free online sources such as Wikipedia enjoy a high approval as source of knowledge acquisition. This study provides an empirical basis for medical schools and teachers to improve their offerings in the field of digital learning for their students. PMID:27544782

Effects of using online narrative and didactic information on healthcare participation for breast cancer patients.

PubMed

Wise, Meg; Han, Jeong Yeob; Shaw, Bret; McTavish, Fiona; Gustafson, David H

2008-03-01

To determine the effects of online narrative and didactic information on breast cancer patients' healthcare participation and the interaction effects of race. 353 breast cancer patients (111 African Americans) using an eHealth program with narratives (audiovisual and text) and didactic information (text only). healthcare participation scale (0, 4 months), online information use. hierarchical regression. Narrative (beta=0.123, p<0.01) and didactic (beta=0.104, p<0.05) information use had independent and positive effects on healthcare participation. Effects of both were significantly greater for African Americans. Findings are consistent with and advance prior research on online learning processes and outcomes for breast cancer patients: (1) benefits accrue with using a variety of online learning tools; (2) African Americans use and benefit more from online narrative and didactic information than do Caucasians. eHealth programs should provide both didactic and narrative information-especially for African Americans and might consider making greater use of interactive and audiovisual formats. As patients increasingly use of the web for cancer information, clinicians should provide lists of web high quality resources that provide both narrative and didactic information.

EFFECTS OF USING ONLINE NARRATIVE AND DIDACTIC INFORMATION ON HEALTHCARE PARTICIPATION FOR BREAST CANCER PATIENTS

PubMed Central

Wise, Meg; Han, Jeong Yeob; Shaw, Bret; McTavish, Fiona; Gustafson, David H.

2008-01-01

Objectives To determine the effects of online narrative and didactic information on breast cancer patients’ healthcare participation and the interaction effects of race. Methods Sample: 353 breast cancer patients (111 African Americans) using an eHealth program with narratives (audiovisual and text) and didactic information (text only). Measures: healthcare participation scale (0, 4 months), online information use. Analyses: hierarchical regression. Results Narrative (β = .123, p <.01) and didactic (β = .104, p <.05) information use had independent and positive effects on healthcare participation. Effects of both were significantly greater for African Americans. Conclusions Findings are consistent with and advance prior research on online learning processes and outcomes for breast cancer patients: (1) Benefits accrue with using a variety of online learning tools; and (2) African Americans use and benefit more from online narrative and didactic information than do Caucasians. Practice implications eHealth programs should provide both didactic and narrative information—especially for African Americans and might consider making greater use of interactive and audiovisual formats. As patients increasingly use of the web for cancer information, clinicians should provide lists of web high quality resources that provide both narrative and didactic information. PMID:18201859

EINVis: a visualization tool for analyzing and exploring genetic interactions in large-scale association studies.

PubMed

Wu, Yubao; Zhu, Xiaofeng; Chen, Jian; Zhang, Xiang

2013-11-01

Epistasis (gene-gene interaction) detection in large-scale genetic association studies has recently drawn extensive research interests as many complex traits are likely caused by the joint effect of multiple genetic factors. The large number of possible interactions poses both statistical and computational challenges. A variety of approaches have been developed to address the analytical challenges in epistatic interaction detection. These methods usually output the identified genetic interactions and store them in flat file formats. It is highly desirable to develop an effective visualization tool to further investigate the detected interactions and unravel hidden interaction patterns. We have developed EINVis, a novel visualization tool that is specifically designed to analyze and explore genetic interactions. EINVis displays interactions among genetic markers as a network. It utilizes a circular layout (specially, a tree ring view) to simultaneously visualize the hierarchical interactions between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), genes, and chromosomes, and the network structure formed by these interactions. Using EINVis, the user can distinguish marginal effects from interactions, track interactions involving more than two markers, visualize interactions at different levels, and detect proxy SNPs based on linkage disequilibrium. EINVis is an effective and user-friendly free visualization tool for analyzing and exploring genetic interactions. It is publicly available with detailed documentation and online tutorial on the web at http://filer.case.edu/yxw407/einvis/. © 2013 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.

Interactive Learning During Solar Maximum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ashour-Abdalla, Maha; Curtis, Steven (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The goal of this project is to develop and distribute e-educational material for space science during times of solar activity that emphasizes underlying basic science principles of solar disturbances and their effects on Earth. This includes materials such as simulations, animations, group projects and other on-line materials to be used by students either in high school or at the introductory college level. The on-line delivery tool originally intended to be used is known as Interactive Multimedia Education at a Distance (IMED), which is a web-based software system used at UCLA for interactive distance learning. IMED is a password controlled system that allows students to access text, images, bulletin boards, chat rooms, animation, simulations and individual student web sites to study science and to collaborate on group projects.

From Internet User to Cyberspace Citizen.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wakabayashi, Ippei

1997-01-01

Discusses social and cultural challenges that Internet technology raises. Highlights include preserving the freedom in cyberspace, the information distribution scheme of the Internet, two-way interactivity, search engines as marketing tools, the insecurity of cyberspace, online safety rules for children, educating children to "walk…

GPS: Shaping Student Success One Conversation at a Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Star, Mikhael; Collette, Lanita

2010-01-01

Increasing instructor-student interactions and improving support personnel interventions with students positively affects their academic performance, retention, and graduation rates. This article discusses the Grade Performance Status (GPS) which is Northern Arizona University's new online, academic early alert tool for increasing instructor…

Blog, Chat, Edit, Text, or Tweet? Using Online Tools to Advance Adult Civic Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, Laura W.

2012-01-01

The rapid growth of the Internet over the past 20 years has brought with it a vast amount of communication about public issues of concern to citizens. Over time, the Internet has become increasingly social and interactive. This move from "Web 1.0" to "Web 2.0" involves a great deal of user-generated content and interaction. This transition has…

School Library 2.0: Say Good-Bye to Your Mother's School Library. The Web Is All about New Possibilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Christopher

2006-01-01

Blogs and the whole gamut of interactive, Web-based tools are redefining how we connect with people and content on the Internet. This is the widely discussed next step known as Web 2.0, a truly revolutionary concept in which pervasive interactivity, where multitudes of users online actively exchange or contribute content, will transform the very…

The Efficiency of the "Learning Management System (LMS)" in AOU, Kuwait, as a Communication Tool in an E-Learning System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alfadly, Ahmad Assaf

2013-01-01

Purpose: The integration of a Learning Management System (LMS) at the Arab Open University (AOU), Kuwait, opens new possibilities for online interaction between teachers and students. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency of the LMS at AOU, Kuwait as a communication tool in the E-learning system and to find the best automated…

The Influence of Group Formation on Learner Participation, Language Complexity, and Corrective Behaviour in Synchronous Written Chat as Part of Academic German Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fredriksson, Christine

2015-01-01

Synchronous written chat and instant messaging are tools which have been used and explored in online language learning settings for at least two decades. Research literature has shown that such tools give second language (L2) learners opportunities for language learning, e.g. , the interaction in real time with peers and native speakers, the…

The Gamma-Ray Burst ToolSHED is Open for Business

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giblin, Timothy W.; Hakkila, Jon; Haglin, David J.; Roiger, Richard J.

2004-09-01

The GRB ToolSHED, a Gamma-Ray Burst SHell for Expeditions in Data-Mining, is now online and available via a web browser to all in the scientific community. The ToolSHED is an online web utility that contains pre-processed burst attributes of the BATSE catalog and a suite of induction-based machine learning and statistical tools for classification and cluster analysis. Users create their own login account and study burst properties within user-defined multi-dimensional parameter spaces. Although new GRB attributes are periodically added to the database for user selection, the ToolSHED has a feature that allows users to upload their own burst attributes (e.g. spectral parameters, etc.) so that additional parameter spaces can be explored. A data visualization feature using GNUplot and web-based IDL has also been implemented to provide interactive plotting of user-selected session output. In an era in which GRB observations and attributes are becoming increasingly more complex, a utility such as the GRB ToolSHED may play an important role in deciphering GRB classes and understanding intrinsic burst properties.

A Practice-Based Analysis of an Online Strategy Game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milolidakis, Giannis; Kimble, Chris; Akoumianakis, Demosthenes

In this paper, we will analyze a massively multiplayer online game in an attempt to identify the elements of practice that enable social interaction and cooperation within the game’s virtual world. Communities of Practice and Activity Theory offer the theoretical lens for identifying and understanding what constitutes practice within the community and how such practice is manifest and transmitted during game play. Our analysis suggests that in contrast to prevalent perceptions of practice as being textually mediated, in virtual settings it is framed as much in social interactions as in processes, artifacts and the tools constituting the ‘linguistic’ domain of the game or the practice the gaming community is about.

Data Visualization and Analysis for Climate Studies using NASA Giovanni Online System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rui, Hualan; Leptoukh, Gregory; Lloyd, Steven

2008-01-01

With many global earth observation systems and missions focused on climate systems and the associated large volumes of observational data available for exploring and explaining how climate is changing and why, there is an urgent need for climate services. Giovanni, the NASA GES DISC Interactive Online Visualization ANd ANalysis Infrastructure, is a simple to use yet powerful tool for analysing these data for research on global warming and climate change, as well as for applications to weather. air quality, agriculture, and water resources,

The Auroral Planetary Imaging and Spectroscopy (APIS) service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamy, L.; Prangé, R.; Henry, F.; Le Sidaner, P.

2015-06-01

The Auroral Planetary Imaging and Spectroscopy (APIS) service, accessible online, provides an open and interactive access to processed auroral observations of the outer planets and their satellites. Such observations are of interest for a wide community at the interface between planetology, magnetospheric and heliospheric physics. APIS consists of (i) a high level database, built from planetary auroral observations acquired by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) since 1997 with its mostly used Far-Ultraviolet spectro-imagers, (ii) a dedicated search interface aimed at browsing efficiently this database through relevant conditional search criteria and (iii) the ability to interactively work with the data online through plotting tools developed by the Virtual Observatory (VO) community, such as Aladin and Specview. This service is VO compliant and can therefore also been queried by external search tools of the VO community. The diversity of available data and the capability to sort them out by relevant physical criteria shall in particular facilitate statistical studies, on long-term scales and/or multi-instrumental multi-spectral combined analysis.

Connected: Recommendations and Techniques in Order to Employ Internet Tools for the Enhancement of Online Therapeutic Relationships. Experiences from Italy.

PubMed

Manfrida, Gianmarco; Albertini, Valentina; Eisenberg, Erica

2017-01-01

The article explores the different types of therapeutic relationship that can evolve both on- and offline, thanks to the use of tools, such as software and applications, which enable therapists and patients contact outside of the traditional setting. Given the premise that it is practically impossible today to maintain a relationship without the use of internet and telephones, it becomes necessary to question the ways in which the online space can become a useful extension of the therapeutic setting. The authors, starting from a consideration regarding the specificity of the online therapeutic relationship, analyze the best ways to use text and email messaging with patients. Furthermore, specific interactions via group chats are presented, for example, to coordinate a therapeutic team involving several professionals. Further, video chat settings are discussed through a clinical case presentation. Lastly, the therapist's management of social networks is debated, underscoring the importance for the therapists that his or her online identity be consistent with the offline image which patients are introduced to in the traditional setting of the therapy room.

The APIS service : a tool for accessing value-added HST planetary auroral observations over 1997-2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamy, L.; Henry, F.; Prangé, R.; Le Sidaner, P.

2015-10-01

The Auroral Planetary Imaging and Spectroscopy (APIS) service http://obspm.fr/apis/ provides an open and interactive access to processed auroral observations of the outer planets and their satellites. Such observations are of interest for a wide community at the interface between planetology, magnetospheric and heliospheric physics. APIS consists of (i) a high level database, built from planetary auroral observations acquired by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) since 1997 with its mostly used Far-Ultraviolet spectro- imagers, (ii) a dedicated search interface aimed at browsing efficiently this database through relevant conditional search criteria (Figure 1) and (iii) the ability to interactively work with the data online through plotting tools developed by the Virtual Observatory (VO) community, such as Aladin and Specview. This service is VO compliant and can therefore also been queried by external search tools of the VO community. The diversity of available data and the capability to sort them out by relevant physical criteria shall in particular facilitate statistical studies, on long-term scales and/or multi-instrumental multispectral combined analysis [1,2]. We will present the updated capabilities of APIS with several examples. Several tutorials are available online.

How social network analysis can be used to monitor online collaborative learning and guide an informed intervention

PubMed Central

Fors, Uno; Tedre, Matti; Nouri, Jalal

2018-01-01

To ensure online collaborative learning meets the intended pedagogical goals (is actually collaborative and stimulates learning), mechanisms are needed for monitoring the efficiency of online collaboration. Various studies have indicated that social network analysis can be particularly effective in studying students’ interactions in online collaboration. However, research in education has only focused on the theoretical potential of using SNA, not on the actual benefits they achieved. This study investigated how social network analysis can be used to monitor online collaborative learning, find aspects in need of improvement, guide an informed intervention, and assess the efficacy of intervention using an experimental, observational repeated-measurement design in three courses over a full-term duration. Using a combination of SNA-based visual and quantitative analysis, we monitored three SNA constructs for each participant: the level of interactivity, the role, and position in information exchange, and the role played by each participant in the collaboration. On the group level, we monitored interactivity and group cohesion indicators. Our monitoring uncovered a non-collaborative teacher-centered pattern of interactions in the three studied courses as well as very few interactions among students, limited information exchange or negotiation, and very limited student networks dominated by the teacher. An intervention based on SNA-generated insights was designed. The intervention was structured into five actions: increasing awareness, promoting collaboration, improving the content, preparing teachers, and finally practicing with feedback. Evaluation of the intervention revealed that it has significantly enhanced student-student interactions and teacher-student interactions, as well as produced a collaborative pattern of interactions among most students and teachers. Since efficient and communicative activities are essential prerequisites for successful content discussion and for realizing the goals of collaboration, we suggest that our SNA-based approach will positively affect teaching and learning in many educational domains. Our study offers a proof-of-concept of what SNA can add to the current tools for monitoring and supporting teaching and learning in higher education. PMID:29566058

How social network analysis can be used to monitor online collaborative learning and guide an informed intervention.

PubMed

Saqr, Mohammed; Fors, Uno; Tedre, Matti; Nouri, Jalal

2018-01-01

To ensure online collaborative learning meets the intended pedagogical goals (is actually collaborative and stimulates learning), mechanisms are needed for monitoring the efficiency of online collaboration. Various studies have indicated that social network analysis can be particularly effective in studying students' interactions in online collaboration. However, research in education has only focused on the theoretical potential of using SNA, not on the actual benefits they achieved. This study investigated how social network analysis can be used to monitor online collaborative learning, find aspects in need of improvement, guide an informed intervention, and assess the efficacy of intervention using an experimental, observational repeated-measurement design in three courses over a full-term duration. Using a combination of SNA-based visual and quantitative analysis, we monitored three SNA constructs for each participant: the level of interactivity, the role, and position in information exchange, and the role played by each participant in the collaboration. On the group level, we monitored interactivity and group cohesion indicators. Our monitoring uncovered a non-collaborative teacher-centered pattern of interactions in the three studied courses as well as very few interactions among students, limited information exchange or negotiation, and very limited student networks dominated by the teacher. An intervention based on SNA-generated insights was designed. The intervention was structured into five actions: increasing awareness, promoting collaboration, improving the content, preparing teachers, and finally practicing with feedback. Evaluation of the intervention revealed that it has significantly enhanced student-student interactions and teacher-student interactions, as well as produced a collaborative pattern of interactions among most students and teachers. Since efficient and communicative activities are essential prerequisites for successful content discussion and for realizing the goals of collaboration, we suggest that our SNA-based approach will positively affect teaching and learning in many educational domains. Our study offers a proof-of-concept of what SNA can add to the current tools for monitoring and supporting teaching and learning in higher education.

Drug/Cell-line Browser: interactive canvas visualization of cancer drug/cell-line viability assay datasets.

PubMed

Duan, Qiaonan; Wang, Zichen; Fernandez, Nicolas F; Rouillard, Andrew D; Tan, Christopher M; Benes, Cyril H; Ma'ayan, Avi

2014-11-15

Recently, several high profile studies collected cell viability data from panels of cancer cell lines treated with many drugs applied at different concentrations. Such drug sensitivity data for cancer cell lines provide suggestive treatments for different types and subtypes of cancer. Visualization of these datasets can reveal patterns that may not be obvious by examining the data without such efforts. Here we introduce Drug/Cell-line Browser (DCB), an online interactive HTML5 data visualization tool for interacting with three of the recently published datasets of cancer cell lines/drug-viability studies. DCB uses clustering and canvas visualization of the drugs and the cell lines, as well as a bar graph that summarizes drug effectiveness for the tissue of origin or the cancer subtypes for single or multiple drugs. DCB can help in understanding drug response patterns and prioritizing drug/cancer cell line interactions by tissue of origin or cancer subtype. DCB is an open source Web-based tool that is freely available at: http://www.maayanlab.net/LINCS/DCB CONTACT: avi.maayan@mssm.edu Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Is Free Recall Active: The Testing Effect through the ICAP Lens

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruchok, Christiana; Mar, Christopher; Craig, Scotty D.

2017-01-01

Amidst evidence in favor of "active learning," online instruction widely implements passive design and tests learners' retrieval performance as opposed to learners' understanding. Literature reporting the testing effect promotes recall as a learning tool. The Interactive>Constructive>Active>Passive taxonomy would place quizzing…

Fine-Scale Environmental Indicators of Public Health and Well-Being for Urban Communities

EPA Science Inventory

Urban ecosystem services contribute to public health and well-being by buffering natural and man-made hazards, and by promoting healthful lifestyles that include physical activity, social interaction, and engagement with nature. As part of the EnviroAtlas online mapping tool, EP...

EnviroAtlas: Exploring Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity Data for the Nation.

EPA Science Inventory

EnviroAtlas is an online collection of interactive tools and spatially explicit data allowing users to explore the many benefits people receive from nature. The purpose of EnviroAtlas is to provide better access to consistently derived ecosystems and socio-economic data to facil...

Discovering online learning barriers: survey of health educational stakeholders in dentistry.

PubMed

Schönwetter, D; Reynolds, P

2013-02-01

Given the exponential explosion of online learning tools and the challenge to harness their influence in dental education, there is a need to determine the current status of online learning tools being adopted at dental schools, the barriers that thwart the potential of adopting these and to capture this information from each of the various stakeholders involved in dental online learning (administrators, instructors, students and software/hardware technicians). The aims of this exploratory study are threefold: first, to understand which online learning tools are currently being adopted at dental schools; second, to determine the barriers in adopting online learning in dental education; and third, to identify a way of better preparing stakeholders in their quest to encourage others at their institutions to adopt online learning tools. Seventy-two participants representing eight countries and 13 stakeholder groups in dentistry were invited to complete the online Survey of Barriers in Online Learning Education in Health Professional Schools. The survey was created for this study but generic to all healthcare education domains. Twenty participants completed the survey. demonstrated that many online learning tools are being successfully adopted at dental schools, but computer-based assessment tools are the least successful. Added to this are challenges of support and resources for online learning tools. Participants offered suggestions of creating a blended (online and face-to-face) tutorial aimed at assisting stakeholders to help their dental schools in adopting online learning tools The information from this study is essential in helping us to better prepare the next generation of dental providers in terms of adopting online learning tools. This paper will not only provide strategies of how best to proceed, but also inspire participants with the necessary tools to move forward as they assist their clients with adopting and sustaining online learning tools and models. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Normalizing Social Networking in a Beginners' Japanese Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morofushi, Mari; Pasfield-Neofitou, Sarah Ellen

2014-01-01

With the spread of the Internet, students now have greater opportunities to use Japanese outside of the classroom. For example, they can interact with other Japanese speakers through instant messaging or social networking, or utilize online dictionaries and translation tools to decipher websites in ways that would be impossible with traditional…

What Students Really Want in Science Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldenberg, Lauren B.

2011-01-01

Nowadays, there are lots of digital resources available to teachers. Tools such as Teachers' Domain, an online digital library (see "On the web"); interactive whiteboards; computer projection devices; laptop carts; and robust wireless internet services make it easy for teachers to use technology in the classroom. In fact, in one…

What Immigrant Students Can Teach Us about New Media Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lam, Wan Shun Eva

2012-01-01

Adolescents who have immigrant backgrounds are developing language, literacy, and social skills across national borders as they use social media and online tools to interact with people and information sources in different communities across their countries of origin and settlement. These transnational digital practices have the potential to serve…

Interactive Online Tools for Enhancing Student Learning Experiences in Remote Sensing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joyce, Karen E.; Boitshwarelo, Bopelo; Phinn, Stuart R.; Hill, Greg J. E.; Kelly, Gail D.

2014-01-01

The rapid growth in Information and Communications Technologies usage in higher education has provided immense opportunities to foster effective student learning experiences in geography. In particular, remote sensing lends itself to the creative utilization of multimedia technologies. This paper presents a case study of a remote sensing computer…

Exploration and Discovery through Maps: Teaching Science with Technology

EPA Science Inventory

Online maps have the power to bring students closer to their local natural environments. EnviroAtlas is an interactive, web-based tool that was designed by the EPA and its partners to provide access to maps that show the status of the local environment and social elements of an ...

Dog Bite Reflections--Socratic Questioning Revisited

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toledo, Cheri A.

2015-01-01

In the online environment, the asynchronous discussion is an important tool for creating community, developing critical thinking skills, and checking for understanding. As students learn how to use Socratic questions for effective interactions, the discussion boards can become the most exciting part of the course. This sequel to the article…

Advancements in Curricular Design: Web-Assisted Courseware Applications in Mass Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reppert, James E.

Interactive courseware applications are becoming more prevalent as instructional tools in the communication classroom. Prometheus, developed by George Washington University, allows instructors to post syllabi, course outlines, lecture notes, and tests online, in addition to giving students access to discussions and chat sessions. Other popular…

High School Online: Pedagogy, Preferences, and Practices of Three Online Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kerr, Shantia

2011-01-01

This multiple case study explores how three online, high school teachers used technological tools to create meaningful learning activities for their students. Findings reveal that teachers use a wide variety of tools and approaches to online learning. Tools are categorized as content, communication, and management tools. Approaches include…

Understanding online health information: Evaluation, tools, and strategies.

PubMed

Beaunoyer, Elisabeth; Arsenault, Marianne; Lomanowska, Anna M; Guitton, Matthieu J

2017-02-01

Considering the status of the Internet as a prominent source of health information, assessing online health material has become a central issue in patient education. We describe the strategies available to evaluate the characteristics of online health information, including readability, emotional content, understandability, usability. Popular tools used in assessment of readability, emotional content and comprehensibility of online health information were reviewed. Tools designed to evaluate both printed and online material were considered. Readability tools are widely used in online health material evaluation and are highly covariant. Assessment of emotional content of online health-related communications via sentiment analysis tools is becoming more popular. Understandability and usability tools have been developed specifically for health-related material, but each tool has important limitations and has been tested on a limited number of health issues. Despite the availability of numerous assessment tools, their overall reliability differs between readability (high) and understandability (low). Approaches combining multiple assessment tools and involving both quantitative and qualitative observations would optimize assessment strategies. Effective assessment of online health information should rely on mixed strategies combining quantitative and qualitative evaluations. Assessment tools should be selected according to their functional properties and compatibility with target material. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of an international online learning platform for hepatopancreatobiliary surgical training: a needs assessment

PubMed Central

Warner, Susanne G; Connor, Saxon; Christophi, Christopher; Azodo, Ijeoma A; Kent, Tara; Pier, David; Minter, Rebecca M

2014-01-01

Background The Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (AHPBA) and the Australian and New Zealand Hepatic, Pancreatic and Biliary Association (ANZHPBA) are developing an online distance learning curriculum to facilitate an interactive didactic experience for hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) fellows in the operationalization of existing HPB fellow curricula. Two needs assessment surveys were carried out to identify the optimal structure and process for deployment in fellow education. Methods A 22-question survey querying fellows' learning styles and current and anticipated use of learning tools was disseminated electronically to 38 North American and Australasian HPB fellows. A follow-up 20-question survey was administered to assess fellows' feelings regarding online content. Results Response rates were 55% (n = 21) for the first survey and 42% for the second (n = 16). In the first survey, 67% of respondents claimed familiarity with the required HPB curriculum, and 43% indicated dissatisfaction with current personal study strategies. A total of 62% (n = 13) reported studying with focused clinical relevance versus using a prescribed curriculum (n = 1, 5%). Fellows anticipated participating using online tools once (n = 10, 48%) or two or three times (n = 5, 24%) per week. Most respondents (n = 18, 86%) would meaningfully follow one or two discussions per month. The second survey identified themes for improvement such as discussion topics of interest, avoidance of holiday timing and mandatory participation. Conclusions An international online distance learning format is an appealing mechanism for improved dissemination and operationalization of the established HPB fellow curricula. Fellows will engage in interactive discussions monthly. Controversial topics or those requiring complex decision making are best suited to this learning format. PMID:24961380

Community Structure in Online Collegiate Social Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Traud, Amanda; Kelsic, Eric; Mucha, Peter; Porter, Mason

2009-03-01

Online social networking sites have become increasingly popular with college students. The networks we studied are defined through ``friendships'' indicated by Facebook users from UNC, Oklahoma, Caltech, Georgetown, and Princeton. We apply the tools of network science to study the Facebook networks from these five different universities at a single point in time. We investigate each single-institution network's community structure, which we obtain through partitioning the graph using an eigenvector method. We use both graphical and quantitative tools, including pair-counting methods, which we interpret through statistical analysis and permutation tests to measure the correlations between the network communities and a set of characteristics given by each user (residence, class year, major, and high school). We also analyze the single gender subsets of these networks, and the impact of missing demographical data. Our study allows us to compare the online social networks for the five schools as well as infer differences in offline social interactions. At the schools studied, we were able to define which characteristics of the Facebook users correlate best with friendships.

Medical student web-based formative assessment tool for renal pathology.

PubMed

Bijol, Vanesa; Byrne-Dugan, Cathryn J; Hoenig, Melanie P

2015-01-01

Background Web-based formative assessment tools have become widely recognized in medical education as valuable resources for self-directed learning. Objectives To explore the educational value of formative assessment using online quizzes for kidney pathology learning in our renal pathophysiology course. Methods Students were given unrestricted and optional access to quizzes. Performance on quizzed and non-quizzed materials of those who used ('quizzers') and did not use the tool ('non-quizzers') was compared. Frequency of tool usage was analyzed and satisfaction surveys were utilized at the end of the course. Results In total, 82.6% of the students used quizzes. The greatest usage was observed on the day before the final exam. Students repeated interactive and more challenging quizzes more often. Average means between final exam scores for quizzed and unrelated materials were almost equal for 'quizzers' and 'non-quizzers', but 'quizzers' performed statistically better than 'non-quizzers' on both, quizzed (p=0.001) and non-quizzed (p=0.024) topics. In total, 89% of surveyed students thought quizzes improved their learning experience in this course. Conclusions Our new computer-assisted learning tool is popular, and although its use can predict the final exam outcome, it does not provide strong evidence for direct improvement in academic performance. Students who chose to use quizzes did well on all aspects of the final exam and most commonly used quizzes to practice for final exam. Our efforts to revitalize the course material and promote learning by adding interactive online formative assessments improved students' learning experience overall.

Analysis of Learning Tools in the study of Developmental of Interactive Multimedia Based Physic Learning Charged in Problem Solving

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manurung, Sondang; Demonta Pangabean, Deo

2017-05-01

The main purpose of this study is to produce needs analysis, literature review, and learning tools in the study of developmental of interactive multimedia based physic learning charged in problem solving to improve thinking ability of physic prospective student. The first-year result of the study is: result of the draft based on a needs analysis of the facts on the ground, the conditions of existing learning and literature studies. Following the design of devices and instruments performed as well the development of media. Result of the second study is physics learning device -based interactive multimedia charged problem solving in the form of textbooks and scientific publications. Previous learning models tested in a limited sample, then in the evaluation and repair. Besides, the product of research has an economic value on the grounds: (1) a virtual laboratory to offer this research provides a solution purchases physics laboratory equipment is expensive; (2) address the shortage of teachers of physics in remote areas as a learning tool can be accessed offline and online; (3). reducing material or consumables as tutorials can be done online; Targeted research is the first year: i.e story board learning physics that have been scanned in a web form CD (compact disk) and the interactive multimedia of gas Kinetic Theory concept. This draft is based on a needs analysis of the facts on the ground, the existing learning conditions, and literature studies. Previous learning models tested in a limited sample, then in the evaluation and repair.

AvianBuffer: An interactive tool for characterising and managing wildlife fear responses.

PubMed

Guay, Patrick-Jean; van Dongen, Wouter F D; Robinson, Randall W; Blumstein, Daniel T; Weston, Michael A

2016-11-01

The characterisation and management of deleterious processes affecting wildlife are ideally based on sound scientific information. However, relevant information is often absent, or difficult to access or contextualise for specific management purposes. We describe 'AvianBuffer', an interactive online tool enabling the estimation of distances at which Australian birds respond fearfully to humans. Users can input species assemblages and determine a 'separation distance' above which the assemblage is predicted to not flee humans. They can also nominate the diversity they wish to minimise disturbance to, or a specific separation distance to obtain an estimate of the diversity that will remain undisturbed. The dataset is based upon flight-initiation distances (FIDs) from 251 Australian bird species (n = 9190 FIDs) and a range of human-associated stimuli. The tool will be of interest to a wide audience including conservation managers, pest managers, policy makers, land-use planners, education and public outreach officers, animal welfare proponents and wildlife ecologists. We discuss possible applications of the data, including the construction of buffers, development of codes of conduct, environmental impact assessments and public outreach. This tool will help balance the growing need for biodiversity conservation in areas where humans can experience nature. The online resource will be expanded in future iterations to include an international database of FIDs of both avian and non-avian species.

On Designing Multicore-Aware Simulators for Systems Biology Endowed with OnLine Statistics

PubMed Central

Calcagno, Cristina; Coppo, Mario

2014-01-01

The paper arguments are on enabling methodologies for the design of a fully parallel, online, interactive tool aiming to support the bioinformatics scientists .In particular, the features of these methodologies, supported by the FastFlow parallel programming framework, are shown on a simulation tool to perform the modeling, the tuning, and the sensitivity analysis of stochastic biological models. A stochastic simulation needs thousands of independent simulation trajectories turning into big data that should be analysed by statistic and data mining tools. In the considered approach the two stages are pipelined in such a way that the simulation stage streams out the partial results of all simulation trajectories to the analysis stage that immediately produces a partial result. The simulation-analysis workflow is validated for performance and effectiveness of the online analysis in capturing biological systems behavior on a multicore platform and representative proof-of-concept biological systems. The exploited methodologies include pattern-based parallel programming and data streaming that provide key features to the software designers such as performance portability and efficient in-memory (big) data management and movement. Two paradigmatic classes of biological systems exhibiting multistable and oscillatory behavior are used as a testbed. PMID:25050327

On designing multicore-aware simulators for systems biology endowed with OnLine statistics.

PubMed

Aldinucci, Marco; Calcagno, Cristina; Coppo, Mario; Damiani, Ferruccio; Drocco, Maurizio; Sciacca, Eva; Spinella, Salvatore; Torquati, Massimo; Troina, Angelo

2014-01-01

The paper arguments are on enabling methodologies for the design of a fully parallel, online, interactive tool aiming to support the bioinformatics scientists .In particular, the features of these methodologies, supported by the FastFlow parallel programming framework, are shown on a simulation tool to perform the modeling, the tuning, and the sensitivity analysis of stochastic biological models. A stochastic simulation needs thousands of independent simulation trajectories turning into big data that should be analysed by statistic and data mining tools. In the considered approach the two stages are pipelined in such a way that the simulation stage streams out the partial results of all simulation trajectories to the analysis stage that immediately produces a partial result. The simulation-analysis workflow is validated for performance and effectiveness of the online analysis in capturing biological systems behavior on a multicore platform and representative proof-of-concept biological systems. The exploited methodologies include pattern-based parallel programming and data streaming that provide key features to the software designers such as performance portability and efficient in-memory (big) data management and movement. Two paradigmatic classes of biological systems exhibiting multistable and oscillatory behavior are used as a testbed.

The MetabolomeExpress Project: enabling web-based processing, analysis and transparent dissemination of GC/MS metabolomics datasets.

PubMed

Carroll, Adam J; Badger, Murray R; Harvey Millar, A

2010-07-14

Standardization of analytical approaches and reporting methods via community-wide collaboration can work synergistically with web-tool development to result in rapid community-driven expansion of online data repositories suitable for data mining and meta-analysis. In metabolomics, the inter-laboratory reproducibility of gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry (GC/MS) makes it an obvious target for such development. While a number of web-tools offer access to datasets and/or tools for raw data processing and statistical analysis, none of these systems are currently set up to act as a public repository by easily accepting, processing and presenting publicly submitted GC/MS metabolomics datasets for public re-analysis. Here, we present MetabolomeExpress, a new File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server and web-tool for the online storage, processing, visualisation and statistical re-analysis of publicly submitted GC/MS metabolomics datasets. Users may search a quality-controlled database of metabolite response statistics from publicly submitted datasets by a number of parameters (eg. metabolite, species, organ/biofluid etc.). Users may also perform meta-analysis comparisons of multiple independent experiments or re-analyse public primary datasets via user-friendly tools for t-test, principal components analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis and correlation analysis. They may interact with chromatograms, mass spectra and peak detection results via an integrated raw data viewer. Researchers who register for a free account may upload (via FTP) their own data to the server for online processing via a novel raw data processing pipeline. MetabolomeExpress https://www.metabolome-express.org provides a new opportunity for the general metabolomics community to transparently present online the raw and processed GC/MS data underlying their metabolomics publications. Transparent sharing of these data will allow researchers to assess data quality and draw their own insights from published metabolomics datasets.

Recruitment and Hiring Strategies of Private Practitioners and Implications for Practice Management Training of Veterinary Students.

PubMed

Kogan, Lori R; Hellyer, Peter W; Stewart, Sherry M; Dowers, Kristy L

2015-01-01

Hiring new employees is one of the most important and difficult decisions all veterinary practice managers and owners face. In an effort to improve hiring decisions, many employers are choosing to screen potential employees more thoroughly through the use of interviews, background checks, personality assessments, and online research including social and professional networking websites. The current study reports results from an anonymous online survey created to evaluate practicing veterinarians' attitudes and practices related to the use of recruitment and hiring tools. Results suggest that, compared to those in other professions, veterinarians underutilize these evaluative tools. The profession could benefit from more opportunities for both practitioners and veterinary students to learn how to utilize a broader range of hiring and recruitment techniques. One area of particular and growing concern is the use of Internet social media for evaluation of potential employees. Despite the fairly low number of participants who indicated they currently research applicants online, a significant number plan to implement this practice in the future. Many students are unaware of how their online postings can affect their future job possibilities and career. It is therefore important to designate time within continuing education programs and professional veterinary curricula to educate these populations about hiring and recruitment tool options and about how to manage their personal Internet interactions (especially social media) to enhance and maintain their professional image (e-professionalism).

Google classroom as a tool for active learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaharanee, Izwan Nizal Mohd; Jamil, Jastini Mohd; Rodzi, Sarah Syamimi Mohamad

2016-08-01

As the world is being developed with the new technologies, discovering and manipulating new ideas and concepts of online education are changing rapidly. In response to these changes, many states, institutions, and organizations have been working on strategic plans to implement online education. At the same time, misconceptions and myths related to the difficulty of teaching and learning online, technologies available to support online instruction, the support and compensation needed for high-quality instructors, and the needs of online students create challenges for such vision statements and planning documents. This paper provides analysis and evaluation of the effectiveness of Google Classroom's active learning activities for data mining subject under the Decision Sciences program. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been employed to measure the effectiveness of the learning activities. A total of 100 valid unduplicated responses from students who enrolled data mining subject were used in this study. The results indicated that majority of the students satisfy with the Google Classroom's tool that were introduced in the class. Results of data analyzed showed that all ratios are above averages. In particular, comparative performance is good in the areas of ease of access, perceived usefulness, communication and interaction, instruction delivery and students' satisfaction towards the Google Classroom's active learning activities.

Use of Feedback-Oriented Online Exercises to Help Physiology Students Construct Well-Organized Answers to Short-Answer Questions

PubMed Central

Carnegie, Jacqueline

2015-01-01

Postsecondary education often requires students to use higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) such as analysis, evaluation, and creation as they assess situations and apply what they have learned during lecture to the formulation of solutions. Summative assessment of these abilities is often accomplished using short-answer questions (SAQs). Quandary was used to create feedback-oriented interactive online exercises to help students strengthen certain HOCS as they actively constructed answers to questions concerning the regulation of 1) metabolic rate, 2) blood sugar, 3) erythropoiesis, and 4) stroke volume. Each exercise began with a SAQ presenting an endocrine dysfunction or a physiological challenge; students were prompted to answer between six and eight multiple-choice questions while building their answer to the SAQ. Student outcomes on the SAQ sections of summative exams were compared before and after the introduction of the online tool and also between subgroups of students within the posttool-introduction population who demonstrated different levels of participation in the online exercises. While overall SAQ outcomes were not different before and after the introduction of the online exercises, once the SAQ tool had become available, those students who chose to use it had improved SAQ outcomes compared with those who did not. PMID:26113627

An online learning course in Ergonomics.

PubMed

Weiss, Patrice L Tamar; Schreuer, Naomi; Jermias-Cohen, Tali; Josman, Naomi

2004-01-01

For the past two years, the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Haifa has offered an online course to third year occupational therapists on the topic of Ergonomics for Health Care Professionals. The development and implementation of this course was funded by the Israeli Ministry of Education. Unique teaching materials, developed and uploaded to the University's server via "High Learn", included interactive and self-directed documents containing graphics, animations, and video clips. Extensive use was made of the discussion forum and survey tools, and students submitted all assignments online. For the final topic, an expert in ergonomics from Boston University delivered a lecture via two-way videoconferencing. The course site included comprehensive library listings in which all bibliographic materials were made available online. Students accessed course materials at the University in a computer classroom and at home via modem. In an accompanying research study, the frequency of student usage of the various online tools was tracked and extensive data were collected via questionnaires documenting students' demographic background, preferred learning style, prior usage of technology, satisfaction with the course and academic achievement. This paper focuses on the results of the research study that examined how the students responded to and coped with teaching material presented and accessed in this format.

Online Tools for Astronomy and Cosmochemistry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meyer, B. S.

2005-01-01

Over the past year, the Webnucleo Group at Clemson University has been developing a web site with a number of interactive online tools for astronomy and cosmochemistry applications. The site uses SHP (Simplified Hypertext Preprocessor), which, because of its flexibility, allows us to embed almost any computer language into our web pages. For a description of SHP, please see http://www.joeldenny.com/ At our web site, an internet user may mine large and complex data sets, such as our stellar evolution models, and make graphs or tables of the results. The user may also run some of our detailed nuclear physics and astrophysics codes, such as our nuclear statistical equilibrium code, which is written in fortran and C. Again, the user may make graphs and tables and download the results.

Impact of an Interactive Vascular Surgery Web-Based Educational Curriculum on Surgical Trainee Knowledge and Interest.

PubMed

Zayed, Mohamed A; Lilo, Emily A; Lee, Jason T

The surgical council on resident education developed an online competency-based self-study curriculum for general surgery residency trainees. Vascular surgery trainees are yet to have a similarly validated and readily accessible self-study curriculum. We sought to determine the effect of an interactive online vascular surgery curriculum on trainee knowledge and interest in vascular surgery. Over 15 months, 53 trainees (36 medical students and 16 surgical residents) performing a vascular surgery rotation were enrolled in a prospective, randomized, 2-cohort study. Before starting a 4-week rotation, trainee baseline demographics were collected, and a pretest was administered to evaluate baseline vascular surgery knowledge. During the same study period, 31 trainees (GROUP 1) were randomized to an interactive online curriculum with weekly reading assignments, and 21 trainees (GROUP 2) did not have access to the online curriculum. At the conclusion, all trainees received a posttest and survey to evaluate any change in vascular surgery knowledge and interest. Although 26.8% of trainees predicted that online computer modules would be a beneficial learning tool, most of trainees indicated textbook reading and case discussions are preferred. Analysis of GROUPS 1 and 2 revealed no significant differences in the average trainee age, training level, sex, or number of surgical cases observed during the rotation. Improvement in vascular surgery knowledge in GROUP 1 was significantly higher compared to GROUP 2 (average increase in posttest scores of 16.1% vs 6.6%, p = 0.009). New interest in vascular surgery was increased by 22.2% in GROUP 1, but was decreased by 40% in GROUP 2 (p < 0.001). Basic vascular surgery principles can be efficiently introduced through an interactive online curriculum. This type of self-study can improve trainee knowledge, and foster interest in vascular surgery. As in other specialties, a standardized and validated online vascular surgery curriculum should be developed for emerging trainees. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The OOI Ocean Education Portal: Enabling the Development of Online Data Investigations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lichtenwalner, C. S.; McDonnell, J. D.; Crowley, M. F.; deCharon, A.; Companion, C. J.; Glenn, S. M.

2016-02-01

The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) was designed to transform ocean science, by establishing a long-term, multi-instrument, multi-platform research infrastructure at 7 arrays around the word. This unprecedented investment in ocean observation, funded by the National Science Foundation, provides a rich opportunity to reshape ocean science education as well. As part of the initial construction effort, an online Ocean Education Portal was developed to support the creation and sharing of educational resources by undergraduate faculty at universities and community colleges. The portal includes a suite of tools that enable the development of online activities for use as group or individual projects, which can be used during lectures or as homework assignments. The site includes: 1) a suite of interactive educational data visualization tools that provide simple and targeted interfaces to interact with OOI datasets; 2) a concept map builder that can be used by both educators and students to build networked diagrams of their knowledge; and 3) a "data investigation" builder that allows faculty to assemble resources into coherent learning modules. The site also includes a "vocabulary navigator" that provides a visual way to discover and learn about the OOI's infrastructure and scientific design. The site allows users to browse an ever-growing database of resources created by the community, and likewise, users can share resources they create with others. As the OOI begins its 25-year operational phase, it is our hope that faculty will be able to use the tools and investigations on the Ocean Education Portal to bring real ocean science research to their undergraduate students.

Interactive visualization of public health indicators to support policymaking: An exploratory study

PubMed Central

Zakkar, Moutasem; Sedig, Kamran

2017-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the use of interactive visualizations to represent data/information related to social determinants of health and public health indicators, and to investigate the benefits of such visualizations for health policymaking. Methods: The study developed a prototype for an online interactive visualization tool that represents the social determinants of health. The study participants explored and used the tool. The tool was evaluated using the informal user experience evaluation method. This method involves the prospective users of a tool to use and play with it and their feedback to be collected through interviews. Results: Using visualizations to represent and interact with health indicators has advantages over traditional representation techniques that do not allow users to interact with the information. Communicating healthcare indicators to policymakers is a complex task because of the complexity of the indicators, diversity of audiences, and different audience needs. This complexity can lead to information misinterpretation, which occurs when users of the health data ignore or do not know why, where, and how the data has been produced, or where and how it can be used. Conclusions: Public health policymaking is a complex process, and data is only one element among others needed in this complex process. Researchers and healthcare organizations should conduct a strategic evaluation to assess the usability of interactive visualizations and decision support tools before investing in these tools. Such evaluation should take into consideration the cost, ease of use, learnability, and efficiency of those tools, and the factors that influence policymaking. PMID:29026455

Interaction of a Vocabulary Quiz with Cognitive Instructional Strategies in First Language Learning among Japanese Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tomita, Kei

2016-01-01

In response to concerns regarding effects of hyperlinked annotation on reading comprehension, this study was undertaken to compare hyperlinked annotation with student highlighting of unknown/difficult words. An online highlighting tool was used to help students reflect their prior vocabulary in a hyperlink-based annotated passage. Highlighting…

Review, Revise, and (re)Release: Updating an Information Literacy Tutorial to Embed a Science Information Life Cycle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bussmann, Jeffra Diane; Plovnick, Caitlin E.

2013-01-01

In 2008, University of California, Irvine (UCI) Libraries launched their first Find Science Information online tutorial. It was an innovative web-based tool, containing not only informative content but also interactive activities, embedded hyperlinked resources, and reflective quizzes, all designed primarily to educate undergraduate science…

Factors Influencing Future Educational Technologists' Intentions to Participate in Online Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hung, Wei-Chen; Jeng, Ifeng

2013-01-01

Education through the Internet is being shaped by the next wave of Web technology where productivity, collaborative tools and the ubiquity of computers play a major role in changing methods of peer interaction and collaboration. Because future educational technologists will play vital roles in navigating through this technical complexity and…

Combining Interaction and Context Design to Support Collaborative Argumentation Using a Tool for Synchronous CMC

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mcalister, Simon; Ravenscroft, Andrew; Scanlon, Eileen

2004-01-01

Empirical studies and theory suggest that educational dialogue can be used to support learners in the development of reasoning, critical thinking and argumentation. This paper presents an educational design for synchronous online peer discussion that guides student dialogue in ways that lead to improved argumentation and collaborative knowledge…

An Online, Interactive Renewable Energy Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Leary, D. A.; Shattuck, J.; Kubby, J.

2012-01-01

An undergraduate introductory science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) class can be a jarring disappointment to new students expecting to work with cutting-edge, real-world technology. Their cell phones are often more technically advanced and real-world than the tools used in a class lab. Not surprisingly, many complain that the STEM labs…

Toward Transformation: Digital Tools for Online Dance Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parrish, Mila

2016-01-01

Media advances have changed the ways in which we interact, communicate, teach, and learn. The growth of telecommunication, video sharing sites, specifically YouTube, and social media, have exponentially increased the number of people interested in dance and dance education. Technology presents new ways for students to think about their learning,…

Adaptive Synchronization of Semantically Compressed Instructional Videos for Collaborative Distance Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phung, Dan; Valetto, Giuseppe; Kaiser, Gail E.; Liu, Tiecheng; Kender, John R.

2007-01-01

The increasing popularity of online courses has highlighted the need for collaborative learning tools for student groups. In this article, we present an e-Learning architecture and adaptation model called AI2TV (Adaptive Interactive Internet Team Video), which allows groups of students to collaboratively view instructional videos in synchrony.…

A Dynamic Social Feedback System to Support Learning and Social Interaction in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thoms, Brian

2011-01-01

In this research, we examine the design, construction, and implementation of a dynamic, easy to use, feedback mechanism for social software. The tool was integrated into an existing university's online learning community (OLC). In line with constructivist learning models and practical information systems (IS) design, the feedback system provides…

How Social Media Can and Should Impact Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blankenship, Mark

2011-01-01

Interactive, community-focused online tools--like Skype, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, wikis, and the educational software Blackboard--are becoming so dominant in the classroom that it's hard to imagine any professor or student making it through a week without them. Consider a recent survey conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group in…

High Wired: On the Design, Use and Theory of Educational MOOs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haynes, Cynthia, Ed.; Holmevik, Jan Rune, Ed.

MOOs (Multi-User, Object-Oriented Environments), which were designed originally as spaces for online social interaction, are increasingly recognized today for their value as educational tools. This book brings together a diverse group of experts whose contributions help answer questions and dispel myths surrounding MOOs and their use in education.…

Common Molecules: Bringing Research and Teaching Together through an Online Collection.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sandvoss, Leah M.; Harwood, William S.; Korkmaz, Ali; Bollinger, John C.; Huffman, John C.; Huffman, John N.

2003-01-01

Describes the design of a Common Molecules collection that provides interactive tools for 3-D visualization of molecules. The organizational design provides not only structural information, but also historical and/or key information on the properties of the molecules in the collection. Describes student use of the collection and the role of…

Technology, Learning and Instruction: Distributed Cognition in the Secondary English Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gomez, Mary Louise; Schieble, Melissa; Curwood, Jen Scott; Hassett, Dawnene

2010-01-01

In this paper, we analyse interactions between secondary students and pre-service teachers in an online environment in order to understand how their meaning-making processes embody distributed cognition. We begin by providing a theoretical review of the ways in which literacy learning is distributed across learners, objects, tools, symbols,…

When and Where You Want It: Continuing Education from a Distance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shade, Stacy Deck; Barber, Gerard M.

2004-01-01

Online technology is increasingly being used as a tool for delivery of continuing education to health care professionals. This paper discusses key lessons learned in developing a distance-learning program. It provides practical information on ways to enhance interactivity and overcome obstacles. Preliminary outcomes for learners in a four-state…

A Solution-Based Intelligent Tutoring System Integrated with an Online Game-Based Formative Assessment: Development and Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hooshyar, Danial; Ahmad, Rodina Binti; Yousefi, Moslem; Fathi, Moein; Abdollahi, Abbas; Horng, Shi-Jinn; Lim, Heuiseok

2016-01-01

Nowadays, intelligent tutoring systems are considered an effective research tool for learning systems and problem-solving skill improvement. Nonetheless, such individualized systems may cause students to lose learning motivation when interaction and timely guidance are lacking. In order to address this problem, a solution-based intelligent…

Embracing Distance Education in a Blended Learning Model: Challenges and Prospects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fresen, Jill W.

2018-01-01

Distance education reaches out to non-traditional students in geographically dispersed locations, who are unable to attend face-to-face classes. Contact institutions have been quick to realise the many advantages of distance (online) learning, such as easy access to learning materials, interactive activities, assessment and communication tools.…

Cloud Computing Technologies in Writing Class: Factors Influencing Students' Learning Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Jenny

2017-01-01

The proposed interactive online group within the cloud computing technologies as a main contribution of this paper provides easy and simple access to the cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) system and delivers effective educational tools for students and teacher on after-class group writing assignment activities. Therefore, this study…

Developing Students' Critical Reasoning About Online Health Information: A Capabilities Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiblom, Jonna; Rundgren, Carl-Johan; Andrée, Maria

2017-11-01

The internet has become a main source for health-related information retrieval. In addition to information published by medical experts, individuals share their personal experiences and narratives on blogs and social media platforms. Our increasing need to confront and make meaning of various sources and conflicting health information has challenged the way critical reasoning has become relevant in science education. This study addresses how the opportunities for students to develop and practice their capabilities to critically approach online health information can be created in science education. Together with two upper secondary biology teachers, we carried out a design-based study. The participating students were given an online retrieval task that included a search and evaluation of health-related online sources. After a few lessons, the students were introduced to an evaluation tool designed to support critical evaluation of health information online. Using qualitative content analysis, four themes could be discerned in the audio and video recordings of student interactions when engaging with the task. Each theme illustrates the different ways in which critical reasoning became practiced in the student groups. Without using the evaluation tool, the students struggled to overview the vast amount of information and negotiate trustworthiness. Guided by the evaluation tool, critical reasoning was practiced to handle source subjectivity and to sift out scientific information only. Rather than a generic skill and transferable across contexts, students' critical reasoning became conditioned by the multi-dimensional nature of health issues, the blend of various contexts and the shift of purpose constituted by the students.

Development and evaluation of an online, interactive information and advice tool for pre-registration nursing students.

PubMed

Ryan, Gemma Sinead; Davies, Fiona

2016-03-01

Attrition rates for student nurses on academic programmes is a challenge for UK Higher Education Institutions. Reasons for leaving a programme of study include personal, financial issues or practice placement experiences. Research has shown systematic and integrated support mechanisms may improve attrition rates and student experience. This project explored the sources of, and support needs of nursing and allied health students, develop and evaluate and interactive online tool: 'SignpOSt'. Enabling students to access 'the right support, at the right time, from the right place'. Focus groups were carried out with 14, 3rd year students and 8 academic staff including personal tutors, programme/module leaders. Thematic analysis of transcribed data under four key themes for support and advice: 1. Financial 2. Programme 3. Personal 4. Study/academic, found poor student knowledge and little clarity of responsibilities of academic staff and services leads to students sourcing support from the wrong place at the wrong time. Students valued the speed and accessibility of information from informal, programme specific Facebook groups. Conversely, there were also concerns about the accuracy of these. Further research into the use of informal Facebook groups may be useful along with additional evaluation of the SOS tool. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A New Approach to Developing Interactive Software Modules Through Graduate Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanders, Nathan E.; Faesi, Chris; Goodman, Alyssa A.

2014-06-01

Educational technology has attained significant importance as a mechanism for supporting experiential learning of science concepts. However, the growth of this mechanism is limited by the significant time and technical expertise needed to develop such products, particularly in specialized fields of science. We sought to test whether interactive, educational, online software modules can be developed effectively by students as a curriculum component of an advanced science course. We discuss a set of 15 such modules developed by Harvard University graduate students to demonstrate various concepts related to astronomy and physics. Their successful development of these modules demonstrates that online software tools for education and outreach on specialized topics can be produced while simultaneously fulfilling project-based learning objectives. We describe a set of technologies suitable for module development and present in detail four examples of modules developed by the students. We offer recommendations for incorporating educational software development within a graduate curriculum and conclude by discussing the relevance of this novel approach to new online learning environments like edX.

P-MartCancer: A New Online Platform to Access CPTAC Datasets and Enable New Analyses | Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research

Cancer.gov

The November 1, 2017 issue of Cancer Research is dedicated to a collection of computational resource papers in genomics, proteomics, animal models, imaging, and clinical subjects for non-bioinformaticists looking to incorporate computing tools into their work. Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed P-MartCancer, an open, web-based interactive software tool that enables statistical analyses of peptide or protein data generated from mass-spectrometry (MS)-based global proteomics experiments.

GREAT: a web portal for Genome Regulatory Architecture Tools

PubMed Central

Bouyioukos, Costas; Bucchini, François; Elati, Mohamed; Képès, François

2016-01-01

GREAT (Genome REgulatory Architecture Tools) is a novel web portal for tools designed to generate user-friendly and biologically useful analysis of genome architecture and regulation. The online tools of GREAT are freely accessible and compatible with essentially any operating system which runs a modern browser. GREAT is based on the analysis of genome layout -defined as the respective positioning of co-functional genes- and its relation with chromosome architecture and gene expression. GREAT tools allow users to systematically detect regular patterns along co-functional genomic features in an automatic way consisting of three individual steps and respective interactive visualizations. In addition to the complete analysis of regularities, GREAT tools enable the use of periodicity and position information for improving the prediction of transcription factor binding sites using a multi-view machine learning approach. The outcome of this integrative approach features a multivariate analysis of the interplay between the location of a gene and its regulatory sequence. GREAT results are plotted in web interactive graphs and are available for download either as individual plots, self-contained interactive pages or as machine readable tables for downstream analysis. The GREAT portal can be reached at the following URL https://absynth.issb.genopole.fr/GREAT and each individual GREAT tool is available for downloading. PMID:27151196

The NASA NEESPI Data Portal to Support Studies of Climate and Environmental Changes in Non-Boreal Europe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shen, Suhung; Leptoukh, Gregory; Loboda, Tatiana; Csiszar, Ivan; Romanov, Peter; Gerasimov, Irina

2008-01-01

NASA NEESPI (Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative) data portal is a NASA funded project that focuses on collecting satellite remote sensing data, providing tools, information, and services in support of NEESPI scientific objectives (Leptoukh, et al., 2007). The data can be accessed online through anonymous ftp, through an advanced data searching and ordering system Mirador that uses keywords to find data quickly in a Google-like interface, and through the Goddard Interactive Online Visualization ANd aNalysis Infrastructure (Giovanni). The portal provides preprocessed data from different satellite sensors and numerical models to the same spatial and temporal resolution and the same projection so that the data can be used easily to perform inter-comparison or relationship studies. In addition, it provides parameter and spatially subsetted data for regional studies. Studies of regional carbon, hydrology, aerosols in non-boreal Europe and their interactions with global climate are very challenging research topics. The NASA NEESPI data portal makes many satellite data available for such studies, including information on land cover types, fire, vegetation index, aerosols, land surface temperature, soil moisture, precipitation, snow/ice, and other parameters. This paper will introduce the features and products available in the system, focusing on the online data 1 tool, Giovanni NEESPI. An example that explores different data through Giovanni NEESPI in temperate region of non-boreal Europe will be presented.

Online tools for individuals with depression and neurologic conditions: A scoping review.

PubMed

Lukmanji, Sara; Pham, Tram; Blaikie, Laura; Clark, Callie; Jetté, Nathalie; Wiebe, Samuel; Bulloch, Andrew; Holroyd-Leduc, Jayna; Macrodimitris, Sophia; Mackie, Aaron; Patten, Scott B

2017-08-01

Patients with neurologic conditions commonly have depression. Online tools have the potential to improve outcomes in these patients in an efficient and accessible manner. We aimed to identify evidence-informed online tools for patients with comorbid neurologic conditions and depression. A scoping review of online tools (free, publicly available, and not requiring a facilitator) for patients with depression and epilepsy, Parkinson disease (PD), multiple sclerosis (MS), traumatic brain injury (TBI), or migraine was conducted. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Cochrane CENTRAL Register of Controlled Trials were searched from database inception to January 2017 for all 5 neurologic conditions. Gray literature using Google and Google Scholar as well as app stores for both Android and Apple devices were searched. Self-management or self-efficacy online tools were not included unless they were specifically targeted at depression and one of the neurologic conditions and met the other eligibility criteria. Only 4 online tools were identified. Of these 4 tools, 2 were web-based self-management programs for patients with migraine or MS and depression. The other 2 were mobile apps for patients with PD or TBI and depression. No online tools were found for epilepsy. There are limited depression tools for people with neurologic conditions that are evidence-informed, publicly available, and free. Future research should focus on the development of high-quality, evidence-based online tools targeted at neurologic patients.

Hess Deep Interactive Lab: Exploring the Structure and Formation of the Oceanic Crust through Hands-On Models and Online Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurtz, N.; Marks, N.; Cooper, S. K.

2014-12-01

Scientific ocean drilling through the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) has contributed extensively to our knowledge of Earth systems science. However, many of its methods and discoveries can seem abstract and complicated for students. Collaborations between scientists and educators/artists to create accurate yet engaging demonstrations and activities have been crucial to increasing understanding and stimulating interest in fascinating geological topics. One such collaboration, which came out of Expedition 345 to the Hess Deep Rift, resulted in an interactive lab to explore sampling rocks from the usually inacessible lower oceanic crust, offering an insight into the geological processes that form the structure of the Earth's crust. This Hess Deep Interactive Lab aims to explain several significant discoveries made by oceanic drilling utilizing images of actual thin sections and core samples recovered from IODP expeditions. . Participants can interact with a physical model to learn about the coring and drilling processes, and gain an understanding of seafloor structures. The collaboration of this lab developed as a need to explain fundamental notions of the ocean crust formed at fast-spreading ridges. A complementary interactive online lab can be accessed at www.joidesresolution.org for students to engage further with these concepts. This project explores the relationship between physical and on-line models to further understanding, including what we can learn from the pros and cons of each.

EEGLAB, SIFT, NFT, BCILAB, and ERICA: new tools for advanced EEG processing.

PubMed

Delorme, Arnaud; Mullen, Tim; Kothe, Christian; Akalin Acar, Zeynep; Bigdely-Shamlo, Nima; Vankov, Andrey; Makeig, Scott

2011-01-01

We describe a set of complementary EEG data collection and processing tools recently developed at the Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience (SCCN) that connect to and extend the EEGLAB software environment, a freely available and readily extensible processing environment running under Matlab. The new tools include (1) a new and flexible EEGLAB STUDY design facility for framing and performing statistical analyses on data from multiple subjects; (2) a neuroelectromagnetic forward head modeling toolbox (NFT) for building realistic electrical head models from available data; (3) a source information flow toolbox (SIFT) for modeling ongoing or event-related effective connectivity between cortical areas; (4) a BCILAB toolbox for building online brain-computer interface (BCI) models from available data, and (5) an experimental real-time interactive control and analysis (ERICA) environment for real-time production and coordination of interactive, multimodal experiments.

Variability in Predictions from Online Tools: A Demonstration Using Internet-Based Melanoma Predictors.

PubMed

Zabor, Emily C; Coit, Daniel; Gershenwald, Jeffrey E; McMasters, Kelly M; Michaelson, James S; Stromberg, Arnold J; Panageas, Katherine S

2018-02-22

Prognostic models are increasingly being made available online, where they can be publicly accessed by both patients and clinicians. These online tools are an important resource for patients to better understand their prognosis and for clinicians to make informed decisions about treatment and follow-up. The goal of this analysis was to highlight the possible variability in multiple online prognostic tools in a single disease. To demonstrate the variability in survival predictions across online prognostic tools, we applied a single validation dataset to three online melanoma prognostic tools. Data on melanoma patients treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center between 2000 and 2014 were retrospectively collected. Calibration was assessed using calibration plots and discrimination was assessed using the C-index. In this demonstration project, we found important differences across the three models that led to variability in individual patients' predicted survival across the tools, especially in the lower range of predictions. In a validation test using a single-institution data set, calibration and discrimination varied across the three models. This study underscores the potential variability both within and across online tools, and highlights the importance of using methodological rigor when developing a prognostic model that will be made publicly available online. The results also reinforce that careful development and thoughtful interpretation, including understanding a given tool's limitations, are required in order for online prognostic tools that provide survival predictions to be a useful resource for both patients and clinicians.

Transforming the Online Course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horodyskyj, L.; Ben-Naim, D.; Semken, S. C.; Anbar, A. D.

2013-12-01

Traditional large lecture classes are fundamentally passive and teacher-centered. Most existing online courses are as well, including massive open online courses (MOOCs). Research tells us that this mode of instruction is not ideal for student learning. However, the unique attributes of the online environment have thus far been mostly underutilized. We hypothesize that new tools and the innovative curricula they enable can foster greater student engagement and enhance learning at large scale. To test this hypothesis, over the past three years, Arizona State University developed and offered "Habitable Worlds", an online-only astrobiology lab course. The course curriculum is based on the Drake Equation, which integrates across disciplines. The course pedagogy is organized around a term-long, individualized, game-inspired project in which each student must find and characterize rare habitable planets in a randomized field of hundreds of stars using concepts learned in the course. The curriculum allows us to meaningfully integrate concepts from Earth, physical, life, and social sciences in order to address questions related to the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The pedagogy motivates students to master concepts, which are taught through interactive and adaptive inquiry-driven tutorials, featuring focused feedback and alternative pathways that adjust to student abilities, built using an intelligent tutoring system (Smart Sparrow's Adaptive eLearning Platform - AeLP). Through the combination of the project and tutorials, students construct knowledge from experience, modeling the authentic practice of science. Because the tutorials are self-grading, the teaching staff is free to dedicate time to more intense learner-teacher interactions (such as tutoring weaker students or guiding advanced students towards broader applications of the concepts), using platforms like Piazza and Adobe Connect. The AeLP and Piazza provide robust data and analysis tools that allow us to investigate how students interact with the exercises, both in aggregate and at the individual level. These data have allowed us to identify and fix hidden problems in the exercises that students do not vocalize. More importantly, the AeLP provides the opportunity to construct and evaluate hypotheses in content presentation and evaluation methods that are simply not possible in traditional classroom settings, a task we are currently undertaking to determine the effectiveness of our approach.

GES DAAC HDF Data Processing and Visualization Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ouzounov, D.; Cho, S.; Johnson, J.; Li, J.; Liu, Z.; Lu, L.; Pollack, N.; Qin, J.; Savtchenko, A.; Teng, B.

2002-12-01

The Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) plays a major role in enabling basic scientific research and providing access to scientific data to the general user community. Several GES DAAC Data Support Teams provide expert assistance to users in accessing data, including information on visualization tools and documentation for data products. To provide easy access to the science data, the data support teams have additionally developed many online and desktop tools for data processing and visualization. This presentation is an overview of major HDF tools implemented at the GES DAAC and aimed at optimizing access to EOS data for the Earth Sciences community. GES DAAC ONLINE TOOLS: MODIS and AIRS on-demand Channel/Variable Subsetter are web-based, on-the-fly/on-demand subsetters that perform channel/variable subsetting and restructuring for Level1B and Level 2 data products. Users can specify criteria to subset data files with desired channels and variables and then download the subsetted file. AIRS QuickLook is a CGI/IDL combo package that allows users to view AIRS/HSB/AMSU Level-1B data online by specifying a channel prior to obtaining data. A global map is also provided along with the image to show geographic coverage of the granule and flight direction of the spacecraft. OASIS (Online data AnalySIS) is an IDL-based HTML/CGI interface for search, selection, and simple analysis of earth science data. It supports binary and GRIB formatted data, such as TOVS, Data Assimilation products, and some NCEP operational products. TRMM Online Analysis System is designed for quick exploration, analyses, and visualization of TRMM Level-3 and other precipitation products. The products consist of the daily (3B42), monthly(3B43), near-real-time (3B42RT), and Willmott's climate data. The system is also designed to be simple and easy to use - users can plot the average or accumulated rainfall over their region of interest for a given time period, or plot the time series of regional rainfall average. WebGIS is an online web software that implements the Open GIS Consortium (OGC) standards for mapping requests and rendering. It allows users access to TRMM, MODIS, SeaWiFS, and AVHRR data from several DAAC map servers, as well as externally served data such as political boundaries, population centers, lakes, rivers, and elevation. GES DAAC DESKTOP TOOLS: HDFLook-MODIS is a new, multifunctional, data processing and visualization tool for Radiometric and Geolocation, Atmosphere, Ocean, and Land MODIS HDF-EOS data. Features include (1) accessing and visualization of all swath (Levels l and 2) MODIS and AIRS products, and gridded (Levels 3 and 4) MODIS products; (2) re-mapping of swath data to world map; (3) geo-projection conversion; (4) interactive and batch mode capabilities; (5) subsetting and multi-granule processing; and (6) data conversion. SIMAP is an IDL-based script that is designed to read and map MODIS Level 1B (L1B) and Level 2 (L2) Ocean and Atmosphere products. It is a non-interactive, command line executed tool. The resulting maps are scaled to physical units (e.g., radiances, concentrations, brightness temperatures) and saved in binary files. TRMM HDF (in C and Fortran), reads in TRMM HDF data files and writes out user-selected SDS arrays and Vdata tables as separate flat binary files.

Discovery of Information Diffusion Process in Social Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Kwanho; Jung, Jae-Yoon; Park, Jonghun

Information diffusion analysis in social networks is of significance since it enables us to deeply understand dynamic social interactions among users. In this paper, we introduce approaches to discovering information diffusion process in social networks based on process mining. Process mining techniques are applied from three perspectives: social network analysis, process discovery and community recognition. We then present experimental results by using a real-life social network data. The proposed techniques are expected to employ as new analytical tools in online social networks such as blog and wikis for company marketers, politicians, news reporters and online writers.

Scientific Platform as a Service - Tools and solutions for efficient access to and analysis of oceanographic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vines, Aleksander; Hansen, Morten W.; Korosov, Anton

2017-04-01

Existing infrastructure international and Norwegian projects, e.g., NorDataNet, NMDC and NORMAP, provide open data access through the OPeNDAP protocol following the conventions for CF (Climate and Forecast) metadata, designed to promote the processing and sharing of files created with the NetCDF application programming interface (API). This approach is now also being implemented in the Norwegian Sentinel Data Hub (satellittdata.no) to provide satellite EO data to the user community. Simultaneously with providing simplified and unified data access, these projects also seek to use and establish common standards for use and discovery metadata. This then allows development of standardized tools for data search and (subset) streaming over the internet to perform actual scientific analysis. A combinnation of software tools, which we call a Scientific Platform as a Service (SPaaS), will take advantage of these opportunities to harmonize and streamline the search, retrieval and analysis of integrated satellite and auxiliary observations of the oceans in a seamless system. The SPaaS is a cloud solution for integration of analysis tools with scientific datasets via an API. The core part of the SPaaS is a distributed metadata catalog to store granular metadata describing the structure, location and content of available satellite, model, and in situ datasets. The analysis tools include software for visualization (also online), interactive in-depth analysis, and server-based processing chains. The API conveys search requests between system nodes (i.e., interactive and server tools) and provides easy access to the metadata catalog, data repositories, and the tools. The SPaaS components are integrated in virtual machines, of which provisioning and deployment are automatized using existing state-of-the-art open-source tools (e.g., Vagrant, Ansible, Docker). The open-source code for scientific tools and virtual machine configurations is under version control at https://github.com/nansencenter/, and is coupled to an online continuous integration system (e.g., Travis CI).

Using Virtual Worlds in Education: Second Life[R] as an Educational Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Suzanne C.; Wentz, Ryan K.; Woods, Madison M.

2009-01-01

The online virtual world Second Life (www.secondlife.com) has multiple potential uses in teaching. In Second Life (SL), users create avatars that represent them in the virtual world. Within SL, avatars can interact with each other and with objects and environments. SL offers tremendous creative potential in that users can create content within the…

Virtual Reality on a Desktop Hailed as New Tool in Distance Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Jeffrey R.

2000-01-01

Describes college and university educational applications of desktop virtual reality to provide a more human touch to interactive distance education programs and impress the brain with more vivid images. Critics suggest the technology is too costly and time consuming and may even distract students from the content of an online course. (DB)

Social Networking: Developing Intercultural Competence and Fostering Autonomous Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vurdien, Ruby

2014-01-01

With the emergence of Web 2.0, the incorporation of internet-based social networking tools is becoming increasingly popular in the foreign language classes of today. This form of social interaction provides students with the opportunity to express and share their views with their peers, and to create profiles as well as online communities of…

LearnSmart, Adaptive Teaching, and Student Learning Effectiveness: An Empirical Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sun, Qin; Abdourazakou, Yann; Norman, Thomas J.

2017-01-01

Facing the growing number of digital natives entering the classroom, business professors look for innovative ways to enhance the student learning experience. The authors focus on the online interactive learning tool LearnSmart (McGraw-Hill, New York, NY), and examine its impact on student learning effectiveness by testing the direct and indirect…

A Case Study of Integrating Interwise: Interaction, Internet Self-Efficacy, and Satisfaction in Synchronous Online Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuo, Yu-Chun; Walker, Andrew E.; Belland, Brian R.; Schroder, Kerstin E. E.; Kuo, Yu-Tung

2014-01-01

This paper reports research on the implementation of a web-based videoconferencing tool (Interwise) for synchronous learning sessions on an industrial technology course offered through a university in northern Taiwan. The participants included undergraduate students from the same course offered in two different semesters. We investigated students'…

Designing Interactive and Collaborative Learning Tasks in a 3-D Virtual Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berns, Anke; Palomo-Duarte, Manuel; Fernández, David Camacho

2012-01-01

The aim of our study is to explore several possibilities to use virtual worlds (VWs) and game-applications with learners of the A1 level (CEFR) of German as a foreign language. Our interest focuses especially on designing those learning tools which increase firstly, learner motivation towards online-learning and secondly, enhance autonomous…

Modeling MOOC Student Behavior with Two-Layer Hidden Markov Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geigle, Chase; Zhai, ChengXiang

2017-01-01

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) provide educators with an abundance of data describing how students interact with the platform, but this data is highly underutilized today. This is in part due to the lack of sophisticated tools to provide interpretable and actionable summaries of huge amounts of MOOC activity present in log data. To address…

Language Learning Effects through the Integration of Synchronous Online Communication: The Case of Video Communication and Second Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canto, Silvia; Jauregi Ondarra, Kristi

2017-01-01

This article attempts to shed some light on the possible learning benefits for language acquisition and intercultural development of authentic social interaction with expert peers through computer mediated communication (CMC) tools. The environments used in this study are video communication and the 3D virtual world "Second Life." For…

Improving Graduate Students' Learning through the Use of Moodle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olmos, Susana; Mena, Juanjo; Torrecilla, Eva; Iglesias, Ana

2015-01-01

Moodle stands as an online tool that promotes enhanced learning in higher education. However, it often becomes a repository of contents instead of an interactive environment. In this paper we describe how this platform was used by university students and teachers in 104 courses and compare whether ICT--as core subject courses--use Moodle more…

Identification of "At Risk" Students Using Learning Analytics: The Ethical Dilemmas of Intervention Strategies in a Higher Education Institution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawson, Celeste; Beer, Colin; Rossi, Dolene; Moore, Teresa; Fleming, Julie

2016-01-01

Learning analytics is an emerging field in which sophisticated analytic tools are used to inform and improve learning and teaching. Researchers within a regional university in Australia identified an association between interaction and student success in online courses and subsequently developed a learning analytics system aimed at informing…

A Little Help from My Friends: Classroom 2.0 Educators Share Their Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hargardon, Steve

2007-01-01

Blogs, wikis, podcasting, social networks... it seems the entire world has gone 2.0 crazy. Among the followers are educators, who, in ever increasing numbers, are integrating these online, interactive tools into their classrooms and even libraries. This article presents profiles of a few of educators who have taken the plunge, launching blogs,…

Online Student Collaboration and FERPA Considerations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schrameyer, Alexander R.; Graves, Tracy M.; Hua, David M.; Brandt, Nile C.

2016-01-01

The increasing use of online or cloud collaboration tools in organizations creates a need for students to develop skills in the use of these tools. Instructors have an opportunity to prepare students by incorporating these collaboration tools into their courses. The use of these online collaboration tools has the potential to expose instructors…

The Eugenides Foundation Interactive Exhibition of Science and Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kontogiannis, Ioannis

2010-01-01

The Interactive Exhibition of Science and Technology is installed in an area of 1200 m2 at the Eugenides Foundation. 65 interactive exhibits, designed by the "Cites des Science et de l' Industrie" are organised in themes, stimulate the visitors' mind and provoke scientific thinking. Parallel activities take place inside the exhibition, such as live science demonstrations, performed by young scientists. Extra material such as news bulletins (short news, science comics and portraits), educational paths and treasure-hunting based games, all available online as well, are prepared on a monthly basis and provided along with the visit to the exhibition. Through these exhibits and activities, scientific facts are made simple and easy to comprehend using modern presentation tools. We present details on how this exhibition acts complementary to the science education provided by schools, making it a highly sophisticated educational tool.

Developing an online professional network for veterinary education: the NOVICE project.

PubMed

Baillie, Sarah; Kinnison, Tierney; Forrest, Neil; Dale, Vicki H M; Ehlers, Jan P; Koch, Michael; Mándoki, Mira; Ciobotaru, Emilia; de Groot, Esther; Boerboom, Tobias B B; van Beukelen, Peter

2011-01-01

An online professional network for veterinarians, veterinary students, veterinary educationalists, and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) educationalists is being developed under the EU (European Union) Lifelong Learning Programme. The network uses Web 2.0, a term used to describe the new, more interactive version of the Internet, and includes tools such as wikis, blogs, and discussion boards. Focus groups conducted with qualified and student veterinarians within the project's five founding countries (The Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom, Hungary, Romania) demonstrated that online professional communities can be valuable for accessing information and establishing contacts. Online networks have the potential to overcome common challenges to face-to-face communities-such as distance, cost, and timing-but they have their own drawbacks, such as security and professionalism issues. The Network Of Veterinary ICt in Education (NOVICE) was developed using Elgg, an open-source, free social networking platform, after several software options had been considered. NOVICE aims to promote the understanding of Web 2.0, confidence to use social software tools, and participation in an online community. Therefore, the Web site contains help sections, Frequently Asked Questions, and access to support from ICT experts. Five months after the network's launch (and just over one year into the project) 515 members from 28 countries had registered. Further research will include analysis of a core group's activities, which will inform ongoing support for and development of informal, lifelong learning in a veterinary context.

Online Learning Tools as Supplements for Basic and Clinical Science Education.

PubMed

Ellman, Matthew S; Schwartz, Michael L

2016-01-01

Undergraduate medical educators are increasingly incorporating online learning tools into basic and clinical science curricula. In this paper, we explore the diversity of online learning tools and consider the range of applications for these tools in classroom and bedside learning. Particular advantages of these tools are highlighted, such as delivering foundational knowledge as part of the "flipped classroom" pedagogy and for depicting unusual physical examination findings and advanced clinical communication skills. With accelerated use of online learning, educators and administrators need to consider pedagogic and practical challenges posed by integrating online learning into individual learning activities, courses, and curricula as a whole. We discuss strategies for faculty development and the role of school-wide resources for supporting and using online learning. Finally, we consider the role of online learning in interprofessional, integrated, and competency-based applications among other contemporary trends in medical education are considered.

Online Learning Tools as Supplements for Basic and Clinical Science Education

PubMed Central

Ellman, Matthew S.; Schwartz, Michael L.

2016-01-01

Undergraduate medical educators are increasingly incorporating online learning tools into basic and clinical science curricula. In this paper, we explore the diversity of online learning tools and consider the range of applications for these tools in classroom and bedside learning. Particular advantages of these tools are highlighted, such as delivering foundational knowledge as part of the “flipped classroom” pedagogy and for depicting unusual physical examination findings and advanced clinical communication skills. With accelerated use of online learning, educators and administrators need to consider pedagogic and practical challenges posed by integrating online learning into individual learning activities, courses, and curricula as a whole. We discuss strategies for faculty development and the role of school-wide resources for supporting and using online learning. Finally, we consider the role of online learning in interprofessional, integrated, and competency-based applications among other contemporary trends in medical education are considered. PMID:29349323

Visionmaker.NYC: An Online Landscape Ecology Tool to Support Social-Ecological System Visioning and Planning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DuBois, Bryce; Allred, Shorna; Bunting-Howarth, Katherine; Sanderson, Eric W.; Giampieri, Mario

2017-01-01

The Welikeia project and the corresponding free online tool Visionmaker. NYC focus on the historical landscape ecologies of New York City. This article provides a brief introduction to online participatory tools, describes the Visionmaker tool in detail, and offers suggested ways to use the tool for Extension professionals based in and outside New…

Adoption of online health management tools among healthy older adults: An exploratory study.

PubMed

Zettel-Watson, Laura; Tsukerman, Dmitry

2016-06-01

As the population ages and chronic diseases abound, overburdened healthcare systems will increasingly require individuals to manage their own health. Online health management tools, quickly increasing in popularity, have the potential to diminish or even replace in-person contact with health professionals, but overall efficacy and usage trends are unknown. The current study explored perceptions and usage patterns among users of online health management tools, and identified barriers and barrier-breakers among non-users. An online survey was completed by 169 computer users (aged 50+). Analyses revealed that a sizable minority (37%) of participants use online health management tools and most users (89%) are satisfied with these tools, but a limited range of tools are being used and usage occurs in relatively limited domains. Improved awareness and education for online health management tools could enhance people's abilities to remain at home as they age, reducing the financial burden on formal assistance programs. © The Author(s) 2014.

Exploring Learner's Patterns of Using the Online Course Tool in University Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yamamoto, Yoshihiko; Usami, Akinori

2015-01-01

Online course tools such as WebCT or Manaba+R are popularly used in university classes and enhance learners' understanding of their course contents. In addition, teachers try to utilize these online course tools for their students such as giving their students online discussions, providing students with additional materials and so forth. However,…

Student use of a Learning Management System for group projects: A case study investigating interaction, collaboration, and knowledge construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lonn, Steven D.

Web-based Learning Management Systems (LMS) allow instructors and students to share instructional materials, make class announcements, submit and return course assignments, and communicate with each other online. Previous LMS-related research has focused on how these systems deliver and manage instructional content with little concern for how students' constructivist learning can be encouraged and facilitated. This study investigated how students use LMS to interact, collaborate, and construct knowledge within the context of a group project but without mediation by the instructor. The setting for this case study was students' use in one upper-level biology course of the local LMS within the context of a course-related group project, a mock National Institutes of Health grant proposal. Twenty-one groups (82 students) voluntarily elected to use the LMS, representing two-thirds of all students in the course. Students' peer-to-peer messages within the LMS, event logs, online surveys, focus group interviews, and instructor interviews were used in order to answer the study's overarching research question. The results indicate that students successfully used the LMS to interact and, to a significant extent, collaborate, but there was very little evidence of knowledge construction using the LMS technology. It is possible that the ease and availability of face-to-face meetings as well as problems and limitations with the technology were factors that influenced whether students' online basic interaction could be further distinguished as collaboration or knowledge construction. Despite these limitations, students found several tools and functions of the LMS useful for their online peer interaction and completion of their course project. Additionally, LMS designers and implementers are urged to consider previous literature on computer-supported collaborative learning environments in order to better facilitate independent group projects within these systems. Further research is needed to identify the best types of scaffolds and overall technological improvements in order to provide support for online collaboration and knowledge construction.

Interactive target tracking for persistent wide-area surveillance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ersoy, Ilker; Palaniappan, Kannappan; Seetharaman, Guna S.; Rao, Raghuveer M.

2012-06-01

Persistent aerial surveillance is an emerging technology that can provide continuous, wide-area coverage from an aircraft-based multiple-camera system. Tracking targets in these data sets is challenging for vision algorithms due to large data (several terabytes), very low frame rate, changing viewpoint, strong parallax and other imperfections due to registration and projection. Providing an interactive system for automated target tracking also has additional challenges that require online algorithms that are seamlessly integrated with interactive visualization tools to assist the user. We developed an algorithm that overcomes these challenges and demonstrated it on data obtained from a wide-area imaging platform.

Higher Education Faculty Utilization of Online Technological Tools: A Multilevel Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Brianne L.

2017-01-01

As online learning and the use of online technological tools in higher education continues to grow exponentially, higher education faculty are expected to incorporate these tools into their instruction. However, many faculty members are reluctant to embrace such tools, for a variety of professional and personal reasons. This study employs survey…

Student Online Readiness Assessment Tools: A Systematic Review Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farid, Alem

2014-01-01

Although there are tools to assess student's readiness in an "online learning context," little is known about the "psychometric" properties of the tools used or not. A systematic review of 5107 published and unpublished papers identified in a literature search on student online readiness assessment tools between 1990 and…

Designing Tools for Supporting User Decision-Making in e-Commerce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutcliffe, Alistair; Al-Qaed, Faisal

The paper describes a set of tools designed to support a variety of user decision-making strategies. The tools are complemented by an online advisor so they can be adapted to different domains and users can be guided to adopt appropriate tools for different choices in e-commerce, e.g. purchasing high-value products, exploring product fit to users’ needs, or selecting products which satisfy requirements. The tools range from simple recommenders to decision support by interactive querying and comparison matrices. They were evaluated in a scenario-based experiment which varied the users’ task and motivation, with and without an advisor agent. The results show the tools and advisor were effective in supporting users and agreed with the predictions of ADM (adaptive decision making) theory, on which the design of the tools was based.

Development and analysis of educational technologies for a blended organic chemistry course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, Michael James

Blended courses incorporate elements of both face-to-face and online instruction. The extent to which blended courses are conducted online, and the proper role of the online components of blended courses, have been debated and may vary. What can be said in general, however, is that online tools for blended courses are typically culled together from a variety of sources, are often very large scale, and may present distractions for students that decrease their utility as teaching tools. Furthermore, large-scale educational technologies may not be amenable to rigorous, detailed study, limiting evaluation of their effectiveness. Small-scale educational technologies run from the instructor's own server have the potential to mitigate many of these issues. Such tools give the instructor or researcher direct access to all available data, facilitating detailed analysis of student use. Code modification is simple and rapid if errors arise, since code is stored where the instructor can easily access it. Finally, the design of a small-scale tool can target a very specific application. With these ideas in mind, this work describes several projects aimed at exploring the use of small-scale, web-based software in a blended organic chemistry course. A number of activities were developed and evaluated using the Student Assessment of Learning Gains survey, and data from the activities were analyzed using quantitative methods of statistics and social network analysis methods. Findings from this work suggest that small-scale educational technologies provide significant learning benefits for students of organic chemistry---with the important caveat that instructors must offer appropriate levels of technical and pedagogical support for students. Most notably, students reported significant learning gains from activities that included collaborative learning supported by novel online tools. For the particular context of organic chemistry, which has a unique semantic language (Lewis structures), the incorporation of shared video was a novel but important element of these activities. In fields for which mere text would not provide enough information in communications between students, video offers an appealing medium for student-student interaction.

Online discussion boards in dental education: potential and challenges.

PubMed

Linjawi, A I; Walmsley, A D; Hill, K B

2012-02-01

Online discussion boards may enhance critical analysis and reflection, and promote the acquisition of knowledge. To assess the effectiveness of online discussion board as a pedagogical tool in augmenting face-to-face teaching in dental education. Data were collected from a discussion archive offered through the E-course website of the School of Dentistry, University of Birmingham, UK in 2008. A multi-component metric included; participation, social learning, cognitive processing, role of instructors, and quality of discussion. Messages were coded for 14 variables to evaluate these dimensions. Data were analyzed using content analysis methodology and a complete message was uses as the unit of analysis. There were no significant difference in participation between students and instructors (P<0.05). Social interaction with peers appeared only through students posting messages with open questions (27/135 messages). The discussion board was mainly used by students to understand concepts (27/102 messages) and apply procedural knowledge (17/102 messages). Instructors were mainly replying to students' messages with (49/120 messages) or without (54/120 messages) proposing another action. Online discussion boards were found to be successful pedagogical tools in dental education. Further development of instructor-led discussion approach is needed to promote higher level learning and collaborative thinking. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Biopython: freely available Python tools for computational molecular biology and bioinformatics.

PubMed

Cock, Peter J A; Antao, Tiago; Chang, Jeffrey T; Chapman, Brad A; Cox, Cymon J; Dalke, Andrew; Friedberg, Iddo; Hamelryck, Thomas; Kauff, Frank; Wilczynski, Bartek; de Hoon, Michiel J L

2009-06-01

The Biopython project is a mature open source international collaboration of volunteer developers, providing Python libraries for a wide range of bioinformatics problems. Biopython includes modules for reading and writing different sequence file formats and multiple sequence alignments, dealing with 3D macro molecular structures, interacting with common tools such as BLAST, ClustalW and EMBOSS, accessing key online databases, as well as providing numerical methods for statistical learning. Biopython is freely available, with documentation and source code at (www.biopython.org) under the Biopython license.

EEGLAB, SIFT, NFT, BCILAB, and ERICA: New Tools for Advanced EEG Processing

PubMed Central

Delorme, Arnaud; Mullen, Tim; Kothe, Christian; Akalin Acar, Zeynep; Bigdely-Shamlo, Nima; Vankov, Andrey; Makeig, Scott

2011-01-01

We describe a set of complementary EEG data collection and processing tools recently developed at the Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience (SCCN) that connect to and extend the EEGLAB software environment, a freely available and readily extensible processing environment running under Matlab. The new tools include (1) a new and flexible EEGLAB STUDY design facility for framing and performing statistical analyses on data from multiple subjects; (2) a neuroelectromagnetic forward head modeling toolbox (NFT) for building realistic electrical head models from available data; (3) a source information flow toolbox (SIFT) for modeling ongoing or event-related effective connectivity between cortical areas; (4) a BCILAB toolbox for building online brain-computer interface (BCI) models from available data, and (5) an experimental real-time interactive control and analysis (ERICA) environment for real-time production and coordination of interactive, multimodal experiments. PMID:21687590

An interactive online approach to small-group student presentations and discussions.

PubMed

Thor, Der; Xiao, Nan; Zheng, Meixun; Ma, Ruidan; Yu, Xiao Xi

2017-12-01

Student presentations had been widely implemented across content areas, including health sciences education. However, due to various limitations, small-group student presentations in the classroom may not reach their full potential for student learning. To address challenges with presentations in the classroom, we redesigned the assignment by having students present and discuss online using VoiceThread, a cloud-based presentation and discussion tool. First-year students pursuing a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree were assigned into small groups to present physiology content and to discuss that content online. This assignment was similar to traditional student classroom presentations, with the exception that the entire assignment was conducted online. The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the impact of the online format on the discussion quality. Another purpose of the study was to examine students' perceptions of using VoiceThread for presenting and learning, as well as the online interactions between the presenter and audience. Students posted a higher number of questions and comments than required by the assignment. The questions from students were also higher level questions, and the answers to these questions were more thorough compared with what we had previously observed in classroom presentations. The survey results showed that students preferred using VoiceThread for presenting, learning from other presentations, and discussing presentation content over performing this process in the classroom. Preliminary findings suggested that having dental students make presentations and hold discussions online might help address the challenges of student presentations in the classroom. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

41 CFR 301-50.6 - What is an “online self-service booking tool?”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... EXPENSES, AND CLAIMING REIMBURSEMENT 50-ARRANGING FOR TRAVEL SERVICES § 301-50.6 What is an “online self-service booking tool?” An online self-service booking tool is an Internet based system that permits...

41 CFR 301-50.6 - What is an “online self-service booking tool?”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... EXPENSES, AND CLAIMING REIMBURSEMENT 50-ARRANGING FOR TRAVEL SERVICES § 301-50.6 What is an “online self-service booking tool?” An online self-service booking tool is an Internet based system that permits...

41 CFR 301-50.6 - What is an “online self-service booking tool?”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... EXPENSES, AND CLAIMING REIMBURSEMENT 50-ARRANGING FOR TRAVEL SERVICES § 301-50.6 What is an “online self-service booking tool?” An online self-service booking tool is an Internet based system that permits...

41 CFR 301-50.6 - What is an “online self-service booking tool?”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... EXPENSES, AND CLAIMING REIMBURSEMENT 50-ARRANGING FOR TRAVEL SERVICES § 301-50.6 What is an “online self-service booking tool?” An online self-service booking tool is an Internet based system that permits...

41 CFR 301-50.6 - What is an “online self-service booking tool?”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... EXPENSES, AND CLAIMING REIMBURSEMENT 50-ARRANGING FOR TRAVEL SERVICES § 301-50.6 What is an “online self-service booking tool?” An online self-service booking tool is an Internet based system that permits...

GREAT: a web portal for Genome Regulatory Architecture Tools.

PubMed

Bouyioukos, Costas; Bucchini, François; Elati, Mohamed; Képès, François

2016-07-08

GREAT (Genome REgulatory Architecture Tools) is a novel web portal for tools designed to generate user-friendly and biologically useful analysis of genome architecture and regulation. The online tools of GREAT are freely accessible and compatible with essentially any operating system which runs a modern browser. GREAT is based on the analysis of genome layout -defined as the respective positioning of co-functional genes- and its relation with chromosome architecture and gene expression. GREAT tools allow users to systematically detect regular patterns along co-functional genomic features in an automatic way consisting of three individual steps and respective interactive visualizations. In addition to the complete analysis of regularities, GREAT tools enable the use of periodicity and position information for improving the prediction of transcription factor binding sites using a multi-view machine learning approach. The outcome of this integrative approach features a multivariate analysis of the interplay between the location of a gene and its regulatory sequence. GREAT results are plotted in web interactive graphs and are available for download either as individual plots, self-contained interactive pages or as machine readable tables for downstream analysis. The GREAT portal can be reached at the following URL https://absynth.issb.genopole.fr/GREAT and each individual GREAT tool is available for downloading. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Dynamic Analyses of Result Quality in Energy-Aware Approximate Programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

RIngenburg, Michael F.

Energy efficiency is a key concern in the design of modern computer systems. One promising approach to energy-efficient computation, approximate computing, trades off output precision for energy efficiency. However, this tradeoff can have unexpected effects on computation quality. This thesis presents dynamic analysis tools to study, debug, and monitor the quality and energy efficiency of approximate computations. We propose three styles of tools: prototyping tools that allow developers to experiment with approximation in their applications, online tools that instrument code to determine the key sources of error, and online tools that monitor the quality of deployed applications in real time. Our prototyping tool is based on an extension to the functional language OCaml. We add approximation constructs to the language, an approximation simulator to the runtime, and profiling and auto-tuning tools for studying and experimenting with energy-quality tradeoffs. We also present two online debugging tools and three online monitoring tools. The first online tool identifies correlations between output quality and the total number of executions of, and errors in, individual approximate operations. The second tracks the number of approximate operations that flow into a particular value. Our online tools comprise three low-cost approaches to dynamic quality monitoring. They are designed to monitor quality in deployed applications without spending more energy than is saved by approximation. Online monitors can be used to perform real time adjustments to energy usage in order to meet specific quality goals. We present prototype implementations of all of these tools and describe their usage with several applications. Our prototyping, profiling, and autotuning tools allow us to experiment with approximation strategies and identify new strategies, our online tools succeed in providing new insights into the effects of approximation on output quality, and our monitors succeed in controlling output quality while still maintaining significant energy efficiency gains.

Emerging trends in social media and plastic surgery

PubMed Central

Leland, Hyuma A.; Ho, Adelyn L.; Patel, Ketan M.

2016-01-01

Social media has increasingly changed the landscape of medicine and surgery and is rapidly expanding its influence in most peoples’ lives. The average person spends nearly 2 hours per day using social media, consuming information about everything from family updates to entertainment news to presidential elections. The concentration of consumers on social media platforms has resulted in direct medicine and medical products marketing to consumers. Similarly, social media is increasingly becoming a platform for interaction between physicians and potential patients. Some physicians have taken this opportunity to better educate patients, while allowing patients to learn more about their surgeons online. These tools can increase internet traffic online to bonafide internet sites, as well as bolster marketing for many hospitals, hospital systems, and individual doctors. It can also serve to increase knowledge about procedures and conditions through direct outreach to patients. Social media is a powerful tool which needs to be utilized wisely to avoid pitfalls. PMID:28090511

Emerging trends in social media and plastic surgery.

PubMed

Gould, Daniel J; Leland, Hyuma A; Ho, Adelyn L; Patel, Ketan M

2016-12-01

Social media has increasingly changed the landscape of medicine and surgery and is rapidly expanding its influence in most peoples' lives. The average person spends nearly 2 hours per day using social media, consuming information about everything from family updates to entertainment news to presidential elections. The concentration of consumers on social media platforms has resulted in direct medicine and medical products marketing to consumers. Similarly, social media is increasingly becoming a platform for interaction between physicians and potential patients. Some physicians have taken this opportunity to better educate patients, while allowing patients to learn more about their surgeons online. These tools can increase internet traffic online to bonafide internet sites, as well as bolster marketing for many hospitals, hospital systems, and individual doctors. It can also serve to increase knowledge about procedures and conditions through direct outreach to patients. Social media is a powerful tool which needs to be utilized wisely to avoid pitfalls.

Tailoring Earth Observation To Ranchers For Improved Land Management And Profitability: The VegMachine Online Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scarth, P.; Trevithick, B.; Beutel, T.

2016-12-01

VegMachine Online is a freely available browser application that allows ranchers across Australia to view and interact with satellite derived ground cover state and change maps on their property and extract this information in a graphical format using interactive tools. It supports the delivery and communication of a massive earth observation data set in an accessible, producer friendly way . Around 250,000 Landsat TM, ETM and OLI images were acquired across Australia, converted to terrain corrected surface reflectance and masked for cloud, cloud shadow, terrain shadow and water. More than 2500 field sites across the Australian rangelands were used to derive endmembers used in a constrained unmixing approach to estimate the per-pixel proportion of bare, green and non-green vegetation for all images. A seasonal metoid compositing method was used to produce national fractional cover virtual mosaics for each three month period since 1988. The time series of green fraction is used to estimate the persistent green due to tree and shrub canopies, and this estimate is used to correct the fractional cover to ground cover for our mixed tree-grass rangeland systems. Finally, deciles are produced for key metrics every season to track a pixels relativity to the entire time series. These data are delivered through time series enabled web mapping services and customised web processing services that enable the full time series over any spatial extent to be interrogated in seconds via a RESTful interface. These services interface with a front end browser application that provides product visualization for any date in the time series, tools to draw or import polygon boundaries, plot time series ground cover comparisons, look at the effect of historical rainfall and tools to run the revised universal soil loss equation in web time to assess the effect of proposed changes in cover retention. VegMachine Online is already being used by ranchers monitoring paddock condition, organisations supporting land management initiatives in Great Barrier Reef catchments, by students developing tools to understand land condition and degradation and the underlying data and APIs are supporting several other land condition mapping tools.

Evaluating the Network: A Workflow for Tracking Twitter Interactions Using Social Networking Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodier, Sarah

2018-01-01

Networking plays an important role in research projects to build a community and audience around a research area. Using social media is popular in project communication as it provides the ability to engage with a group of followers daily. Such online networking tools provide the advantage of providing nearrealtime data, which can be used to…

International Disability Educational Alliance (IDEAnet)

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

engineer ing projects , capacity- building education programs, interactive online tools, and advocacy on disability rights. Initially, the CIR focused...lead to a long-term project for data collection in Kenya and other parts of the world where similar studies are underway. D1: Design and...of 206 and to f acilitate multi- and in ter-disciplinary teamwork between rehabilitation professionals The course/training includes both

New functions and programs in Hypermap software development for internet-based displaying of FIA data

Treesearch

Chris J. Cieszewski; Roger C. Lowe; Shangbin Liu; Ingvar Elle; Daniel Markewitz

2009-01-01

This article describes updates on the development of various applications for the Hypermaps applications and the newest versions of the forest inventory data display tool, Interactive Fast Online Reports and Maps (InFORM). The development of InFORM applications is cosponsored by the University of Georgia, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources; the Forest...

An Interactive Iterative Method for Electronic Searching of Large Literature Databases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hernandez, Marco A.

2013-01-01

PubMed® is an on-line literature database hosted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Containing over 21 million citations for biomedical literature--both abstracts and full text--in the areas of the life sciences, behavioral studies, chemistry, and bioengineering, PubMed® represents an important tool for researchers. PubMed® searches return…

Interactive Textbook--A New Tool in Off-Line and On-Line Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Solcova, Lucia

2016-01-01

Implementation of ICT in the educational process has allowed us especially in the last decade to fully develop cognitive and psychomotor skills of students. A typical example is the use of multimedia, through which the learner gradually formed and developed their skills in the area of sensory perception. The paper is focused on one of the modern…

Shifting from Obligatory Discourse to Rich Dialogue: Promoting Student Interaction in Asynchronous Threaded Discussion Postings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mooney, Mara; Southard, Sheryne; Burton, Christie H.

2014-01-01

Asynchronous online threaded discussions are widely recognized as a tool to enhance learning in the virtual classroom. While they can serve as a mechanism for reinforcing material and promoting a deeper understanding of course content, discussion boards often lack rich and dynamic dialogue, and instead serve as a field of obligatory discourse,…

Collaboration and Competition on a Wiki: The Praxis of Online Social Learning to Improve Academic Writing and Research in Under-Graduate Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carroll, Julie-Anne; Diaz, Abbey; Meiklejohn, Judith; Newcomb, Michelle; Adkins, Barbara

2013-01-01

While the Internet has been described as fundamental to higher education students, social and leisure internet tools are also increasingly being used by these students to generate and maintain their social and professional networks and interactions. Rapid technological advancements have enabled greater and faster access to information for learning…

Galilean Moons, Kepler's Third Law, and the Mass of Jupiter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bates, Alan

2013-01-01

Simulations of physical systems are widely available online, with no cost, and are ready to be used in our classrooms. Such simulations offer an accessible tool that can be used for a range of interactive learning activities. The Jovian Moons Apple allows the user to track the position of Jupiter's four Galilean moons with a variety of…

Creating a Pilot Educational Psychiatry Website: Opportunities, Barriers, and Next Steps.

PubMed

Torous, John; O'Connor, Ryan; Franzen, Jamie; Snow, Caitlin; Boland, Robert; Kitts, Robert

2015-11-05

While medical students and residents may be utilizing websites as online learning resources, medical trainees and educators now have the opportunity to create such educational websites and digital tools on their own. However, the process and theory of building educational websites for medical education have not yet been fully explored. To understand the opportunities, barriers, and process of creating a novel medical educational website. We created a pilot psychiatric educational website to better understand the options, opportunities, challenges, and processes involved in the creation of a psychiatric educational website. We sought to integrate visual and interactive Web design elements to underscore the potential of such Web technology. A pilot website (PsychOnCall) was created to demonstrate the potential of Web technology in medical and psychiatric education. Creating an educational website is now technically easier than ever before, and the primary challenge no longer is technology but rather the creation, validation, and maintenance of information for such websites as well as translating text-based didactics into visual and interactive tools. Medical educators can influence the design and implementation of online educational resources through creating their own websites and engaging medical students and residents in the process.

osni.info-Using free/libre/open source software to build a virtual international community for open source nursing informatics.

PubMed

Oyri, Karl; Murray, Peter J

2005-12-01

Many health informatics organizations seem to be slow to take up the advantages of dynamic, web-based technologies for providing services to, and interaction with, their members; these are often the very technologies they promote for use within healthcare environments. This paper aims to introduce some of the many free/libre/open source (FLOSS) applications that are now available to develop interactive websites and dynamic online communities as part of the structure of health informatics organizations, and to show how the Open Source Nursing Informatics Working Group (OSNI) of the special interest group in nursing informatics of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA-NI) is using some of these tools to develop an online community of nurse informaticians through their website, at . Some background introduction to FLOSS applications is used for the benefit of those less familiar with such tools, and examples of some of the FLOSS content management systems (CMS) being used by OSNI are described. The experiences of the OSNI will facilitate a knowledgeable nursing contribution to the wider discussions on the applications of FLOSS within health and healthcare, and provides a model that many other groups could adopt.

Creating a Pilot Educational Psychiatry Website: Opportunities, Barriers, and Next Steps

PubMed Central

O'Connor, Ryan; Franzen, Jamie; Snow, Caitlin; Boland, Robert; Kitts, Robert

2015-01-01

Background While medical students and residents may be utilizing websites as online learning resources, medical trainees and educators now have the opportunity to create such educational websites and digital tools on their own. However, the process and theory of building educational websites for medical education have not yet been fully explored. Objective To understand the opportunities, barriers, and process of creating a novel medical educational website. Methods We created a pilot psychiatric educational website to better understand the options, opportunities, challenges, and processes involved in the creation of a psychiatric educational website. We sought to integrate visual and interactive Web design elements to underscore the potential of such Web technology. Results A pilot website (PsychOnCall) was created to demonstrate the potential of Web technology in medical and psychiatric education. Conclusions Creating an educational website is now technically easier than ever before, and the primary challenge no longer is technology but rather the creation, validation, and maintenance of information for such websites as well as translating text-based didactics into visual and interactive tools. Medical educators can influence the design and implementation of online educational resources through creating their own websites and engaging medical students and residents in the process. PMID:27731837

Teaching epidemiology in the digital age: considerations for academicians and their students.

PubMed

Caron, Rosemary M

2013-09-01

The way in which we prepare future public health professionals is changing because of the digital age. Online education is expanding the accessibility of public health training to students and practitioners with diverse backgrounds. Online courses offer many advantages for students, including flexible schedules, elimination of commuting time, and fostering interactions among students and the instructor. A few disadvantages of online courses for the student can include a feeling of isolation, difficulty adjusting to the time-intensive nature, and the required self-discipline to regularly tend to online course materials that immature and working students can find challenging. For faculty who are faced with teaching epidemiology in these changing times of the traditional face-to-face classroom and the virtual classroom, the core teaching principles of this science of public health remain unchanged, yet how they are delivered in the online environment adds a layer of complexity not previously encountered. This paper presents practical considerations for faculty who will be teaching online and their students who will be learning online. In addition, a framework for an online epidemiology course is presented as a model by which faculty interested in teaching epidemiology online can modify the course structure, content, and assessment tools to fit their needs. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

OpenPrescribing: normalised data and software tool to research trends in English NHS primary care prescribing 1998-2016.

PubMed

Curtis, Helen J; Goldacre, Ben

2018-02-23

We aimed to compile and normalise England's national prescribing data for 1998-2016 to facilitate research on long-term time trends and create an open-data exploration tool for wider use. We compiled data from each individual year's national statistical publications and normalised them by mapping each drug to its current classification within the national formulary where possible. We created a freely accessible, interactive web tool to allow anyone to interact with the processed data. We downloaded all available annual prescription cost analysis datasets, which include cost and quantity for all prescription items dispensed in the community in England. Medical devices and appliances were excluded. We measured the extent of normalisation of data and aimed to produce a functioning accessible analysis tool. All data were imported successfully. 87.5% of drugs were matched exactly on name to the current formulary and a further 6.5% to similar drug names. All drugs in core clinical chapters were reconciled to their current location in the data schema, with only 1.26% of drugs not assigned a current chemical code. We created an openly accessible interactive tool to facilitate wider use of these data. Publicly available data can be made accessible through interactive online tools to help researchers and policy-makers explore time trends in prescribing. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

SOCR: Statistics Online Computational Resource

PubMed Central

Dinov, Ivo D.

2011-01-01

The need for hands-on computer laboratory experience in undergraduate and graduate statistics education has been firmly established in the past decade. As a result a number of attempts have been undertaken to develop novel approaches for problem-driven statistical thinking, data analysis and result interpretation. In this paper we describe an integrated educational web-based framework for: interactive distribution modeling, virtual online probability experimentation, statistical data analysis, visualization and integration. Following years of experience in statistical teaching at all college levels using established licensed statistical software packages, like STATA, S-PLUS, R, SPSS, SAS, Systat, etc., we have attempted to engineer a new statistics education environment, the Statistics Online Computational Resource (SOCR). This resource performs many of the standard types of statistical analysis, much like other classical tools. In addition, it is designed in a plug-in object-oriented architecture and is completely platform independent, web-based, interactive, extensible and secure. Over the past 4 years we have tested, fine-tuned and reanalyzed the SOCR framework in many of our undergraduate and graduate probability and statistics courses and have evidence that SOCR resources build student’s intuition and enhance their learning. PMID:21451741

Software Tools to Support Research on Airport Departure Planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carr, Francis; Evans, Antony; Feron, Eric; Clarke, John-Paul

2003-01-01

A simple, portable and useful collection of software tools has been developed for the analysis of airport surface traffic. The tools are based on a flexible and robust traffic-flow model, and include calibration, validation and simulation functionality for this model. Several different interfaces have been developed to help promote usage of these tools, including a portable Matlab(TM) implementation of the basic algorithms; a web-based interface which provides online access to automated analyses of airport traffic based on a database of real-world operations data which covers over 250 U.S. airports over a 5-year period; and an interactive simulation-based tool currently in use as part of a college-level educational module. More advanced applications for airport departure traffic include taxi-time prediction and evaluation of "windowing" congestion control.

Reaching perinatal women online: the Healthy You, Healthy Baby website and app.

PubMed

Hearn, Lydia; Miller, Margaret; Lester, Leanne

2014-01-01

Overwhelming evidence reveals the close link between unwarranted weight gain among childbearing women and childhood adiposity. Yet current barriers limit the capacity of perinatal health care providers (PHCPs) to offer healthy lifestyle counselling. In response, today's Internet savvy women are turning to online resources to access health information, with the potential of revolutionising health services by enabling PHCPs to guide women to appropriate online resources. This paper presents the findings of a project designed to develop an online resource to promote healthy lifestyles during the perinatal period. The methodology involved focus groups and interviews with perinatal women and PHCPs to determine what online information was needed, in what form, and how best it should be presented. The outcome was the development of the Healthy You, Healthy Baby website and smartphone app. This clinically-endorsed, interactive online resource provides perinatal women with a personalised tool to track their weight, diet, physical activity, emotional wellbeing, and sleep patterns based on the developmental stage of their child with links to quality-assured information. One year since the launch of the online resource, data indicates it provides a low-cost intervention delivered across most geographic and socioeconomic strata without additional demands on health service staff.

Reaching Perinatal Women Online: The Healthy You, Healthy Baby Website and App

PubMed Central

Hearn, Lydia; Miller, Margaret; Lester, Leanne

2014-01-01

Overwhelming evidence reveals the close link between unwarranted weight gain among childbearing women and childhood adiposity. Yet current barriers limit the capacity of perinatal health care providers (PHCPs) to offer healthy lifestyle counselling. In response, today's Internet savvy women are turning to online resources to access health information, with the potential of revolutionising health services by enabling PHCPs to guide women to appropriate online resources. This paper presents the findings of a project designed to develop an online resource to promote healthy lifestyles during the perinatal period. The methodology involved focus groups and interviews with perinatal women and PHCPs to determine what online information was needed, in what form, and how best it should be presented. The outcome was the development of the Healthy You, Healthy Baby website and smartphone app. This clinically-endorsed, interactive online resource provides perinatal women with a personalised tool to track their weight, diet, physical activity, emotional wellbeing, and sleep patterns based on the developmental stage of their child with links to quality-assured information. One year since the launch of the online resource, data indicates it provides a low-cost intervention delivered across most geographic and socioeconomic strata without additional demands on health service staff. PMID:24872891

How health plans promote health IT to improve behavioral health care.

PubMed

Quinn, Amity E; Reif, Sharon; Evans, Brooke; Creedon, Timothy B; Stewart, Maureen T; Garnick, Deborah W; Horgan, Constance M

2016-12-01

Given the large numbers of providers and enrollees with which they interact, health plans can encourage the use of health information technology (IT) to advance behavioral health care. The manner and extent to which commercial health plans promote health IT to improve behavioral health care is unknown. This study aims to address that gap. Cross-sectional study. Data are from a nationally representative survey of commercial health plans regarding administrative and clinical dimensions of behavioral health services in 2010. Data are weighted to be representative of commercial managed care products in the United States (n = 8427; 88% response rate). Approaches within the domains of provider support, access to care, and assessment and treatment were investigated as examples of how health plans can promote health IT to improve behavioral health care delivery. Health plans were using health IT approaches in each domain. About a quarter of products offered financial support for electronic health records, but technical assistance was rare. Primary care providers could bill for e-mail contact with patients for behavioral health in about a quarter of products. Few products offered member-provider e-mail, and none offered online appointment scheduling. However, online referral systems and online provider directories were common, and nearly all offered an online self-assessment tool; most offered online counseling and online personalized responses to questions or problems. In 2010, commercial health plans encouraged the use of health IT strategies for behavioral health care. Health plans have an important role to play for increasing health IT as a tool for behavioral health care.

Academic perceptions amongst educators towards eLearning tools in dental education.

PubMed

Handal, Boris; Groenlund, Catherine; Gerzina, Tania

2011-04-01

This paper reports an explorative study about academic educators' perceptions towards learning management systems (LMS) and eLearning tools as used in dental education. Fifty-five educators participated in an online survey which explored their views on eLearning tools within the context of their own professional training background and teaching needs. In general, educators felt that the eLearning LMS (also known as WebCT/Blackboard) was a tool that suited their teaching and learning needs in terms of flexibility, interactivity and accessibility despite a significant level of self-reported lack of competence in the technology. The paper describes current eLearning professional development initiatives in light of these findings. © 2011 FDI World Dental Federation.

Finding online health-related information: usability issues of health portals.

PubMed

Gurel Koybasi, Nergis A; Cagiltay, Kursat

2012-01-01

As Internet and computers become widespread, health portals offering online health-related information become more popular. The most important point for health portals is presenting reliable and valid information. Besides, portal needs to be usable to be able to serve information to users effectively. This study aims to determine usability issues emerging when health-related information is searched on a health portal. User-based usability tests are conducted and eye movement analyses are used in addition to traditional performance measures. Results revealed that users prefer systematic, simple and consistent designs offering interactive tools. Moreover, content and partitions needs to be shaped according to the medical knowledge of target users.

Communicating risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer with an interactive decision support tool.

PubMed

Rupert, Douglas J; Squiers, Linda B; Renaud, Jeanette M; Whitehead, Nedra S; Osborn, Roger J; Furberg, Robert D; Squire, Claudia M; Tzeng, Janice P

2013-08-01

Women with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome (HBOC) face a higher risk of earlier, more aggressive cancer. Because of HBOC's rarity, screening is recommended only for women with strong cancer family histories. However, most patients do not have accurate history available and struggle to understand genetic concepts. Cancer in the Family, an online clinical decision support tool, calculated women's HBOC risk and promoted shared patient-provider decisions about screening. A pilot evaluation (n=9 providers, n=48 patients) assessed the tool's impact on knowledge, attitudes, and screening decisions. Patients used the tool before wellness exams and completed three surveys. Providers accessed the tool during exams, completed exam checklists, and completed four surveys. Patients entered complete family histories (67%), calculated personal risk (96%), and shared risk printouts with providers (65%). HBOC knowledge increased dramatically for patients and providers, and many patients (75%) perceived tool results as valid. The tool prompted patient-provider discussions about HBOC risk and cancer family history (88%). The tool was effective in increasing knowledge, collecting family history, and sparking patient-provider discussions about HBOC screening. Interactive tools can effectively communicate personalized risk and promote shared decisions, but they are not a substitute for patient-provider discussions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

41 CFR 301-50.7 - Should I use the online self-service booking tool once ETS is available within my agency?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Should I use the online... SERVICES § 301-50.7 Should I use the online self-service booking tool once ETS is available within my agency? Yes, you should use the online self-service booking tool offered by ETS or your agency's TMS...

41 CFR 301-50.7 - Should I use the online self-service booking tool once ETS is available within my agency?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 4 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Should I use the online... SERVICES § 301-50.7 Should I use the online self-service booking tool once ETS is available within my agency? Yes, you should use the online self-service booking tool offered by ETS or your agency's TMS...

41 CFR 301-50.7 - Should I use the online self-service booking tool once ETS is available within my agency?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 4 2013-07-01 2012-07-01 true Should I use the online... SERVICES § 301-50.7 Should I use the online self-service booking tool once ETS is available within my agency? Yes, you should use the online self-service booking tool offered by ETS or your agency's TMS...

41 CFR 301-50.7 - Should I use the online self-service booking tool once ETS is available within my agency?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 4 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Should I use the online... SERVICES § 301-50.7 Should I use the online self-service booking tool once ETS is available within my agency? Yes, you should use the online self-service booking tool offered by ETS or your agency's TMS...

41 CFR 301-50.7 - Should I use the online self-service booking tool once ETS is available within my agency?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 4 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Should I use the online... SERVICES § 301-50.7 Should I use the online self-service booking tool once ETS is available within my agency? Yes, you should use the online self-service booking tool offered by ETS or your agency's TMS...

Instant Gratification: Striking a Balance Between Rich Interactive Visualization and Ease of Use for Casual Web Surfers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russell, R. M.; Johnson, R. M.; Gardiner, E. S.; Bergman, J. J.; Genyuk, J.; Henderson, S.

2004-12-01

Interactive visualizations can be powerful tools for helping students, teachers, and the general public comprehend significant features in rich datasets and complex systems. Successful use of such visualizations requires viewers to have, or to acquire, adequate expertise in use of the relevant visualization tools. In many cases, the learning curve associated with competent use of such tools is too steep for casual users, such as members of the lay public browsing science outreach web sites or K-12 students and teachers trying to integrate such tools into their learning about geosciences. "Windows to the Universe" (http://www.windows.ucar.edu) is a large (roughly 6,000 web pages), well-established (first posted online in 1995), and popular (over 5 million visitor sessions and 40 million pages viewed per year) science education web site that covers a very broad range of Earth science and space science topics. The primary audience of the site consists of K-12 students and teachers and the general public. We have developed several interactive visualizations for use on the site in conjunction with text and still image reference materials. One major emphasis in the design of these interactives has been to ensure that casual users can quickly learn how to use the interactive features without becoming frustrated and departing before they were able to appreciate the visualizations displayed. We will demonstrate several of these "user-friendly" interactive visualizations and comment on the design philosophy we have employed in developing them.

Virtual Interactomics of Proteins from Biochemical Standpoint

PubMed Central

Kubrycht, Jaroslav; Sigler, Karel; Souček, Pavel

2012-01-01

Virtual interactomics represents a rapidly developing scientific area on the boundary line of bioinformatics and interactomics. Protein-related virtual interactomics then comprises instrumental tools for prediction, simulation, and networking of the majority of interactions important for structural and individual reproduction, differentiation, recognition, signaling, regulation, and metabolic pathways of cells and organisms. Here, we describe the main areas of virtual protein interactomics, that is, structurally based comparative analysis and prediction of functionally important interacting sites, mimotope-assisted and combined epitope prediction, molecular (protein) docking studies, and investigation of protein interaction networks. Detailed information about some interesting methodological approaches and online accessible programs or databases is displayed in our tables. Considerable part of the text deals with the searches for common conserved or functionally convergent protein regions and subgraphs of conserved interaction networks, new outstanding trends and clinically interesting results. In agreement with the presented data and relationships, virtual interactomic tools improve our scientific knowledge, help us to formulate working hypotheses, and they frequently also mediate variously important in silico simulations. PMID:22928109

NASA EOSDIS: Enabling Science by Improving User Knowledge

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lindsay, Francis; Brennan, Jennifer; Blumenfeld, Joshua

2016-01-01

Lessons learned and impacts of applying these newer methods are explained and include several examples from our current efforts such as the interactive, on-line webinars focusing on data discovery and access including tool usage, informal and informative data chats with data experts across our EOSDIS community, data user profile interviews with scientists actively using EOSDIS data in their research, and improved conference and meeting interactions via EOSDIS data interactively used during hyper-wall talks and Worldview application. The suite of internet-based, interactive capabilities and technologies has allowed our project to expand our user community by making the data and applications from numerous Earth science missions more engaging, approachable and meaningful.

Blended Teaching & Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pape, Liz

2010-01-01

Blended learning is using online tools to communicate, collaborate and publish, to extend the school day or year and to develop the 21st-century skills students need. With blended learning, teachers can use online tools and resources as part of their daily classroom instruction. Using many of the online tools and resources students already are…

iDrug: a web-accessible and interactive drug discovery and design platform

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The progress in computer-aided drug design (CADD) approaches over the past decades accelerated the early-stage pharmaceutical research. Many powerful standalone tools for CADD have been developed in academia. As programs are developed by various research groups, a consistent user-friendly online graphical working environment, combining computational techniques such as pharmacophore mapping, similarity calculation, scoring, and target identification is needed. Results We presented a versatile, user-friendly, and efficient online tool for computer-aided drug design based on pharmacophore and 3D molecular similarity searching. The web interface enables binding sites detection, virtual screening hits identification, and drug targets prediction in an interactive manner through a seamless interface to all adapted packages (e.g., Cavity, PocketV.2, PharmMapper, SHAFTS). Several commercially available compound databases for hit identification and a well-annotated pharmacophore database for drug targets prediction were integrated in iDrug as well. The web interface provides tools for real-time molecular building/editing, converting, displaying, and analyzing. All the customized configurations of the functional modules can be accessed through featured session files provided, which can be saved to the local disk and uploaded to resume or update the history work. Conclusions iDrug is easy to use, and provides a novel, fast and reliable tool for conducting drug design experiments. By using iDrug, various molecular design processing tasks can be submitted and visualized simply in one browser without installing locally any standalone modeling softwares. iDrug is accessible free of charge at http://lilab.ecust.edu.cn/idrug. PMID:24955134

Database resources of the National Center for Biotechnology Information

PubMed Central

Wheeler, David L.; Barrett, Tanya; Benson, Dennis A.; Bryant, Stephen H.; Canese, Kathi; Chetvernin, Vyacheslav; Church, Deanna M.; DiCuccio, Michael; Edgar, Ron; Federhen, Scott; Geer, Lewis Y.; Helmberg, Wolfgang; Kapustin, Yuri; Kenton, David L.; Khovayko, Oleg; Lipman, David J.; Madden, Thomas L.; Maglott, Donna R.; Ostell, James; Pruitt, Kim D.; Schuler, Gregory D.; Schriml, Lynn M.; Sequeira, Edwin; Sherry, Stephen T.; Sirotkin, Karl; Souvorov, Alexandre; Starchenko, Grigory; Suzek, Tugba O.; Tatusov, Roman; Tatusova, Tatiana A.; Wagner, Lukas; Yaschenko, Eugene

2006-01-01

In addition to maintaining the GenBank(R) nucleic acid sequence database, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) provides analysis and retrieval resources for the data in GenBank and other biological data made available through NCBI's Web site. NCBI resources include Entrez, the Entrez Programming Utilities, MyNCBI, PubMed, PubMed Central, Entrez Gene, the NCBI Taxonomy Browser, BLAST, BLAST Link (BLink), Electronic PCR, OrfFinder, Spidey, Splign, RefSeq, UniGene, HomoloGene, ProtEST, dbMHC, dbSNP, Cancer Chromosomes, Entrez Genomes and related tools, the Map Viewer, Model Maker, Evidence Viewer, Clusters of Orthologous Groups, Retroviral Genotyping Tools, HIV-1, Human Protein Interaction Database, SAGEmap, Gene Expression Omnibus, Entrez Probe, GENSAT, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals, the Molecular Modeling Database, the Conserved Domain Database, the Conserved Domain Architecture Retrieval Tool and the PubChem suite of small molecule databases. Augmenting many of the Web applications are custom implementations of the BLAST program optimized to search specialized datasets. All of the resources can be accessed through the NCBI home page at: . PMID:16381840

The value and use of social media as communication tool in the plant sciences.

PubMed

Osterrieder, Anne

2013-07-11

Social media now complements many parts of our lives. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and many other social networking sites allow users to share and interact with online content and to connect with like-minded people. Its strengths - rapid dissemination and amplification of content and the ability to lead informal conversations - make it a powerful tool to use in a professional context. This commentary explains the overall concept of social media and offers suggestions on usage and possible types of scientific content. It advises researchers on the potential benefits and how to take a strategic approach towards building a social media presence. It also presents examples of effective social media use within the plant science community. Common reasons for scientists to not engage with social media include the fear of appearing unprofessional, posting something wrong or being misunderstood, or a lack of confidence in their computer skills. With the rapid changes in academic publishing, dissemination and science communication, as well as the rise of 'altmetrics' to track online engagement with scientific content, digital literacy will become an essential skill in a scientist's tool kit.

An online tool for tracking soil nitrogen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, J.; Umar, M.; Banger, K.; Pittelkow, C. M.; Nafziger, E. D.

2016-12-01

Near real-time crop models can be useful tools for optimizing agricultural management practices. For example, model simulations can potentially provide current estimates of nitrogen availability in soil, helping growers decide whether more nitrogen needs to be applied in a given season. Traditionally, crop models have been used at point locations (i.e. single fields) with homogenous soil, climate and initial conditions. However, nitrogen availability across fields with varied weather and soil conditions at a regional or national level is necessary to guide better management decisions. This study presents the development of a publicly available, online tool that automates the integration of high-spatial-resolution forecast and past weather and soil data in DSSAT to estimate nitrogen availability for individual fields in Illinois. The model has been calibrated with field experiments from past year at six research corn fields across Illinois. These sites were treated with applications of different N fertilizer timings and amounts. The tool requires minimal management information from growers and yet has the capability to simulate nitrogen-water-crop interactions with calibrated parameters that are more appropriate for Illinois. The results from the tool will be combined with incoming field experiment data from 2016 for model validation and further improvement of model's predictive accuracy. The tool has the potential to help guide better nitrogen management practices to maximize economic and environmental benefits.

shinyCircos: an R/Shiny application for interactive creation of Circos plot.

PubMed

Yu, Yiming; Ouyang, Yidan; Yao, Wen

2018-04-01

Creation of Circos plot is one of the most efficient approaches to visualize genomic data. However, the installation and use of existing tools to make Circos plot are challenging for users lacking of coding experiences. To address this issue, we developed an R/Shiny application shinyCircos, a graphical user interface for interactive creation of Circos plot. shinyCircos can be easily installed either on computers for personal use or on local or public servers to provide online use to the community. Furthermore, various types of Circos plots could be easily generated and decorated with simple mouse-click. shinyCircos and its manual are freely available at https://github.com/venyao/shinyCircos. shinyCircos is deployed at https://yimingyu.shinyapps.io/shinycircos/ and http://shinycircos.ncpgr.cn/ for online use. diana1983941@mail.hzau.edu.cn or yaowen@henau.edu.cn.

Interactive tree of life (iTOL) v3: an online tool for the display and annotation of phylogenetic and other trees.

PubMed

Letunic, Ivica; Bork, Peer

2016-07-08

Interactive Tree Of Life (http://itol.embl.de) is a web-based tool for the display, manipulation and annotation of phylogenetic trees. It is freely available and open to everyone. The current version was completely redesigned and rewritten, utilizing current web technologies for speedy and streamlined processing. Numerous new features were introduced and several new data types are now supported. Trees with up to 100,000 leaves can now be efficiently displayed. Full interactive control over precise positioning of various annotation features and an unlimited number of datasets allow the easy creation of complex tree visualizations. iTOL 3 is the first tool which supports direct visualization of the recently proposed phylogenetic placements format. Finally, iTOL's account system has been redesigned to simplify the management of trees in user-defined workspaces and projects, as it is heavily used and currently handles already more than 500,000 trees from more than 10,000 individual users. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

MultiSpec: A Desktop and Online Geospatial Image Data Processing Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biehl, L. L.; Hsu, W. K.; Maud, A. R. M.; Yeh, T. T.

2017-12-01

MultiSpec is an easy to learn and use, freeware image processing tool for interactively analyzing a broad spectrum of geospatial image data, with capabilities such as image display, unsupervised and supervised classification, feature extraction, feature enhancement, and several other functions. Originally developed for Macintosh and Windows desktop computers, it has a community of several thousand users worldwide, including researchers and educators, as a practical and robust solution for analyzing multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing data in several different file formats. More recently MultiSpec was adapted to run in the HUBzero collaboration platform so that it can be used within a web browser, allowing new user communities to be engaged through science gateways. MultiSpec Online has also been extended to interoperate with other components (e.g., data management) in HUBzero through integration with the geospatial data building blocks (GABBs) project. This integration enables a user to directly launch MultiSpec Online from data that is stored and/or shared in a HUBzero gateway and to save output data from MultiSpec Online to hub storage, allowing data sharing and multi-step workflows without having to move data between different systems. MultiSpec has also been used in K-12 classes for which one example is the GLOBE program (www.globe.gov) and in outreach material such as that provided by the USGS (eros.usgs.gov/educational-activities). MultiSpec Online now provides teachers with another way to use MultiSpec without having to install the desktop tool. Recently MultiSpec Online was used in a geospatial data session with 30-35 middle school students at the Turned Onto Technology and Leadership (TOTAL) Camp in the summers of 2016 and 2017 at Purdue University. The students worked on a flood mapping exercise using Landsat 5 data to learn about land remote sensing using supervised classification techniques. Online documentation is available for MultiSpec (engineering.purdue.edu/ biehl/MultiSpec/) including a reference manual and several tutorials allowing young high-school students through research faculty to learn the basic functions in MultiSpec. Some of the tutorials have been translated to other languages by MultiSpec users.

Science Education with the LSST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacoby, S. H.; Khandro, L. M.; Larson, A. M.; McCarthy, D. W.; Pompea, S. M.; Shara, M. M.

2004-12-01

LSST will create the first true celestial cinematography - a revolution in public access to the changing universe. The challenge will be to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the LSST while presenting the data in ways that are manageable, engaging, and supportive of national science education goals. To prepare for this opportunity for exploration, tools and displays will be developed using current deep-sky multi-color imaging data. Education professionals from LSST partners invite input from interested members of the community. Initial LSST science education priorities include: - Fostering authentic student-teacher research projects at all levels, - Exploring methods of visualizing the large and changing datasets in science centers, - Defining Web-based interfaces and tools for access and interaction with the data, - Delivering online instructional materials, and - Developing meaningful interactions between LSST scientists and the public.

How do I obtain CERES data?

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2017-10-12

Order online ASDC Web Ordering Tool data available for ftp download. Order online CERES Subsetter Ordering Page data available for ftp download. Order online Earthdata Search Tool data available for download. Download the ...

Blended Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pape, Liz

2010-01-01

"Blended learning" is using online tools to communicate, collaborate, and publish, to extend the school day or year and to develop the 21st-century skills students need. With blended learning, teachers can use online tools and resources as part of their daily classroom instruction. Using many of the online tools and resources students already are…

Evaluation of Knowla: An Online Assessment and Learning Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Meredith Myra; Braude, Eric John

2016-01-01

The assessment of learning in large online courses requires tools that are valid, reliable, easy to administer, and can be automatically scored. We have evaluated an online assessment and learning tool called Knowledge Assembly, or Knowla. Knowla measures a student's knowledge in a particular subject by having the student assemble a set of…

Technology Transience and Learner Data: Shifting Notions of Privacy in Online Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dennen, Vanessa P.

2015-01-01

The technologies that support online learning are continuously evolving, providing instructors and students with a continuous stream of new tools, features, and functionalities for existing tools. During an online course, instructors and students generate and share a tremendous amount of data using these tools. These data are often created in…

Benefits, challenges, and best practices for involving audiences in the development of interactive coastal risk communication tools: Professional communicators' experiences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stephens, S. H.; DeLorme, D.

2017-12-01

To make scientific information useful and usable to audiences, communicators must understand audience needs, expectations, and future applications. This presentation synthesizes benefits, challenges, and best practices resulting from a qualitative social science interview study of nine professionals on their experiences developing interactive visualization tools for communicating about coastal environmental risks. Online interactive risk visualization tools, such as flooding maps, are used to provide scientific information about the impacts of coastal hazards. These tools have a wide range of audiences and purposes, including time-sensitive emergency communication, infrastructure and natural resource planning, and simply starting a community conversation about risks. Thus, the science, purposes, and audiences of these tools require a multifaceted communication strategy. In order to make these tools useable and accepted by their audiences, many professional development teams solicit target end-user input or incorporate formal user-centered design into the development process. This presentation will share results of seven interviews with developers of U.S. interactive coastal risk communication tools, ranging from state-level to international in scope. Specific techniques and procedures for audience input that were used in these projects will be discussed, including ad-hoc conversations with users, iterative usability testing with project stakeholder groups, and other participatory mechanisms. The presentation will then focus on benefits, challenges, and recommendations for best practice that the interviewees disclosed about including audiences in their development projects. Presentation attendees will gain an understanding of different procedures and techniques that professionals employ to involve end-users in risk tool development projects, as well as important considerations and recommendations for effectively involving audiences in science communication design.

Comparative Study on the Performance of Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSE) Students in Educational Technology Using Blended Learning Strategy and Traditional Face-to-Face Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lorenzo, Arnold R.

2017-01-01

Technology offers various tools of improving the teaching -- learning process. It revolutionizes teaching from traditional face-to-face to distance and online learning. This study described and compared the performance of BSE II students in educational technology using the traditional face-to-face classroom interaction and the blended learning…

The Use of Interactive Environments to Promote Self-Regulation in Online Learning: A Literature Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delen, Erhan; Liew, Jeffrey

2016-01-01

Distance education in the 21st century often relies on educational technology as the primary delivery of teaching to learners. In distance education, the source of the information and the learner do not share the same physical setting; therefore, the information is delivered by a variety of methods. The new emerging tools that are used in online…

Student Use of NABPLaw Online in a Pharmacy Laws Project

PubMed Central

Hammer, Dana P.; Hartnett, Cassandra J.; Williams, Donald H.

2006-01-01

Objectives To evaluate students’ frequency of use and degree of usefulness of NABPLaw Online, a pharmacy-specific, online, licensed resource produced by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP). Methods Students usage of various information resources, including NABPLaw Online were evaluated through (1) usage statistics gathered by NABP, (2) students’ response to a questionnaire, and (3) citation analysis performed on students’ project reports. Results Students used NABPLaw Online less frequently than other online tools, partly related to the relevance of the tool to their projects, and partly related to ease of use in comparison to other tools. Conclusions Although it was not extensively used, NABPLaw Online represents a unique resource for students researching multistate aspects of pharmacy practice law. PMID:17149444

Conducting interactive experiments online.

PubMed

Arechar, Antonio A; Gächter, Simon; Molleman, Lucas

2018-01-01

Online labor markets provide new opportunities for behavioral research, but conducting economic experiments online raises important methodological challenges. This particularly holds for interactive designs. In this paper, we provide a methodological discussion of the similarities and differences between interactive experiments conducted in the laboratory and online. To this end, we conduct a repeated public goods experiment with and without punishment using samples from the laboratory and the online platform Amazon Mechanical Turk. We chose to replicate this experiment because it is long and logistically complex. It therefore provides a good case study for discussing the methodological and practical challenges of online interactive experimentation. We find that basic behavioral patterns of cooperation and punishment in the laboratory are replicable online. The most important challenge of online interactive experiments is participant dropout. We discuss measures for reducing dropout and show that, for our case study, dropouts are exogenous to the experiment. We conclude that data quality for interactive experiments via the Internet is adequate and reliable, making online interactive experimentation a potentially valuable complement to laboratory studies.

Plant microRNA-Target Interaction Identification Model Based on the Integration of Prediction Tools and Support Vector Machine

PubMed Central

Meng, Jun; Shi, Lin; Luan, Yushi

2014-01-01

Background Confident identification of microRNA-target interactions is significant for studying the function of microRNA (miRNA). Although some computational miRNA target prediction methods have been proposed for plants, results of various methods tend to be inconsistent and usually lead to more false positive. To address these issues, we developed an integrated model for identifying plant miRNA–target interactions. Results Three online miRNA target prediction toolkits and machine learning algorithms were integrated to identify and analyze Arabidopsis thaliana miRNA-target interactions. Principle component analysis (PCA) feature extraction and self-training technology were introduced to improve the performance. Results showed that the proposed model outperformed the previously existing methods. The results were validated by using degradome sequencing supported Arabidopsis thaliana miRNA-target interactions. The proposed model constructed on Arabidopsis thaliana was run over Oryza sativa and Vitis vinifera to demonstrate that our model is effective for other plant species. Conclusions The integrated model of online predictors and local PCA-SVM classifier gained credible and high quality miRNA-target interactions. The supervised learning algorithm of PCA-SVM classifier was employed in plant miRNA target identification for the first time. Its performance can be substantially improved if more experimentally proved training samples are provided. PMID:25051153

Internet poker websites and pathological gambling prevention policy.

PubMed

Khazaal, Yasser; Chatton, Anne; Bouvard, Audrey; Khiari, Hiba; Achab, Sophia; Zullino, Daniele

2013-03-01

Despite the widespread increase in online poker playing and the risk related to excessive poker playing, research on online poker websites is still lacking with regard to pathological gambling prevention strategies offered by the websites. The aim of the present study was to assess the pathological gambling-related prevention strategies of online poker websites. Two keywords ("poker" and "poker help") were entered into two popular World Wide Web search engines. The first 20 links related to French and English online poker websites were assessed. Seventy-four websites were assessed with a standardized tool designed to rate sites on the basis of accountability, interactivity, prevention strategies, marketing, and messages related to poker strategies. Prevention strategies appeared to be lacking. Whereas a substantial proportion of the websites offered incitation to gambling such as betting "tips," few sites offered strategies to prevent or address problem gambling. Furthermore, strategies related to poker, such as probability estimation, were mostly reported without acknowledging their limitations. Results of this study suggest that more adequate prevention strategies for risky gambling should be developed for online poker.

Pharmacists on Facebook: online social networking and the profession.

PubMed

Mattingly, T Joseph; Cain, Jeff; Fink, Joseph L

2010-01-01

To provide a brief history of Facebook and online social networking and discuss how it has contributed and can contribute in the future to a paradigm change in social communications. When student pharmacists complete school and enter practice, they encounter enhanced expectations to act appropriately and professionally. Facebook expands the dilemma of separating private and public life--a challenge for individuals in all professions. From the standpoint of a professional association, Facebook provides a tremendous opportunity to reach out to members in an unprecedented way. Pharmacy organizations are beginning to use these new tools to increase communication and dissemination of information. The popularity of Facebook has brought the issue of online social networking to the forefront of professional and organizational discussions. The issues of privacy, identity protection, and e-professionalism are likely to reappear as pharmacists and student pharmacists continue to communicate via online networks. The potential exists for organizations to harness this organizational and communication power for their own interests. Further study is needed regarding the interaction between online social networking applications and the profession of pharmacy.

The MaizeGDB Genome Browser tutorial: one example of database outreach to biologists via video.

PubMed

Harper, Lisa C; Schaeffer, Mary L; Thistle, Jordan; Gardiner, Jack M; Andorf, Carson M; Campbell, Darwin A; Cannon, Ethalinda K S; Braun, Bremen L; Birkett, Scott M; Lawrence, Carolyn J; Sen, Taner Z

2011-01-01

Video tutorials are an effective way for researchers to quickly learn how to use online tools offered by biological databases. At MaizeGDB, we have developed a number of video tutorials that demonstrate how to use various tools and explicitly outline the caveats researchers should know to interpret the information available to them. One such popular video currently available is 'Using the MaizeGDB Genome Browser', which describes how the maize genome was sequenced and assembled as well as how the sequence can be visualized and interacted with via the MaizeGDB Genome Browser. Database

The Impact of an eHealth Portal on Health Care Professionals' Interaction with Patients: Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Das, Anita; Faxvaag, Arild; Svanæs, Dag

2015-11-24

People who undergo weight loss surgery require a comprehensive treatment program to achieve successful outcomes. eHealth solutions, such as secure online portals, create new opportunities for improved health care delivery and care, but depend on the organizational delivery systems and on the health care professionals providing it. So far, these have received limited attention and the overall adoption of eHealth solutions remains low. In this study, a secure eHealth portal was implemented in a bariatric surgery clinic and offered to their patients. During the study period of 6 months, 60 patients and 5 health care professionals had access. The portal included patient information, self-management tools, and communication features for online dialog with peers and health care providers at the bariatric surgery clinic. The aim of this study was to characterize and assess the impact of an eHealth portal on health care professionals' interaction with patients in bariatric surgery. This qualitative case study involved a field study consisting of contextual interviews at the clinic involving observing and speaking with personnel in their actual work environment. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with health care professionals who interacted with patients through the portal. Analysis of the collected material was done inductively using thematic analysis. The analysis revealed two main dimensions of using an eHealth portal in bariatric surgery: the transparency it represents and the responsibility that follows by providing it. The professionals reported the eHealth portal as (1) a source of information, (2) a gateway to approach and facilitate the patients, (3) a medium for irrevocable postings, (4) a channel that exposes responsibility and competence, and (5) a tool in the clinic. By providing an eHealth portal to patients in a bariatric surgery program, health care professionals can observe patients' writings and revelations thereby capturing patient challenges and acting and implementing measures. Interacting with patients through the portal can prevent dropouts and deterioration of patients' health. However, professionals report on organizational challenges and personal constraints related to communicating with patients in writing online. Further development of guidelines and education of health care professionals about how to handle, prioritize, communicate, and facilitate patients online is required in addition to increased attention to the organizational infrastructures and incentives for enabling such solutions in health care.

The Impact of an eHealth Portal on Health Care Professionals’ Interaction with Patients: Qualitative Study

PubMed Central

Faxvaag, Arild; Svanæs, Dag

2015-01-01

Background People who undergo weight loss surgery require a comprehensive treatment program to achieve successful outcomes. eHealth solutions, such as secure online portals, create new opportunities for improved health care delivery and care, but depend on the organizational delivery systems and on the health care professionals providing it. So far, these have received limited attention and the overall adoption of eHealth solutions remains low. In this study, a secure eHealth portal was implemented in a bariatric surgery clinic and offered to their patients. During the study period of 6 months, 60 patients and 5 health care professionals had access. The portal included patient information, self-management tools, and communication features for online dialog with peers and health care providers at the bariatric surgery clinic. Objective The aim of this study was to characterize and assess the impact of an eHealth portal on health care professionals’ interaction with patients in bariatric surgery. Methods This qualitative case study involved a field study consisting of contextual interviews at the clinic involving observing and speaking with personnel in their actual work environment. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with health care professionals who interacted with patients through the portal. Analysis of the collected material was done inductively using thematic analysis. Results The analysis revealed two main dimensions of using an eHealth portal in bariatric surgery: the transparency it represents and the responsibility that follows by providing it. The professionals reported the eHealth portal as (1) a source of information, (2) a gateway to approach and facilitate the patients, (3) a medium for irrevocable postings, (4) a channel that exposes responsibility and competence, and (5) a tool in the clinic. Conclusions By providing an eHealth portal to patients in a bariatric surgery program, health care professionals can observe patients’ writings and revelations thereby capturing patient challenges and acting and implementing measures. Interacting with patients through the portal can prevent dropouts and deterioration of patients’ health. However, professionals report on organizational challenges and personal constraints related to communicating with patients in writing online. Further development of guidelines and education of health care professionals about how to handle, prioritize, communicate, and facilitate patients online is required in addition to increased attention to the organizational infrastructures and incentives for enabling such solutions in health care. PMID:26601678

Determinants of College Students' Use of Online Collaborative Help-Seeking Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ding, Lu; Er, Erkan

2018-01-01

Research has noted the effectiveness of online tools (e.g., discussion boards) for supporting help seeking among class members. However, help seeking is not necessarily warranted via online learning tools because some factors (e.g., low Internet self-efficacy) may influence students' intention to use them. This study aims to identify the…

Engaging Boys through Self-Reflection Using an Online Journaling Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Chris; Deed, Craig

2009-01-01

The study reported here investigated whether Year 6 boys were engaged through the use of an online journaling tool. This journaling tool allowed the students to self reflect on their behaviour and affective reaction in an online environment. Case study methodology was used with twelve boys from a regional primary school in Victoria, during the one…

Ostracism Online: A social media ostracism paradigm.

PubMed

Wolf, Wouter; Levordashka, Ana; Ruff, Johanna R; Kraaijeveld, Steven; Lueckmann, Jan-Matthis; Williams, Kipling D

2015-06-01

We describe Ostracism Online, a novel, social media-based ostracism paradigm designed to (1) keep social interaction experimentally controlled, (2) provide researchers with the flexibility to manipulate the properties of the social situation to fit their research purposes, (3) be suitable for online data collection, (4) be convenient for studying subsequent within-group behavior, and (5) be ecologically valid. After collecting data online, we compared the Ostracism Online paradigm with the Cyberball paradigm (Williams & Jarvis Behavior Research Methods, 38, 174-180, 2006) on need-threat and mood questionnaire scores (van Beest & Williams Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91, 918-928, 2006). We also examined whether ostracized targets of either paradigm would be more likely to conform to their group members than if they had been included. Using a Bayesian analysis of variance to examine the individual effects of the different paradigms and to compare these effects across paradigms, we found analogous effects on need-threat and mood. Perhaps because we examined conformity to the ostracizers (rather than neutral sources), neither paradigm showed effects of ostracism on conformity. We conclude that Ostracism Online is a cost-effective, easy to use, and ecologically valid research tool for studying the psychological and behavioral effects of ostracism.

Assessing Flood Risks and Planning for Resiliency in New Jersey: A Case Study on the Use of Online Flood Mapping and Resilience Planning Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Auermuller, L. M.; Gatto, J.; Huch, C.

2015-12-01

The highly developed nature of New Jersey's coastline, barrier island and lagoon communities make them particularly vulnerable to storm surge, sea level rise and flooding. The impacts of Hurricane Sandy have enlightened coastal communities to these realities. Recognizing these vulnerabilities, the Jacques Cousteau National Research Reserve (JC NERR), Rutgers Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis (CRSSA), Rutgers Bloustein School and the Barnegat Bay Partnership (BBP) have developed web-based tools to assist NJ's coastal communities in visualizing and planning for future local impacts. NJFloodMapper and NJAdapt are two complementary interactive mapping websites that visualize different current and future flood hazards. These hazard layers can be combined with additional data including critical facilities, evacuation routes, socioeconomic and environmental data. Getting to Resilience is an online self-assessment tool developed to assist communities reduce vulnerability and increase preparedness by linking planning, mitigation, and adaptation. Through this interactive process communities will learn how their preparedness can yield valuable points through voluntary programs like FEMA's Community Rating System and Sustainable Jersey. The assessment process can also increase the community's understanding of where future vulnerabilities should be addressed through hazard mitigation planning. Since Superstorm Sandy, more than thirty communities in New Jersey have been provided technical assistance in assessing their risks and vulnerabilities to coastal hazards, and have begun to understand how to better plan and prepare for short and long-term changes along their shorelines.

The Feasibility and Acceptability of "Arise": An Online Substance Abuse Relapse Prevention Program.

PubMed

Sanchez, Rebecca Polley; Bartel, Chelsea M

2015-04-01

The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility and acceptability of a novel online adolescent substance abuse relapse prevention tool, "Arise" (3C Institute, Cary, NC). The program uses an innovative platform including interactive instructional segments and skill-building games to help adolescents learn and practice coping skills training strategies. We conducted a pilot test with nine adolescents in substance abuse treatment (44 percent female) and a feasibility test with treatment providers (n=8; 50 percent female). Adolescents interacted with the program via a secure Web site for approximately 30 minutes for each of two instructional units. Treatment providers reviewed the same material at their own pace. All participants completed a questionnaire with items assessing usability, acceptability, understanding, and subjective experience of the program. Regarding feasibility, recruitment of this population within the study constraints proved challenging, but participant retention in the trial was high (no attrition). Adolescents and treatment providers completed the program with no reported problems, and overall we were able to collect data as planned. Regarding acceptability, the program received strong ratings from both adolescents and providers, who found the prototype informative, engaging, and appealing. Both groups strongly recommended continuing development. We were able to deliver the intervention as intended, and acceptability ratings were high, demonstrating the feasibility and acceptability of online delivery of engaging interactive interventions. This study contributes to our understanding of how interactive technologies, including games, can be used to modify behavior in substance abuse treatment and other health areas.

Innovation Online Teaching Module Plus Digital Engineering Kit with Proteus Software through Hybrid Learning Method to Improve Student Skills

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kholis, Nur; Syariffuddien Zuhrie, Muhamad; Rahmadian, Reza

2018-04-01

Demands the competence (competence) needs of the industry today is a competent workforce to the field of work. However, during this lecture material Digital Engineering (Especially Digital Electronics Basics and Digital Circuit Basics) is limited to the delivery of verbal form of lectures (classical method) is dominated by the Lecturer (Teacher Centered). Though the subject of Digital Engineering requires learning tools and is required understanding of electronic circuits, digital electronics and high logic circuits so that learners can apply in the world of work. One effort to make it happen is by creating an online teaching module and educational aids (Kit) with the help of Proteus software that can improve the skills of learners. This study aims to innovate online teaching modules plus kits in Proteus-assisted digital engineering courses through hybrid learning approaches to improve the skills of learners. The process of innovation is done by considering the skills and mastery of the technology of students (students) Department of Electrical Engineering - Faculty of Engineering – Universitas Negeri Surabaya to produce quality graduates Use of online module plus Proteus software assisted kit through hybrid learning approach. In general, aims to obtain adequate results with affordable cost of investment, user friendly, attractive and interactive (easily adapted to the development of Information and Communication Technology). With the right design, implementation and operation, both in the form of software both in the form of Online Teaching Module, offline teaching module, Kit (Educational Viewer), and e-learning learning content (both online and off line), the use of the three tools of the expenditure will be able to adjust the standard needs of Information and Communication Technology world, both nationally and internationally.

Left centro-parieto-temporal response to tool-gesture incongruity: an ERP study.

PubMed

Chang, Yi-Tzu; Chen, Hsiang-Yu; Huang, Yuan-Chieh; Shih, Wan-Yu; Chan, Hsiao-Lung; Wu, Ping-Yi; Meng, Ling-Fu; Chen, Chen-Chi; Wang, Ching-I

2018-03-13

Action semantics have been investigated in relation to context violation but remain less examined in relation to the meaning of gestures. In the present study, we examined tool-gesture incongruity by event-related potentials (ERPs) and hypothesized that the component N400, a neural index which has been widely used in both linguistic and action semantic congruence, is significant for conditions of incongruence. Twenty participants performed a tool-gesture judgment task, in which they were asked to judge whether the tool-gesture pairs were correct or incorrect, for the purpose of conveying functional expression of the tools. Online electroencephalograms and behavioral performances (the accuracy rate and reaction time) were recorded. The ERP analysis showed a left centro-parieto-temporal N300 effect (220-360 ms) for the correct condition. However, the expected N400 (400-550 ms) could not be differentiated between correct/incorrect conditions. After 700 ms, a prominent late negative complex for the correct condition was also found in the left centro-parieto-temporal area. The neurophysiological findings indicated that the left centro-parieto-temporal area is the predominant region contributing to neural processing for tool-gesture incongruity in right-handers. The temporal dynamics of tool-gesture incongruity are: (1) firstly enhanced for recognizable tool-gesture using patterns, (2) and require a secondary reanalysis for further examination of the highly complicated visual structures of gestures and tools. The evidence from the tool-gesture incongruity indicated altered brain activities attributable to the N400 in relation to lexical and action semantics. The online interaction between gesture and tool processing provided minimal context violation or anticipation effect, which may explain the missing N400.

The practice of neogeography in community-based organizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oberle, Patrick

Neogeography and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) are two terms that have emerged recently to describe the practice of geography by those not formally trained in it as a discipline and spatial data provided by individuals through social media and other Web-based tools. Both neogeography and VGI can be directly linked to the growth of various online mapping websites and applications that allow for the creation of electronic maps that are interactive, adaptable, and easily shared via the Internet and Web. As recent phenomena, the practice of neogeography and VGI is not well understood, nor are the links these new fields have to previously established knowledge on Geographic Information Systems and its associated practices. This thesis attempts to fill this knowledge gap through a participatory study of neogeographic practice. Using a participatory workshop format, I observed and documented representatives of community-based organizations in Syracuse, NY as they encountered online mapping tools for the first time. I followed up with two of those organizations in longer case studies to better understand how organizations with no obvious geographic focus come to see geography as a way of communicating complex ideas about space. This study revealed that while the technical complexity of the online mapping software continues to prove to be a hindrance to its use, there remains space for professional geographers to interact with laypeople who make maps. Furthermore, such engagement is necessary to begin to understand the issues involved with location-based information and privacy, access to data, and ability to use and communicate geographic concepts and knowledge.

The value of online learning and MRI: finding a niche for expensive technologies.

PubMed

Cook, David A

2014-11-01

The benefits of online learning come at a price. How can we optimize the overall value? Critically appraise the value of online learning. Narrative review. Several prevalent myths overinflate the value of online learning. These include that online learning is cheap and easy (it is usually more expensive), that it is more efficient (efficiency depends on the instructional design, not the modality), that it will transform education (fundamental learning principles have not changed), and that the Net Generation expects it (there is no evidence of pent-up demand). However, online learning does add real value by enhancing flexibility, control and analytics. Costs may also go down if disruptive innovations (e.g. low-cost, low-tech, but instructionally sound "good enough" online learning) supplant technically superior but more expensive online learning products. Cost-lowering strategies include focusing on core principles of learning rather than technologies, using easy-to-learn authoring tools, repurposing content (organizing and sequencing existing resources rather than creating new content) and using course templates. Online learning represents just one tool in an educator's toolbox, as does the MRI for clinicians. We need to use the right tool(s) for the right learner at the right dose, time and route.

Development and pilot testing of an online monitoring tool of depression symptoms and side effects for young people being treated for depression.

PubMed

Hetrick, Sarah E; Dellosa, Maria Kristina; Simmons, Magenta B; Phillips, Lisa

2015-02-01

To develop and examine the feasibility of an online monitoring tool of depressive symptoms, suicidality and side effects. The online tool was developed based on guideline recommendations, and employed already validated and widely used measures. Quantitative data about its use, and qualitative information on its functionality and usefulness were collected from surveys, a focus group and individual interviews. Fifteen young people completed the tool between 1 and 12 times, and reported it was easy to use. Clinicians suggested it was too long and could be completed in the waiting room to lessen impact on session time. Overall, clients and clinicians who used the tool found it useful. Results show that an online monitoring tool is potentially useful as a systematic means for monitoring symptoms, but further research is needed including how to embed the tool within clinical practice. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Opportunities for adaptive online collaboration to enhance rural land management.

PubMed

Baumber, Alex; Metternicht, Graciela; Ampt, Peter; Cross, Rebecca; Berry, Emily

2018-08-01

Cross-property cooperation has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of environmental management actions that cut across property boundaries. Online tools can facilitate this and overcome barriers to landholder engagement in collaborative management. However, collaborative online tools need to be designed and tailored to users' needs and values, and landholder participation in the development process is critical to ensuring uptake and long-term use. This article presents a case study from the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia, where landholders have been involved in participatory development of a new online collaboration tool. The case study results highlight the significance of issues such as internet access, privacy, technical proficiency and differing stakeholder objectives. A landholder survey identified mapping and the uploading of monitoring data as important functions for the online tool, but these were not rated as highly as functions relating to data security, sharing settings and key term searches. Consequently, we recommend that a future online collaboration tool for the region is not framed specifically as a mapping or citizen science tool, but rather as an adaptive collaboration and communication tool that can incorporate a variety of data types and formats and be modified over time in line with changing landholder needs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Online educational tools developed by Heart improve the knowledge and skills of hospital doctors in cardiology

PubMed Central

Walsh, Kieran; Rafiq, Isma; Hall, Roger

2007-01-01

We conducted this study to find out if online learning packages in cardiology enabled users to increase their knowledge and skills. We also looked at how acceptable users found these packages. The journal Heart in association with BMJ Learning produced a series of modules on common cardiology problems. The modules involved a pre‐test, a number of interactive cases and a post‐test. A total of 1786 users completed these modules. Doing the modules enabled users to improve their score from the pre‐test to the post‐test by a significant amount (p<0.001). Feedback to the modules was very positive. PMID:17621623

Interactive Tree Of Life v2: online annotation and display of phylogenetic trees made easy.

PubMed

Letunic, Ivica; Bork, Peer

2011-07-01

Interactive Tree Of Life (http://itol.embl.de) is a web-based tool for the display, manipulation and annotation of phylogenetic trees. It is freely available and open to everyone. In addition to classical tree viewer functions, iTOL offers many novel ways of annotating trees with various additional data. Current version introduces numerous new features and greatly expands the number of supported data set types. Trees can be interactively manipulated and edited. A free personal account system is available, providing management and sharing of trees in user defined workspaces and projects. Export to various bitmap and vector graphics formats is supported. Batch access interface is available for programmatic access or inclusion of interactive trees into other web services.

Talking Online: Reflecting on Online Communication Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greener, Susan

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the value and constraints of varied online communication tools from web 2.0 to e-mail in a higher education (HE) teaching and learning context, where these tools are used to support or be the main focus of learning. Design/methodology/approach: A structured reflection is produced with the aid of…

Online strategies to facilitate health-related knowledge transfer: a systematic search and review.

PubMed

Mairs, Katie; McNeil, Heather; McLeod, Jordache; Prorok, Jeanette C; Stolee, Paul

2013-12-01

Health interventions and practices often lag behind the available research, and the need for timely translation of new health knowledge into practice is becoming increasingly important. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic search and review of the literature on online knowledge translation techniques that foster the interaction between various stakeholders and assist in the sharing of ideas and knowledge within the health field. The search strategy included all published literature in the English language since January 2003 and used the medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (cinahl), embase and Inspec databases. The results of the review indicate that online strategies are diverse, yet all are applicable in facilitating online health-related knowledge translation. The method of knowledge sharing ranged from use of wikis, discussion forums, blogs, and social media to data/knowledge management tools, virtual communities of practice and conferencing technology - all of which can encourage online health communication and knowledge translation. Online technologies are a key facilitator of health-related knowledge translation. This review of online strategies to facilitate health-related knowledge translation can inform the development and improvement of future strategies to expedite the translation of research to practice. © 2013 Health Libraries Group of CILIP and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Exploring TechQuests Through Open Source and Tools That Inspire Digital Natives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayden, K.; Ouyang, Y.; Kilb, D.; Taylor, N.; Krey, B.

2008-12-01

"There is little doubt that K-12 students need to understand and appreciate the Earth on which they live. They can achieve this understanding only if their teachers are well prepared". Dan Barstow, Director of Center for Earth and Space Science Education at TERC. The approach of San Diego County's Cyberinfrastructure Training, Education, Advancement, and Mentoring (SD Cyber-TEAM) project is to build understandings of Earth systems for middle school teachers and students through a collaborative that has engaged the scientific community in the use of cyber-based tools and environments for learning. The SD Cyber-TEAM has used Moodle, an open source management system with social networking tools, that engage digital native students and their teachers in collaboration and sharing of ideas and research related to Earth science. Teachers participate in on-line professional dialog through chat, wikis, blogs, forums, journals and other tools and choose the tools that will best fit their classroom. The use of Moodle during the Summer Cyber Academy developed a cyber-collaboratory environment where teaching strategies were discussed, supported and actualized by participants. These experiences supported digital immigrants (teachers) in adapting teaching strategies using technologies that are most attractive and familiar to students (digital natives). A new study by the National School Boards Association and Grunwald Associates LLC indicated that "the online behaviors of U.S. teens and 'tweens shows that 96 percent of students with online access use social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging, and visiting online communities such as Facebook, MySpace, and Webkinz". While SD Cyber-TEAM teachers are implementing TechQuests in classrooms they use these social networking elements to capture student interest and address the needs of digital natives. Through the Moodle environment, teachers have explored a variety of learning objects called TechQuests, to support classroom instruction previously outlined through a textbook. Project classrooms have participated in videoconferences over high-speed networks and through satellite connections with experts in the field investigating scientific data found in the CA State Park of Anza Borrego. Other engaging tools include: An Interactive Epicenter Locator Tool developed through the project in collaboration with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to engage students in the use of data to determine earthquake epicenters during hands on investigations, and a TechQuest activity where GoogleEarth allows students to explore geographic locations and scientific data.

Social Anxiety in Online and Real-Life Interaction and Their Associated Factors

PubMed Central

Yen, Ju-Yu; Yen, Cheng-Fang; Chen, Cheng-Sheng; Wang, Peng-Wei; Chang, Yi-Hsin

2012-01-01

Abstract Social anxiety was compared between online and real-life interaction in a sample of 2,348 college students. Severity of social anxiety in both real-life and online interaction was tested for associations with depression, Internet addiction, Internet activity type (gaming versus chatting), and scores on Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)/Behavioral Activation System (BAS) scales. The results showed that social anxiety was lower when interacting online than when interacting offline. Depression, Internet addiction, and high BIS and BAS scores were associated with high social anxiety. The social anxiety decreased more in online interaction among subjects with high social anxiety, depression, BIS, and BAS. This result suggests that the Internet has good potential as an alternative medium for delivering interventions for social anxiety. Further, the effect of BIS on social anxiety is decreased in online interaction. More attention should be paid for BIS when the treatment for social anxiety is delivered online. PMID:22175853

Social anxiety in online and real-life interaction and their associated factors.

PubMed

Yen, Ju-Yu; Yen, Cheng-Fang; Chen, Cheng-Sheng; Wang, Peng-Wei; Chang, Yi-Hsin; Ko, Chih-Hung

2012-01-01

Social anxiety was compared between online and real-life interaction in a sample of 2,348 college students. Severity of social anxiety in both real-life and online interaction was tested for associations with depression, Internet addiction, Internet activity type (gaming versus chatting), and scores on Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)/Behavioral Activation System (BAS) scales. The results showed that social anxiety was lower when interacting online than when interacting offline. Depression, Internet addiction, and high BIS and BAS scores were associated with high social anxiety. The social anxiety decreased more in online interaction among subjects with high social anxiety, depression, BIS, and BAS. This result suggests that the Internet has good potential as an alternative medium for delivering interventions for social anxiety. Further, the effect of BIS on social anxiety is decreased in online interaction. More attention should be paid for BIS when the treatment for social anxiety is delivered online.

Weathering the Storm: Developing a Spatial Data Infrastructure and Online Research Platform for Oil Spill Preparedness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, J. R.; Rose, K.; Romeo, L.; Barkhurst, A.; Nelson, J.; Duran-Sesin, R.; Vielma, J.

2016-12-01

Efforts to prepare for and reduce the risk of hazards, from both natural and anthropogenic sources, which threaten our oceans and coasts requires an understanding of the dynamics and interactions between the physical, ecological, and socio-economic systems. Understanding these coupled dynamics are essential as offshore oil & gas exploration and production continues to push into harsher, more extreme environments where risks and uncertainty increase. However, working with these large, complex data from various sources and scales to assess risks and potential impacts associated with offshore energy exploration and production poses several challenges to research. In order to address these challenges, an integrated assessment model (IAM) was developed at the Department of Energy's (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) that combines spatial data infrastructure and an online research platform to manage, process, analyze, and share these large, multidimensional datasets, research products, and the tools and models used to evaluate risk and reduce uncertainty for the entire offshore system, from the subsurface, through the water column, to coastal ecosystems and communities. Here, we will discuss the spatial data infrastructure and online research platform, NETL's Energy Data eXchange (EDX), that underpin the offshore IAM, providing information on how the framework combines multidimensional spatial data and spatio-temporal tools to evaluate risks to the complex matrix of potential environmental, social, and economic impacts stemming from modeled offshore hazard scenarios, such as oil spills or hurricanes. In addition, we will discuss the online analytics, tools, and visualization methods integrated into this framework that support availability and access to data, as well as allow for the rapid analysis and effective communication of analytical results to aid a range of decision-making needs.

Interweaving Meaning Generation in Science with Learning to Learn Together Processes Using Web 2.0 Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smyrnaiou, Zacharoula; Moustaki, Foteini; Yiannoutsou, Nikoleta; Kynigos, Chronis

2012-01-01

The literature of the science education does not offer much data concerning meaning generation (MG) and learning to learn together (L2L2) processes. The objective of this paper is the study of how a group of students working with an on-line Platform, interact, collaborate and express themselves to generate meanings with regard to moving in 3d…

Differential Effects of Social Networks on Mammography Use by Poverty Status.

PubMed

Yeo, Younsook

2016-01-01

This study examines whether social networks have differential effects on mammography use depending on poverty status. Data were analyzed on US women (40+), employing logistic regression and simple slope analyses for a post hoc probing of moderating effects. Among women not in poverty, living with a spouse/partner and attending church, regardless of frequency, were positively associated with mammography use; family size was negatively associated. Among women living in poverty, mammography showed a positive association only with weekly church attendance. Mammography was negatively associated with health-related social interactions occurring through the Internet. Post hoc probing showed significant moderating effects of poverty on the relationship between online health-related interactions and mammography use. To make the Internet a meaningful health empowerment tool for women in poverty, future research should identify how health-related interactions that occur online affect women in poverty's psychological and behavioral reactions that will contribute to our understanding of why they are discouraged from having mammograms. The mechanisms behind the differential effects of church attendance and poverty status on mammography also need further clarification.

Interpersonal Interaction in Online Learning: Experienced Online Instructors' Perceptions of Influencing Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

York, Cindy S.; Richardson, Jennifer C.

2012-01-01

A multitude of factors influence interpersonal interaction between students and instructors in an online course. This study examines perceptions of six experienced online instructors to determine factors they believe increase interaction among their students and between the students and instructor of online courses. The end result is an inventory…

sTools - a data reduction pipeline for the GREGOR Fabry-Pérot Interferometer and the High-resolution Fast Imager at the GREGOR solar telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuckein, C.; Denker, C.; Verma, M.; Balthasar, H.; González Manrique, S. J.; Louis, R. E.; Diercke, A.

2017-10-01

A huge amount of data has been acquired with the GREGOR Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (GFPI), large-format facility cameras, and since 2016 with the High-resolution Fast Imager (HiFI). These data are processed in standardized procedures with the aim of providing science-ready data for the solar physics community. For this purpose, we have developed a user-friendly data reduction pipeline called ``sTools'' based on the Interactive Data Language (IDL) and licensed under creative commons license. The pipeline delivers reduced and image-reconstructed data with a minimum of user interaction. Furthermore, quick-look data are generated as well as a webpage with an overview of the observations and their statistics. All the processed data are stored online at the GREGOR GFPI and HiFI data archive of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP). The principles of the pipeline are presented together with selected high-resolution spectral scans and images processed with sTools.

Nudging to prevent the purchase of incompatible digital products online: An experimental study.

PubMed

Esposito, Gabriele; Hernández, Penélope; van Bavel, René; Vila, José

2017-01-01

Ensuring safe and satisfactory online shopping activity, especially among vulnerable consumers such as elderly and less educated citizens, is part of a larger set of consumer policy objectives seeking to strengthen trust in the electronic marketplace. This article contributes to that goal by testing the effectiveness of nudges intended to prevent the purchase of 'incompatible' digital products (i.e., those which cannot be used with the devices owned by consumers or the systems they operate). We ran a computerised lab experiment (n = 626) examining three types of nudges, the effects of age and education, and interaction effects between these variables and the nudges. Results show that emotive warning messages and placing incompatibility information at the checkout page rather than earlier in the purchasing process were effective in reducing the purchase of incompatible goods. Age was also a relevant factor: older participants were more likely to purchase incompatible goods. In addition, there was an interaction effect between all nudges and age: two nudges exacerbated the effect of age, while another mitigated it. These results suggest nudges can be an effective policy tool, confirm a generational gap in online behaviour, and highlight how nudges can moderate the effect of socio-demographic variables.

Perspectives for on-line analysis of bauxite by neutron irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beurton, Gabriel; Ledru, Bertrand; Letourneur, Philippe

1995-03-01

The interest in bauxite as a major source of alumina results in a strong demand for on-line instrumentation suitable for sorting, blending, and processing operations at the bauxite mine and for monitoring instrumentation in the Bayer process. The results of laboratory experiments based on neutron interactions with bauxite are described. The technique was chosen in order to overcome the problem of spatial heterogeneity in bulk mineral analysis. The evaluated elements contributed to approximately 99.5% of the sample weight. In addition, the measurements provide valuable information on physical parameters such as density, hygrometry, and material flow. Using a pulsed generator, the analysis system offers potential for on-line measurements (borehole logging or conveyor belt). An overall description of the experimental set-up is given. The experimental data include measurements of natural radioactivity, delayed radioactivity induced by activation, and prompt gamma rays following neutron reaction. In situ applications of neutron interactions provide continuous analysis and produce results which are more statistically significant. The key factors contributing to advances in industrial applications are the development of high count rate gamma spectroscopy and computational tools to design measurement systems and interpret their results.

Nudging to prevent the purchase of incompatible digital products online: An experimental study

PubMed Central

Esposito, Gabriele; Hernández, Penélope; van Bavel, René; Vila, José

2017-01-01

Ensuring safe and satisfactory online shopping activity, especially among vulnerable consumers such as elderly and less educated citizens, is part of a larger set of consumer policy objectives seeking to strengthen trust in the electronic marketplace. This article contributes to that goal by testing the effectiveness of nudges intended to prevent the purchase of 'incompatible' digital products (i.e., those which cannot be used with the devices owned by consumers or the systems they operate). We ran a computerised lab experiment (n = 626) examining three types of nudges, the effects of age and education, and interaction effects between these variables and the nudges. Results show that emotive warning messages and placing incompatibility information at the checkout page rather than earlier in the purchasing process were effective in reducing the purchase of incompatible goods. Age was also a relevant factor: older participants were more likely to purchase incompatible goods. In addition, there was an interaction effect between all nudges and age: two nudges exacerbated the effect of age, while another mitigated it. These results suggest nudges can be an effective policy tool, confirm a generational gap in online behaviour, and highlight how nudges can moderate the effect of socio-demographic variables. PMID:28282401

Use of Feedback-Oriented Online Exercises to Help Physiology Students Construct Well-Organized Answers to Short-Answer Questions.

PubMed

Carnegie, Jacqueline

2015-01-01

Postsecondary education often requires students to use higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) such as analysis, evaluation, and creation as they assess situations and apply what they have learned during lecture to the formulation of solutions. Summative assessment of these abilities is often accomplished using short-answer questions (SAQs). Quandary was used to create feedback-oriented interactive online exercises to help students strengthen certain HOCS as they actively constructed answers to questions concerning the regulation of 1) metabolic rate, 2) blood sugar, 3) erythropoiesis, and 4) stroke volume. Each exercise began with a SAQ presenting an endocrine dysfunction or a physiological challenge; students were prompted to answer between six and eight multiple-choice questions while building their answer to the SAQ. Student outcomes on the SAQ sections of summative exams were compared before and after the introduction of the online tool and also between subgroups of students within the posttool-introduction population who demonstrated different levels of participation in the online exercises. While overall SAQ outcomes were not different before and after the introduction of the online exercises, once the SAQ tool had become available, those students who chose to use it had improved SAQ outcomes compared with those who did not. © 2015 J. Carnegie. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2015 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Web-based metabolic network visualization with a zooming user interface

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Displaying complex metabolic-map diagrams, for Web browsers, and allowing users to interact with them for querying and overlaying expression data over them is challenging. Description We present a Web-based metabolic-map diagram, which can be interactively explored by the user, called the Cellular Overview. The main characteristic of this application is the zooming user interface enabling the user to focus on appropriate granularities of the network at will. Various searching commands are available to visually highlight sets of reactions, pathways, enzymes, metabolites, and so on. Expression data from single or multiple experiments can be overlaid on the diagram, which we call the Omics Viewer capability. The application provides Web services to highlight the diagram and to invoke the Omics Viewer. This application is entirely written in JavaScript for the client browsers and connect to a Pathway Tools Web server to retrieve data and diagrams. It uses the OpenLayers library to display tiled diagrams. Conclusions This new online tool is capable of displaying large and complex metabolic-map diagrams in a very interactive manner. This application is available as part of the Pathway Tools software that powers multiple metabolic databases including Biocyc.org: The Cellular Overview is accessible under the Tools menu. PMID:21595965

The web server of IBM's Bioinformatics and Pattern Discovery group.

PubMed

Huynh, Tien; Rigoutsos, Isidore; Parida, Laxmi; Platt, Daniel; Shibuya, Tetsuo

2003-07-01

We herein present and discuss the services and content which are available on the web server of IBM's Bioinformatics and Pattern Discovery group. The server is operational around the clock and provides access to a variety of methods that have been published by the group's members and collaborators. The available tools correspond to applications ranging from the discovery of patterns in streams of events and the computation of multiple sequence alignments, to the discovery of genes in nucleic acid sequences and the interactive annotation of amino acid sequences. Additionally, annotations for more than 70 archaeal, bacterial, eukaryotic and viral genomes are available on-line and can be searched interactively. The tools and code bundles can be accessed beginning at http://cbcsrv.watson.ibm.com/Tspd.html whereas the genomics annotations are available at http://cbcsrv.watson.ibm.com/Annotations/.

The web server of IBM's Bioinformatics and Pattern Discovery group

PubMed Central

Huynh, Tien; Rigoutsos, Isidore; Parida, Laxmi; Platt, Daniel; Shibuya, Tetsuo

2003-01-01

We herein present and discuss the services and content which are available on the web server of IBM's Bioinformatics and Pattern Discovery group. The server is operational around the clock and provides access to a variety of methods that have been published by the group's members and collaborators. The available tools correspond to applications ranging from the discovery of patterns in streams of events and the computation of multiple sequence alignments, to the discovery of genes in nucleic acid sequences and the interactive annotation of amino acid sequences. Additionally, annotations for more than 70 archaeal, bacterial, eukaryotic and viral genomes are available on-line and can be searched interactively. The tools and code bundles can be accessed beginning at http://cbcsrv.watson.ibm.com/Tspd.html whereas the genomics annotations are available at http://cbcsrv.watson.ibm.com/Annotations/. PMID:12824385

Changes in regional climate extremes as a function of global mean temperature: an interactive plotting framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wartenburger, Richard; Hirschi, Martin; Donat, Markus G.; Greve, Peter; Pitman, Andy J.; Seneviratne, Sonia I.

2017-09-01

This article extends a previous study Seneviratne et al. (2016) to provide regional analyses of changes in climate extremes as a function of projected changes in global mean temperature. We introduce the DROUGHT-HEAT Regional Climate Atlas, an interactive tool to analyse and display a range of well-established climate extremes and water-cycle indices and their changes as a function of global warming. These projections are based on simulations from the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). A selection of example results are presented here, but users can visualize specific indices of interest using the online tool. This implementation enables a direct assessment of regional climate changes associated with global mean temperature targets, such as the 2 and 1.5° limits agreed within the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Engaging Graduate-Level Distance Learners in Research: A Collaborative Investigation of Rural Aging.

PubMed

O'Connor, Melissa L; Fuller-Iglesias, Heather; Bishop, Alexander J; Doll, Gayle; Killian, Timothy; Margrett, Jennifer; Pearson-Scott, Jean

2016-01-01

Online educational programs pose challenges to nonresidential graduate students for whom research is a key professional development experience. In this article, the authors share their pedagogical approach to engaging graduate-level online distance learners in research. Five students enrolled in an online master's degree program participated in a directed research course designed to facilitate a semester-long, collaborative, hands-on research experience in gerontology. As such, students recruited participants and conducted phone interviews for a multisite study examining aging in place in rural areas. Several strategies were used to facilitate student engagement and learning, including: regular meetings with faculty mentors, creation of a research team across institutions, interactive training, and technological tools to aid in communication. The authors discuss the process of implementing the project, challenges that arose, strategies for dealing with these issues, and a pedagogical framework that could be used to guide future endeavors of this type.

Workplace violence prevention for healthcare workers-an online course.

PubMed

Hartley, Daniel; Ridenour, Marilyn; Craine, John; Costa, Barbara

2012-01-01

Workplace assaults against healthcare workers originate from many sources, but are predominantly committed by patients. Therefore, training in strategies for preventing patient-on-nurse violence is very important throughout a nurse's career. The online course described in this article presents prevention strategies from the institutional and individual levels. These are reinforced by video case studies of five real-life incidents with key learning points discussed. The physical and psychological consequences of workplace assaults can result in higher absenteeism, increased turnover, decreased job satisfaction, lower productivity, and a host of other negative outcomes. Preventing these negative outcomes is beneficial to the nurse, the patients, and the organization. This course provides a convenient interactive tool that uses units approximately 20 minutes in duration with stop and pick up where you left off capabilities. The free online course will be available starting in the summer or fall of 2012. © 2012 Association of Rehabilitation Nurses.

Utah Virtual Lab: JAVA interactivity for teaching science and statistics on line.

PubMed

Malloy, T E; Jensen, G C

2001-05-01

The Utah on-line Virtual Lab is a JAVA program run dynamically off a database. It is embedded in StatCenter (www.psych.utah.edu/learn/statsampler.html), an on-line collection of tools and text for teaching and learning statistics. Instructors author a statistical virtual reality that simulates theories and data in a specific research focus area by defining independent, predictor, and dependent variables and the relations among them. Students work in an on-line virtual environment to discover the principles of this simulated reality: They go to a library, read theoretical overviews and scientific puzzles, and then go to a lab, design a study, collect and analyze data, and write a report. Each student's design and data analysis decisions are computer-graded and recorded in a database; the written research report can be read by the instructor or by other students in peer groups simulating scientific conventions.

Golgi: Interactive Online Brain Mapping

PubMed Central

Brown, Ramsay A.; Swanson, Larry W.

2015-01-01

Golgi (http://www.usegolgi.com) is a prototype interactive brain map of the rat brain that helps researchers intuitively interact with neuroanatomy, connectomics, and cellular and chemical architecture. The flood of “-omic” data urges new ways to help researchers connect discrete findings to the larger context of the nervous system. Here we explore Golgi’s underlying reasoning and techniques and how our design decisions balance the constraints of building both a scientifically useful and usable tool. We demonstrate how Golgi can enhance connectomic literature searches with a case study investigating a thalamocortical circuit involving the Nucleus Accumbens and we explore Golgi’s potential and future directions for growth in systems neuroscience and connectomics. PMID:26635596

Accelerated Online Learning: Perceptions of Interaction and Learning Outcomes among African American Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuo, Yu-Chun

2014-01-01

This study investigated student interaction, satisfaction, and performance in accelerated online learning environments with the use of an online learning course-management system. The interactions assessed in this study included learner-learner interaction, learner-instructor interaction, and learner-content interaction. The participants were…

Interactive energy atlas for Colorado and New Mexico: an online resource for decisionmakers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carr, Natasha B.; Ignizio, Drew A.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Latysh, Natalie; Matherne, Ann Marie; Linard, Joshua I.; Leib, Kenneth J.; Hawkins, Sarah J.

2013-01-01

Throughout the western United States, increased demand for energy is driving the rapid development of nonrenewable and renewable energy resources. Resource managers must balance the benefits of energy development with the potential consequences for ecological resources and ecosystem services. To facilitate access to geospatial data related to energy resources, energy infrastructure, and natural resources that may be affected by energy development, the U.S. Geological Survey has developed an online Interactive Energy Atlas (Energy Atlas) for Colorado and New Mexico. The Energy Atlas is designed to meet the needs of varied users who seek information about energy in the western United States. The Energy Atlas has two primary capabilities: a geographic information system (GIS) data viewer and an interactive map gallery. The GIS data viewer allows users to preview and download GIS data related to energy potential and development in Colorado and New Mexico. The interactive map gallery contains a collection of maps that compile and summarize thematically related data layers in a user-friendly format. The maps are dynamic, allowing users to explore data at different resolutions and obtain information about the features being displayed. The Energy Atlas also includes an interactive decision-support tool, which allows users to explore the potential consequences of energy development for species that vary in their sensitivity to disturbance.

The Implementation of a Course Design Using Online Curricular Tools for Assurance of Learning at a Small Private AACSB School of Business

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fratto, Victoria A.

2010-01-01

This study was designed to determine if the use of online curricular tools as a pedagogical supplement to an introductory accounting course would improve student accounting knowledge as compared to traditional teaching methodology. The curricular model employed course-embedded online assessments and tools that were designed to assist an accounting…

Re-visiting internet addiction among Taiwanese students: a cross-sectional comparison of students' expectations, online gaming, and online social interaction.

PubMed

Lee, Yuan-Hsuan; Ko, Chih-Hung; Chou, Chien

2015-04-01

Using expectancy theory, this study aimed at identifying the attitudinal/behavioral factors that explain the relationship between Internet expectancies and Internet addiction among Taiwanese adolescents. A total of 25,573 students (49.8% boys and 50.2% girls) across junior and senior high schools participated in the study. The students reported on their background characteristics, general expectations from the Internet, attitudes toward online social interaction and online gaming, preferences in online social interaction, and dys-controlled online gaming behavior. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the indirect effects of Internet expectancies on Internet addiction through these attitudinal/behavioral factors. The results showed that Internet expectancies positively predicted students' attitudes toward online games and online social interaction, which in turn predicted their respective preferences or dys-controlled behavior and Internet addiction. The indirect effect of Internet expectancies was higher on Internet addiction via attitudes toward online gaming and dys-controlled online gaming than via attitudes toward and preferences of online social interaction. The indirect effects exhibited a larger impact on boys than on girls. The authors recommend that the expectancies of online gaming and social interaction be addressed in efforts to prevent and attenuate the severity of adolescent Internet addiction.

XLinkDB 2.0: integrated, large-scale structural analysis of protein crosslinking data

PubMed Central

Schweppe, Devin K.; Zheng, Chunxiang; Chavez, Juan D.; Navare, Arti T.; Wu, Xia; Eng, Jimmy K.; Bruce, James E.

2016-01-01

Motivation: Large-scale chemical cross-linking with mass spectrometry (XL-MS) analyses are quickly becoming a powerful means for high-throughput determination of protein structural information and protein–protein interactions. Recent studies have garnered thousands of cross-linked interactions, yet the field lacks an effective tool to compile experimental data or access the network and structural knowledge for these large scale analyses. We present XLinkDB 2.0 which integrates tools for network analysis, Protein Databank queries, modeling of predicted protein structures and modeling of docked protein structures. The novel, integrated approach of XLinkDB 2.0 enables the holistic analysis of XL-MS protein interaction data without limitation to the cross-linker or analytical system used for the analysis. Availability and Implementation: XLinkDB 2.0 can be found here, including documentation and help: http://xlinkdb.gs.washington.edu/. Contact: jimbruce@uw.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:27153666

Examining relations between locus of control, loneliness, subjective well-being, and preference for online social interaction.

PubMed

Ye, Yinghua; Lin, Lin

2015-02-01

The unprecedented popularity of online communication has raised interests and concerns among the public as well as in scholarly circles. Online communications have pushed people farther away from one another. This study is a further examination of the effects of online communications on well-being, in particular: Locus of control, Loneliness, Subjective well-being, and Preference for online social interaction. Chinese undergraduate students (N = 260; 84 men, 176 women; M age = 20.1 yr., SD = 1.2) were questioned about demographic information and use of social media as well as four previously validated questionnaires related to well-being. Most participants used QQ, a popular social networking program, as the major channel for online social interactions. Locus of control was positively related to Loneliness and Preference for online social interaction, but negatively related to Subjective well-being; Loneliness (positively) and Subjective well-being (negatively) were related to Preference for online social interaction; and Loneliness and Subjective well-being had a full mediating effect between the relationships of Locus of control and Preference for online social interaction. The findings of the study showed that more lonely, unhappy, and externally controlled students were more likely to be engaged in online social interaction. Improving students' locus of control, loneliness, and happiness may help reduce problematic Internet use.

Rapid Offline-Online Post-Disaster Landslide Mapping Tool: A case study from Nepal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olyazadeh, Roya; Jaboyedoff, Michel; Sudmeier-Rieux, Karen; Derron, Marc-Henri; Devkota, Sanjaya

2016-04-01

One of the crucial components of post disaster management is the efficient mapping of impacted areas. Here we present a tool designed to map landslides and affected objects after the earthquakes of 2015 in Nepal as well as for intense rainfall impact. Because internet is not available in many rural areas of Nepal, we developed an offline-online prototype based on Open-Source WebGIS technologies to make data on hazard impacts, including damaged infrastructure, landslides or flooding events available to authorities and the general public. This mobile application was designed as a low-cost, rapid and participatory method for recording impacts from hazard events. It is possible to record such events offline and upload them through a server, where internet connection is available. This application allows user authentication, image capturing, and information collation such as geolocation, event description, interactive mapping and finally storing all the data in the server for further analysis and visualisation. This application can be accessed by a mobile phone (Android) or a tablet as a hybrid version for both offline and online versions. The offline version has an interactive-offline map function which allows users to upload satellites image in order to improve ground truthing interpretation. After geolocation, the user can start mapping and then save recorded data into Geojson-TXT files that can be easily uploaded to the server whenever internet is available. This prototype was tested specifically for a rapid assessment of landslides and relevant land use characteristics such as roads, forest area, rivers in the Phewa Lake watershed near Pokhara, Nepal where a large number landslides were activated or reactivated after the 2015 monsoon season. More than 60 landslides were recorded during two days of field trip. Besides, it is possible to use this application for any other kind of hazard event like flood, avalanche, etc. Keywords: Offline, Online, Open source, WebGIS, Android, Post-Disaster, Landslide mapping

Student-Teacher Interaction in Online Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Robert D., Ed.

2015-01-01

As face-to-face interaction between student and instructor is not present in online learning environments, it is increasingly important to understand how to establish and maintain social presence in online learning. "Student-Teacher Interaction in Online Learning Environments" provides successful strategies and procedures for developing…

Database resources of the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

PubMed

Wheeler, David L; Barrett, Tanya; Benson, Dennis A; Bryant, Stephen H; Canese, Kathi; Chetvernin, Vyacheslav; Church, Deanna M; DiCuccio, Michael; Edgar, Ron; Federhen, Scott; Geer, Lewis Y; Kapustin, Yuri; Khovayko, Oleg; Landsman, David; Lipman, David J; Madden, Thomas L; Maglott, Donna R; Ostell, James; Miller, Vadim; Pruitt, Kim D; Schuler, Gregory D; Sequeira, Edwin; Sherry, Steven T; Sirotkin, Karl; Souvorov, Alexandre; Starchenko, Grigory; Tatusov, Roman L; Tatusova, Tatiana A; Wagner, Lukas; Yaschenko, Eugene

2007-01-01

In addition to maintaining the GenBank nucleic acid sequence database, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) provides analysis and retrieval resources for the data in GenBank and other biological data made available through NCBI's Web site. NCBI resources include Entrez, the Entrez Programming Utilities, My NCBI, PubMed, PubMed Central, Entrez Gene, the NCBI Taxonomy Browser, BLAST, BLAST Link(BLink), Electronic PCR, OrfFinder, Spidey, Splign, RefSeq, UniGene, HomoloGene, ProtEST, dbMHC, dbSNP, Cancer Chromosomes, Entrez Genome, Genome Project and related tools, the Trace and Assembly Archives, the Map Viewer, Model Maker, Evidence Viewer, Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COGs), Viral Genotyping Tools, Influenza Viral Resources, HIV-1/Human Protein Interaction Database, Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), Entrez Probe, GENSAT, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (OMIA), the Molecular Modeling Database (MMDB), the Conserved Domain Database (CDD), the Conserved Domain Architecture Retrieval Tool (CDART) and the PubChem suite of small molecule databases. Augmenting many of the Web applications are custom implementations of the BLAST program optimized to search specialized data sets. These resources can be accessed through the NCBI home page at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

Database resources of the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

PubMed

Sayers, Eric W; Barrett, Tanya; Benson, Dennis A; Bryant, Stephen H; Canese, Kathi; Chetvernin, Vyacheslav; Church, Deanna M; DiCuccio, Michael; Edgar, Ron; Federhen, Scott; Feolo, Michael; Geer, Lewis Y; Helmberg, Wolfgang; Kapustin, Yuri; Landsman, David; Lipman, David J; Madden, Thomas L; Maglott, Donna R; Miller, Vadim; Mizrachi, Ilene; Ostell, James; Pruitt, Kim D; Schuler, Gregory D; Sequeira, Edwin; Sherry, Stephen T; Shumway, Martin; Sirotkin, Karl; Souvorov, Alexandre; Starchenko, Grigory; Tatusova, Tatiana A; Wagner, Lukas; Yaschenko, Eugene; Ye, Jian

2009-01-01

In addition to maintaining the GenBank nucleic acid sequence database, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) provides analysis and retrieval resources for the data in GenBank and other biological data made available through the NCBI web site. NCBI resources include Entrez, the Entrez Programming Utilities, MyNCBI, PubMed, PubMed Central, Entrez Gene, the NCBI Taxonomy Browser, BLAST, BLAST Link (BLink), Electronic PCR, OrfFinder, Spidey, Splign, RefSeq, UniGene, HomoloGene, ProtEST, dbMHC, dbSNP, Cancer Chromosomes, Entrez Genomes and related tools, the Map Viewer, Model Maker, Evidence Viewer, Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COGs), Retroviral Genotyping Tools, HIV-1/Human Protein Interaction Database, Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), Entrez Probe, GENSAT, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (OMIA), the Molecular Modeling Database (MMDB), the Conserved Domain Database (CDD), the Conserved Domain Architecture Retrieval Tool (CDART) and the PubChem suite of small molecule databases. Augmenting many of the web applications is custom implementation of the BLAST program optimized to search specialized data sets. All of the resources can be accessed through the NCBI home page at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

Monitoring of Students' Interaction in Online Learning Settings by Structural Network Analysis and Indicators.

PubMed

Ammenwerth, Elske; Hackl, Werner O

2017-01-01

Learning as a constructive process works best in interaction with other learners. Support of social interaction processes is a particular challenge within online learning settings due to the spatial and temporal distribution of participants. It should thus be carefully monitored. We present structural network analysis and related indicators to analyse and visualize interaction patterns of participants in online learning settings. We validate this approach in two online courses and show how the visualization helps to monitor interaction and to identify activity profiles of learners. Structural network analysis is a feasible approach for an analysis of the intensity and direction of interaction in online learning settings.

"I'm Not Here to Learn How to Mark Someone Else's Stuff": An Investigation of an Online Peer-to-Peer Review Workshop Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Michael John; Diao, Ming Ming; Huang, Leon

2015-01-01

In this article, we explore the intersecting concepts of fairness, trust and temporality in relation to the implementation of an online peer-to-peer review Moodle Workshop tool at a Sydney metropolitan university. Drawing on qualitative interviews with unit convenors and online surveys of students using the Workshop tool, we seek to highlight a…

Designing Synchronous Online Interactions and Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Barb; Schroeder, Meadow; Eaton, Sarah Elaine

2016-01-01

With increased improvements to technology for online teaching, synchronous instruction continues to grow. Increasing student interaction has been an important component to enhance a sense of community in online learning and improve student satisfaction. There is a paucity of research on how to effectively manage online interaction and increase…

Social support and social interaction ties on internet addiction: integrating online and offline contexts.

PubMed

Wang, Edward Shih-Tse; Wang, Michael Chih-Hung

2013-11-01

This study explores the relationship between social support and social interaction ties on Internet addiction by integrating both online and offline social encounters. A total of 1,642 members of online social communities participated in this research, for which structural equation modeling was used for analysis. The findings show that social support is positively associated with social interaction ties in both online and offline contexts. In addition, online social support and online social interaction ties are positively associated with Internet addiction, whereas offline social support and social interaction ties on Internet addiction are negatively associated. This finding has important implications not only for understanding the cause of Internet addiction but also for understanding the diminishing Internet addiction due to social support and social interaction ties.

Teachers Connect "with" Technology: Online Tools Build New Pathways to Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phillips, Vicki L.; Olson, Lynn

2013-01-01

Teachers, curriculum experts, and other educators work together using online tools developed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create high-quality, useful lessons and research-based instructional tools incorporating the Common Core State Standards.

The MaizeGDB Genome Browser tutorial: one example of database outreach to biologists via video

PubMed Central

Harper, Lisa C.; Schaeffer, Mary L.; Thistle, Jordan; Gardiner, Jack M.; Andorf, Carson M.; Campbell, Darwin A.; Cannon, Ethalinda K.S.; Braun, Bremen L.; Birkett, Scott M.; Lawrence, Carolyn J.; Sen, Taner Z.

2011-01-01

Video tutorials are an effective way for researchers to quickly learn how to use online tools offered by biological databases. At MaizeGDB, we have developed a number of video tutorials that demonstrate how to use various tools and explicitly outline the caveats researchers should know to interpret the information available to them. One such popular video currently available is ‘Using the MaizeGDB Genome Browser’, which describes how the maize genome was sequenced and assembled as well as how the sequence can be visualized and interacted with via the MaizeGDB Genome Browser. Database URL: http://www.maizegdb.org/ PMID:21565781

[The influences of interaction during online gaming on sociability and aggression in real life].

PubMed

Fuji, Kei; Yoshida, Fujio

2010-02-01

This study examined the influences of online gaming on sociability and aggression in real life. It was hypothesized that the effects of online gaming would differ depending on the interaction style of the online-gamers. Online-gamers in Japan (n = 1 477) were asked to respond to questionnaires that measured interaction style during online gaming, the effects of sociability and aggression, as well as social and individual orientation in real life. Factor analysis of the scores for interaction style extracted five factors. Covariance structure analysis indicated that sociable interactions such as "Broadening relations" and "Feeling of belonging" promoted sociability in real life. In addition, "Release from daily hassles" promoted sociability and decreased aggression. In contrast, non-sociable and aggressive interactions decreased sociability and increased aggression. The results also suggested that a social orientation in real life promoted sociable interactions during game playing, while an individual orientation promoted non-sociable and aggressive interactions. These results supported the hypotheses and suggested that online gaming resulted in positive outcomes for those who are socially, but negative outcomes for those who are not.

DiscoverySpace: an interactive data analysis application

PubMed Central

Robertson, Neil; Oveisi-Fordorei, Mehrdad; Zuyderduyn, Scott D; Varhol, Richard J; Fjell, Christopher; Marra, Marco; Jones, Steven; Siddiqui, Asim

2007-01-01

DiscoverySpace is a graphical application for bioinformatics data analysis. Users can seamlessly traverse references between biological databases and draw together annotations in an intuitive tabular interface. Datasets can be compared using a suite of novel tools to aid in the identification of significant patterns. DiscoverySpace is of broad utility and its particular strength is in the analysis of serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) data. The application is freely available online. PMID:17210078

Online Collaboration--How to Start

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindsay, Julie

2016-01-01

Thanks to the development of faster Internet and better technology tools, students and teachers can network, collaborate, co-create products, build knowledge together, and share that knowledge with whomever they want around the world. Julie Lindsay describes online resources, tools, and projects that teachers can use for online global…

Online reporting of adverse drug reactions: a study from a French regional pharmacovigilance center.

PubMed

Abadie, Delphine; Chebane, Leyla; Bert, Max; Durrieu, Geneviève; Montastruc, Jean-Louis

2014-01-01

In France, online reporting via a website is a new method for notifying adverse drug reactions (ADRs). The French Midi-Pyrénées Regional Pharmacovigilance Center (RPVC) set up in July, 2010 a Web-based ADR reporting tool in order to improve ADR reporting rate. To assess feasibility, use and performances of this new ADR reporting system. To evaluate the main characteristics of these online reports. In a retrospective study, we evaluated characteristics (numbers, ADR reporting and file processing times, type of reporters, suspected drugs, "seriousness" and nature of ADRs) of online notifications reported to the RPVC between July 7(th), 2010 (first online notification) and December 31(th), 2011. We performed comparisons to a random sample of "conventional" notifications, i.e. spontaneously reported to the RPVC via traditional tools (post, fax, e-mail or telephone) during the same period. The total number of online reports was 312 over the 18-month period. There was a 45% increase in numbers of reports from ambulatory healthcare professionals after the implementation of the new reporting tool. Online reports were transmitted to the French Medicine Agency on average almost one month (26 days) earlier than "conventional" ones. This difference was mainly due to a faster ADR notification process via the online form (on average, the reporting period was decreased by 19 days with the new tool). In comparison to "conventional" notifications, online reports came more often from ambulatory healthcare professionals, and involved more frequently neuropsychiatric drugs and neuropsychiatric ADRs. None difference was observed for "seriousness" of ADRs. It is feasible to deploy an online ADR reporting system used by health professionals in current practice. We underline the efficiency of this new online reporting tool for increasing ADRs reporting. Moreover, this is the first published study demonstrating that an online reporting tool can help to save time on the ADR reporting period and file processing, which is essential to generate early safety signals. © 2014 Société Française de Pharmacologie et de Thérapeutique.

Online Platform as a Tool to Support Postgraduate Training in General Practice – A Case Report

PubMed Central

Dini, Lorena; Galanski, Claire; Döpfmer, Susanne; Gehrke-Beck, Sabine; Bayer, Gudrun; Boeckle, Martin; Micheel, Isabel; Novak, Jasminko; Heintze, Christoph

2017-01-01

Objective: Physicians in postgraduate training (PPT) in General Practice (GP) typically have very little interaction with their peers, as there is usually only one resident physician working in their respective department or GP office at a given time. Therefore, the online platform KOLEGEA, presented here, aims to support postgraduate training in general practice (PT in GP) in Germany through virtual interaction. Methodology: In 2012, the interdisciplinary research project KOLEGEA set up an online platform that any physicians in PT in GP can use for free after registration with their unitary continuous education number (Einheitliche Fortbildungsnummer, EFN). It offers problem-based learning and allows to discuss self-published anonymized patient cases with the community that can be classified and discussed with experienced mentors (specialists in general practice - GPs) in small virtual groups. Results: An anonymous online survey carried out as part of the 2014 project evaluation showed a good acceptance of the platform, even though shortage of time was mentioned as a limiting factor for its use. Data analysis showed that KOLEGEA was used by PPT in GP in all federal states. Patterns of passive use were predominant (90%). This report also describes the further development of the platform (in 2015 and 2016) that integrates an activity monitor as part of a gamification concept. Conclusions: Due to a low response rate of the 2014 online survey and the preliminary evaluations of usage patterns we could identify only initial trends regarding the role of KOLEGEA in supporting PPT. The platform was perceived as a helpful supplement to better structure PT in GP. PMID:29226227

An on-line BCI for control of hand grasp sequence and holding using adaptive probabilistic neural network.

PubMed

Hazrati, Mehrnaz Kh; Erfanian, Abbas

2008-01-01

This paper presents a new EEG-based Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) for on-line controlling the sequence of hand grasping and holding in a virtual reality environment. The goal of this research is to develop an interaction technique that will allow the BCI to be effective in real-world scenarios for hand grasp control. Moreover, for consistency of man-machine interface, it is desirable the intended movement to be what the subject imagines. For this purpose, we developed an on-line BCI which was based on the classification of EEG associated with imagination of the movement of hand grasping and resting state. A classifier based on probabilistic neural network (PNN) was introduced for classifying the EEG. The PNN is a feedforward neural network that realizes the Bayes decision discriminant function by estimating probability density function using mixtures of Gaussian kernels. Two types of classification schemes were considered here for on-line hand control: adaptive and static. In contrast to static classification, the adaptive classifier was continuously updated on-line during recording. The experimental evaluation on six subjects on different days demonstrated that by using the static scheme, a classification accuracy as high as the rate obtained by the adaptive scheme can be achieved. At the best case, an average classification accuracy of 93.0% and 85.8% was obtained using adaptive and static scheme, respectively. The results obtained from more than 1500 trials on six subjects showed that interactive virtual reality environment can be used as an effective tool for subject training in BCI.

Integration of Traditional and E-Learning Methods to Improve Learning Outcomes for Dental Students in Histopathology.

PubMed

Ariana, Armin; Amin, Moein; Pakneshan, Sahar; Dolan-Evans, Elliot; Lam, Alfred K

2016-09-01

Dental students require a basic ability to explain and apply general principles of pathology to systemic, dental, and oral pathology. Although there have been recent advances in electronic and online resources, the academic effectiveness of using self-directed e-learning tools in pathology courses for dental students is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine if blended learning combining e-learning with traditional learning methods of lectures and tutorials would improve students' scores and satisfaction over those who experienced traditional learning alone. Two consecutive cohorts of Bachelor of Dentistry and Oral Health students taking the general pathology course at Griffith University in Australia were compared. The control cohort experienced traditional methods only, while members of the study cohort were also offered self-directed learning materials including online resources and online microscopy classes. Final assessments for the course were used to compare the differences in effectiveness of the intervention, and students' satisfaction with the teaching format was evaluated using questionnaires. On the final course assessments, students in the study cohort had significantly higher scores than students in the control cohort (p<0.01). Analysis of questionnaire results showed improved student satisfaction with the course in the study cohort. These findings suggest that the use of e-learning tools such as virtual microscopy and interactive online resources for delivering pathology instruction can be an effective supplement for developing dental students' competence, confidence, and satisfaction.

Older Adult Experience of Online Diagnosis: Results From a Scenario-Based Think-Aloud Protocol

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Searching for online information to interpret symptoms is an increasingly prevalent activity among patients, even among older adults. As older adults typically have complex health care needs, their risk of misinterpreting symptoms via online self-diagnosis may be greater. However, limited research has been conducted with older adults in the areas of symptom interpretation and human-computer interaction. Objective The intent of the study was to describe the processes that a sample of older adults may use to diagnose symptoms online as well as the processes that predict accurate diagnosis. Methods We conducted a series of “think-aloud” protocols with 79 adults aged 50 years or older. Participants received one of two vignettes that depicted symptoms of illness. Participants talked out loud about their thoughts and actions while attempting to diagnose the symptoms with and without the help of common Internet tools (Google and WebMD’s Symptom Checker). Think-aloud content was categorized using an adapted Q-sort and general inductive approach. We then compared the think-aloud content of participants who were accurate in their diagnosis with those who were not. Results Nineteen descriptive codes were identified from the think-aloud content. The codes touched upon Web navigation, attempts to organize and evaluate online health information, and strategies to diagnose symptoms. Participants most frequently relied on a strategy where they reviewed and then rejected the online diagnoses if they contained additional symptoms than those that were depicted in the vignette. Finally, participants who were inaccurate in their diagnosis reported being confused by the diagnosis task, lacking confidence in their diagnosis, and using their past experiences with illness to guide diagnosis more frequently than those participants who accurately diagnosed the symptoms. Conclusions Older adult participants tended to rely on matching strategies to interpret symptoms, but many still utilized existing medical knowledge and previous illness experiences as a guide for diagnosis. Many participants also had difficulty navigating the Internet tools, which suggests an increased need for navigation aids in Web design. Furthermore, participants who were inaccurate in their diagnosis had more difficulty with the Internet tools and confusion with the task than those who were accurate. Future work in this area may want to utilize additional study design such as eye-tracking to further understand the coordination between Web navigation, online symptom information processing, and diagnostic strategies. PMID:24434479

Aqueduct: an interactive tool to empower global water risk assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reig, Paul; Gassert, Francis

2013-04-01

The Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas (Aqueduct) is a publicly available, global database and interactive tool that maps indicators of water related risks for decision makers worldwide. Aqueduct makes use of the latest geo-statistical modeling techniques to compute a composite index and translate the most recently available hydrological data into practical information on water related risks for companies, investors, and governments alike. Twelve global indicators are grouped into a Water Risk Framework designed in response to the growing concerns from private sector actors around water scarcity, water quality, climate change, and increasing demand for freshwater. The Aqueduct framework includes indicators of water stress, variability in supply, storage, flood, drought, groundwater, water quality and social conflict, addressing both spatial and temporal variation in water hazards. It organizes indicators into three categories of risk that bring together multiple dimensions of water related risk into comprehensive aggregated scores, which allow for dynamic weighting to capture users' unique exposure to water hazards. All information is compiled into an online, open access platform, from which decision-makers can view indicators, scores, and maps, conduct global risk assessments, and export data and shape files for further analysis. Companies can use this tool to evaluate their exposure to water risks across operations and supply chains, investors to assess water-related risks in their portfolio, and public-sector actors to better understand water security. Additionally, the open nature of the data and maps allow other organizations to build off of this effort with new research, for example in the areas of water-energy or water-food relationships. This presentation will showcase the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas online tool and the features and functionalities it offers, as well as explain how it can be used for both private and public sector applications. The session will feature a live demonstration of how the tool can be applied to evaluate exposure to water-related risks worldwide and drive change on the ground by prioritizing areas for investment to increase resilience to natural hazards.

LSST: Education and Public Outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, Amanda; Herrold, Ardis; LSST Education and Public Outreach Team

2018-01-01

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will conduct a 10-year wide, fast, and deep survey of the night sky starting in 2022. LSST Education and Public Outreach (EPO) will enable public access to a subset of LSST data so anyone can explore the universe and be part of the discovery process. LSST EPO aims to facilitate a pathway from entry-level exploration of astronomical imagery to more sophisticated interaction with LSST data using tools similar to what professional astronomers use. To deliver data to the public, LSST EPO is creating an online Portal to serve as the main hub to EPO activities. The Portal will host an interactive Skyviewer, access to LSST data for educators and the public through online Jupyter notebooks, original multimedia for informal science centers and planetariums, and feature citizen science projects that use LSST data. LSST EPO will engage with the Chilean community through Spanish-language components of the Portal and will partner with organizations serving underrepresented groups in STEM.

Tweeting birds: online mentions predict future citations in ornithology

PubMed Central

O'Hanlon, Nina; Dudley, Steve P.

2017-01-01

The rapid growth of online tools to communicate scientific research raises the important question of whether online attention is associated with citations in the scholarly literature. The Altmetric Attention Score (AAS) quantifies the attention received by a scientific publication on various online platforms including news, blogs and social media. It has been advanced as a rapid way of gauging the impact of a piece of research, both in terms of potential future scholarly citations and wider online engagement. Here, we explore variation in the AAS of 2677 research articles published in 10 ornithological journals between 2012 and 2016. On average, AAS increased sevenfold in just five years, primarily due to increased activity on Twitter which contributed 75% of the total score. For a subset of 878 articles published in 2014, including an additional 323 ornithology articles from non-specialist journals, an increase in AAS from 1 to 20 resulted in a predicted 112% increase in citation count from 2.6 to 5.5 citations per article. This effect interacted with journal impact factor, with weaker effects of AAS in higher impact factor journals. Our results suggest that altmetrics (or the online activity they measure), as well as complementing traditional measures of scholarly impact in ornithology such as citations, may also anticipate or even drive them. PMID:29291121

Increasing Psychotherapists’ Adoption and Implementation of the Evidence-based Practice of Progress Monitoring

PubMed Central

Persons, Jacqueline B.; Koerner, Kelly; Eidelman, Polina; Thomas, Cannon; Liu, Howard

2015-01-01

Evidence-based practices (EBPs) reach consumers slowly because practitioners are slow to adopt and implement them. We hypothesized that giving psychotherapists a tool + training intervention that was designed to help the therapist integrate the EBP of progress monitoring into his or her usual way of working would be associated with adoption and sustained implementation of the particular progress monitoring tool we trained them to use (the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales on our Online Progress Tracking tool) and would generalize to all types of progress monitoring measures. To test these hypotheses, we developed an online progress monitoring tool and a course that trained psychotherapists to use it, and we assessed progress monitoring behavior in 26 psychotherapists before, during, immediately after, and 12 months after they received the tool and training. Immediately after receiving the tool + training intervention, participants showed statistically significant increases in use of the online tool and of all types of progress monitoring measures. Twelve months later, participants showed sustained use of any type of progress monitoring measure but not the online tool. PMID:26618237

Increasing psychotherapists' adoption and implementation of the evidence-based practice of progress monitoring.

PubMed

Persons, Jacqueline B; Koerner, Kelly; Eidelman, Polina; Thomas, Cannon; Liu, Howard

2016-01-01

Evidence-based practices (EBPs) reach consumers slowly because practitioners are slow to adopt and implement them. We hypothesized that giving psychotherapists a tool + training intervention that was designed to help the therapist integrate the EBP of progress monitoring into his or her usual way of working would be associated with adoption and sustained implementation of the particular progress monitoring tool we trained them to use (the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales on our Online Progress Tracking tool) and would generalize to all types of progress monitoring measures. To test these hypotheses, we developed an online progress monitoring tool and a course that trained psychotherapists to use it, and we assessed progress monitoring behavior in 26 psychotherapists before, during, immediately after, and 12 months after they received the tool and training. Immediately after receiving the tool + training intervention, participants showed statistically significant increases in use of the online tool and of all types of progress monitoring measures. Twelve months later, participants showed sustained use of any type of progress monitoring measure but not the online tool. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Feasibility and Acceptability of “Arise”: An Online Substance Abuse Relapse Prevention Program

PubMed Central

Bartel, Chelsea M.

2015-01-01

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility and acceptability of a novel online adolescent substance abuse relapse prevention tool, “Arise” (3C Institute, Cary, NC). The program uses an innovative platform including interactive instructional segments and skill-building games to help adolescents learn and practice coping skills training strategies. Materials and Methods: We conducted a pilot test with nine adolescents in substance abuse treatment (44 percent female) and a feasibility test with treatment providers (n=8; 50 percent female). Adolescents interacted with the program via a secure Web site for approximately 30 minutes for each of two instructional units. Treatment providers reviewed the same material at their own pace. All participants completed a questionnaire with items assessing usability, acceptability, understanding, and subjective experience of the program. Results: Regarding feasibility, recruitment of this population within the study constraints proved challenging, but participant retention in the trial was high (no attrition). Adolescents and treatment providers completed the program with no reported problems, and overall we were able to collect data as planned. Regarding acceptability, the program received strong ratings from both adolescents and providers, who found the prototype informative, engaging, and appealing. Both groups strongly recommended continuing development. Conclusions: We were able to deliver the intervention as intended, and acceptability ratings were high, demonstrating the feasibility and acceptability of online delivery of engaging interactive interventions. This study contributes to our understanding of how interactive technologies, including games, can be used to modify behavior in substance abuse treatment and other health areas. PMID:26181807

Applications of Online Instruction: An Overview for Teachers, Students with Mild Disabilities, and Their Parents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Sean J.; Meyen, Edward L.

2003-01-01

This article describes online instruction in the context of online technologies, instructional environment, and home environment of students with disabilities. Topics covered include advantages, cost effectiveness, Web accessibility, universal design for learning, tools for accessing and organizing resources, tools for communication, learning…

An Online Image Analysis Tool for Science Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raeside, L.; Busschots, B.; Waddington, S.; Keating, J. G.

2008-01-01

This paper describes an online image analysis tool developed as part of an iterative, user-centered development of an online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called the Education through Virtual Experience (EVE) Portal. The VLE provides a Web portal through which schoolchildren and their teachers create scientific proposals, retrieve images and…

Giovanni - The Bridge Between Data and Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Zhong; Acker, James

2017-01-01

This article describes new features in the Geospatial Interactive Online Visualization ANd aNalysis Infrastructure (Giovanni), a user-friendly online tool that enables visualization, analysis, and assessment of NASA Earth science data sets without downloading data and software. Since the satellite era began, data collected from Earth-observing satellites have been widely used in research and applications; however, using satellite-based data sets can still be a challenge to many. To facilitate data access and evaluation, as well as scientific exploration and discovery, the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC) has developed Giovanni for a wide range of users around the world. This article describes the latest capabilities of Giovanni with examples, and discusses future plans for this innovative system.

General pathologist-helper: The new medical app about general pathology.

PubMed

Fernández-Vega, Iván

2015-01-01

Smartphone applications (apps) have become increasingly prevalent in medicine. Due to most pathologists, pathology trainees, technicians, and medical students use smartphones; apps can be a different way for general pathology education. "General pathologist-helper (GP-HELPER)" is a novel app developed as a reference tool in general pathology and especially for general pathologists, developed for Android and iOS platforms. "GP-HELPER," was created using Mobincube website platform. This tool also integrates "FORUM GP-HELPER," an external website created using Miarroba website (http://forum-gp-helper.mboards.com) and "COMMUNITY GP-HELPER" a multichannel chat created using Chatango website platform. The application was released in July 2015, and it is been periodically updated since then. The app has permanent information (offline data) about different pathology protocols (TNM latest edition, protocols regarding management of tumors of unknown primary origin, and flowcharts for some of the most difficult tumors to diagnose) and a database with more than 5000 immunohistochemistry results from different tumors. Online data have links to more than 1100 reference pathology video lectures, 250 antibodies information, more than 70 pathology association websites, 46 pathology providers, and 78 outstanding pathology journal websites. Besides this information, the app has two interactive places such as "FORUM GP-HELPER" and "COMMUNITY GP-HELPER" that let users to stay in touch everywhere and every time. Expert consult section is also available. "GP-HELPER" pretends to integrate offline and online data about pathology with two interactive external places in order to represent a reference tool for general pathologists and associate members.

The Top Ten Websites in Critical Care Medicine Education Today.

PubMed

Wolbrink, Traci A; Rubin, Lucy; Burns, Jeffrey P; Markovitz, Barry

2018-01-01

The number of websites for the critical care provider is rapidly growing, including websites that are part of the Free Open Access Med(ical ed)ucation (FOAM) movement. With this rapidly expanding number of websites, critical appraisal is needed to identify quality websites. The last major review of critical care websites was published in 2011, and thus a new review of the websites relevant to the critical care clinician is necessary. A new assessment tool for evaluating critical care medicine education websites, the Critical Care Medical Education Website Quality Evaluation Tool (CCMEWQET), was modified from existing tools. A PubMed and Startpage search from 2007 to 2017 was conducted to identify websites relevant to critical care medicine education. These websites were scored based on the CCMEWQET. Ninety-seven websites relevant for critical care medicine education were identified and scored, and the top ten websites were described in detail. Common types of resources available on these websites included blog posts, podcasts, videos, online journal clubs, and interactive components such as quizzes. Almost one quarter of websites (n = 22) classified themselves as FOAM websites. The top ten websites most often included an editorial process, high-quality and appropriately attributed graphics and multimedia, scored much higher for comprehensiveness and ease of access, and included opportunities for interactive learning. Many excellent online resources for critical care medicine education currently exist, and the number is likely to continue to increase. Opportunities for improvement in many websites include more active engagement of learners, upgrading navigation abilities, incorporating an editorial process, and providing appropriate attribution for graphics and media.

SLIM: an alternative Web interface for MEDLINE/PubMed searches – a preliminary study

PubMed Central

Muin, Michael; Fontelo, Paul; Liu, Fang; Ackerman, Michael

2005-01-01

Background With the rapid growth of medical information and the pervasiveness of the Internet, online search and retrieval systems have become indispensable tools in medicine. The progress of Web technologies can provide expert searching capabilities to non-expert information seekers. The objective of the project is to create an alternative search interface for MEDLINE/PubMed searches using JavaScript slider bars. SLIM, or Slider Interface for MEDLINE/PubMed searches, was developed with PHP and JavaScript. Interactive slider bars in the search form controlled search parameters such as limits, filters and MeSH terminologies. Connections to PubMed were done using the Entrez Programming Utilities (E-Utilities). Custom scripts were created to mimic the automatic term mapping process of Entrez. Page generation times for both local and remote connections were recorded. Results Alpha testing by developers showed SLIM to be functionally stable. Page generation times to simulate loading times were recorded the first week of alpha and beta testing. Average page generation times for the index page, previews and searches were 2.94 milliseconds, 0.63 seconds and 3.84 seconds, respectively. Eighteen physicians from the US, Australia and the Philippines participated in the beta testing and provided feedback through an online survey. Most users found the search interface user-friendly and easy to use. Information on MeSH terms and the ability to instantly hide and display abstracts were identified as distinctive features. Conclusion SLIM can be an interactive time-saving tool for online medical literature research that improves user control and capability to instantly refine and refocus search strategies. With continued development and by integrating search limits, methodology filters, MeSH terms and levels of evidence, SLIM may be useful in the practice of evidence-based medicine. PMID:16321145

Teaching Astronomy with Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Austin, Carmen; Impey, Chris David; Wenger, Matthew

2015-01-01

Students today are expected to have access to computers and the Internet. Students young and old, in school and out of school, are interested in learning about astronomy, and have computers to use for this. Teach Astronomy is a website with a comprehensive digital astronomy textbook freely available to students and educators. In addition to the textbook, there are astronomy Wikipedia articles, image archives from Astronomy Picture of the Day and AstroPix, and video lectures covering all topics of astronomy. Teach Astronomy has a unique search tool called the wikimap that can be used to search through all of the resources on the site. Astronomy: State of the Art (ASOTA) is a massive, open, online course (MOOC). Over 18,000 students have enrolled over the past year and half. This MOOC has been presented in various forms. First, only to students on the web, with content released weekly on host site Udemy. Then to university students who met formally in the classroom for educational activities, but were also expected to watch lectures online on their own time. Presently, it is available online for students to go at their own pace. In the future it will be available in an extended format on a new host site, Coursera. ASOTA instructors use social media to interact with students. Students ask questions via the course host site, Udemy. Live question and answer sessions are conducted using Google Hangouts on Air, and interesting and relevant astronomy news, or supplementary educational content is shared via the ASOTA Facebook page. Teaching on the Internet may seem impersonal and impractical, but by learning to use all of these tools, instructors have the ability to interact with students, and keep them engaged.

SLIM: an alternative Web interface for MEDLINE/PubMed searches - a preliminary study.

PubMed

Muin, Michael; Fontelo, Paul; Liu, Fang; Ackerman, Michael

2005-12-01

With the rapid growth of medical information and the pervasiveness of the Internet, online search and retrieval systems have become indispensable tools in medicine. The progress of Web technologies can provide expert searching capabilities to non-expert information seekers. The objective of the project is to create an alternative search interface for MEDLINE/PubMed searches using JavaScript slider bars. SLIM, or Slider Interface for MEDLINE/PubMed searches, was developed with PHP and JavaScript. Interactive slider bars in the search form controlled search parameters such as limits, filters and MeSH terminologies. Connections to PubMed were done using the Entrez Programming Utilities (E-Utilities). Custom scripts were created to mimic the automatic term mapping process of Entrez. Page generation times for both local and remote connections were recorded. Alpha testing by developers showed SLIM to be functionally stable. Page generation times to simulate loading times were recorded the first week of alpha and beta testing. Average page generation times for the index page, previews and searches were 2.94 milliseconds, 0.63 seconds and 3.84 seconds, respectively. Eighteen physicians from the US, Australia and the Philippines participated in the beta testing and provided feedback through an online survey. Most users found the search interface user-friendly and easy to use. Information on MeSH terms and the ability to instantly hide and display abstracts were identified as distinctive features. SLIM can be an interactive time-saving tool for online medical literature research that improves user control and capability to instantly refine and refocus search strategies. With continued development and by integrating search limits, methodology filters, MeSH terms and levels of evidence, SLIM may be useful in the practice of evidence-based medicine.

Levels of Interaction Provided by Online Distance Education Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alhih, Mohammed; Ossiannilsson, Ebba; Berigel, Muhammet

2017-01-01

Interaction plays a significant role to foster usability and quality in online education. It is one of the quality standard to reveal the evidence of practice in online distance education models. This research study aims to evaluate levels of interaction in the practices of distance education centres. It is aimed to provide online distance…

Virtual collaboration in the online educational setting: a concept analysis.

PubMed

Breen, Henny

2013-01-01

This study was designed to explore the concept of virtual collaboration within the context of an online learning environment in an academic setting. Rodgers' method of evolutionary concept analysis was used to provide a contextual view of the concept to identify attributes, antecedents, and consequences of virtual collaboration. Commonly used terms to describe virtual collaboration are collaborative and cooperative learning, group work, group interaction, group learning, and teamwork. A constructivist pedagogy, group-based process with a shared purpose, support, and web-based technology is required for virtual collaboration to take place. Consequences of virtual collaboration are higher order thinking and learning to work with others. A comprehensive definition of virtual collaboration is offered as an outcome of this analysis. Clarification of virtual collaboration prior to using it as a pedagogical tool in the online learning environment will enhance nursing education with the changes in nursing curriculum being implemented today. Further research is recommended to describe the developmental stages of the collaborative process among nursing students in online education and how virtual collaboration facilitates collaboration in practice. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Open courses: one view of the future of online education.

PubMed

Alemi, Farrokh; Maddox, P J

2008-01-01

Open courses provide the entire course (lectures, assignments, syllabus, student's discussions, and student's projects) online without revealing student's personal information. We report on our experience in managing 8 open online courses at http://nhs.georgetown.edu/open. Open courses have several advantages over password protected courses: (1) they are available through search engines and thus reduce the program's marketing cost, (2) continuous feedback from the web enables rapid improvements to the course, (3) customer relationship tools, tied to open courses, radically reduce faculty time spent on one-on-one emails while increasing student/faculty interaction. We provide details of one course. In 15 weeks, 803 emails were received by and 1181 sent by the faculty (all within 6% of a working week and 82% savings of faculty time). We show how open courses can be accessed through search engines, how students questions are answered on the web and how student projects, in popular sites such as You Tube and Face Book, improve course marketing. The paper reports that student satisfaction with three open online courses delivered overall several semesters was high.

Object-Oriented Control System Design Using On-Line Training of Artificial Neural Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rubaai, Ahmed

1997-01-01

This report deals with the object-oriented model development of a neuro-controller design for permanent magnet (PM) dc motor drives. The system under study is described as a collection of interacting objects. Each object module describes the object behaviors, called methods. The characteristics of the object are included in its variables. The knowledge of the object exists within its variables, and the performance is determined by its methods. This structure maps well to the real world objects that comprise the system being modeled. A dynamic learning architecture that possesses the capabilities of simultaneous on-line identification and control is incorporated to enforce constraints on connections and control the dynamics of the motor. The control action is implemented "on-line", in "real time" in such a way that the predicted trajectory follows a specified reference model. A design example of controlling a PM dc motor drive on-line shows the effectiveness of the design tool. This will therefore be very useful in aerospace applications. It is expected to provide an innovative and noval software model for the rocket engine numerical simulator executive.

Interactive Visualization of Computational Fluid Dynamics using Mosaic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clucas, Jean; Watson, Velvin; Chancellor, Marisa K. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

The Web provides new Methods for accessing Information world-wide, but the current text-and-pictures approach neither utilizes all the Web's possibilities not provides for its limitations. While the inclusion of pictures and animations in a paper communicates more effectively than text alone, It Is essentially an extension of the concept of "publication." Also, as use of the Web increases putting images and animations online will quickly load even the "Information Superhighway." We need to find forms of communication that take advantage of the special nature of the Web. This paper presents one approach: the use of the Internet and the Mosaic interface for data sharing and collaborative analysis. We will describe (and In the presentation, demonstrate) our approach: using FAST (Flow Analysis Software Toolkit), a scientific visualization package, as a data viewer and interactive tool called from MOSAIC. Our intent is to stimulate the development of other tools that utilize the unique nature of electronic communication.

The Virtual Physiological Human ToolKit.

PubMed

Cooper, Jonathan; Cervenansky, Frederic; De Fabritiis, Gianni; Fenner, John; Friboulet, Denis; Giorgino, Toni; Manos, Steven; Martelli, Yves; Villà-Freixa, Jordi; Zasada, Stefan; Lloyd, Sharon; McCormack, Keith; Coveney, Peter V

2010-08-28

The Virtual Physiological Human (VPH) is a major European e-Science initiative intended to support the development of patient-specific computer models and their application in personalized and predictive healthcare. The VPH Network of Excellence (VPH-NoE) project is tasked with facilitating interaction between the various VPH projects and addressing issues of common concern. A key deliverable is the 'VPH ToolKit'--a collection of tools, methodologies and services to support and enable VPH research, integrating and extending existing work across Europe towards greater interoperability and sustainability. Owing to the diverse nature of the field, a single monolithic 'toolkit' is incapable of addressing the needs of the VPH. Rather, the VPH ToolKit should be considered more as a 'toolbox' of relevant technologies, interacting around a common set of standards. The latter apply to the information used by tools, including any data and the VPH models themselves, and also to the naming and categorizing of entities and concepts involved. Furthermore, the technologies and methodologies available need to be widely disseminated, and relevant tools and services easily found by researchers. The VPH-NoE has thus created an online resource for the VPH community to meet this need. It consists of a database of tools, methods and services for VPH research, with a Web front-end. This has facilities for searching the database, for adding or updating entries, and for providing user feedback on entries. Anyone is welcome to contribute.

Relationship between Online Learning Readiness and Structure and Interaction of Online Learning Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demir Kaymak, Zeliha; Horzum, Mehmet Baris

2013-01-01

Current study tried to determine whether a relationship exists between readiness levels of the online learning students for online learning and the perceived structure and interaction in online learning environments. In the study, cross sectional survey model was used. The study was conducted with 320 voluntary students studying online learning…

The Nature of Elementary Science Teachers' Experiences with Synchronous Online, Asynchronous Online and Face-to-Face Coaching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilbert, Amanda M.

This study investigated the nature of instructional coaching interactions in three formats: online synchronous, online asynchronous, and face-to-face. Knight's (2007) Seven Partnership Principles of Instructional Coaching were used as a framework to analyze and compare the coaching interactions between coach and teacher to determine whether online coaching may be a viable option to provide support for the teachers unprepared to teach the new science standards. Some previous research has suggested that online communication can result in deeper personal interactions (Walther, 1996), while other studies suggest that interactions are more natural and easier in formats that are more similar to face-to-face interactions (Kock, 2005). The findings of this study support the media naturalness theory (Kock, 2005) and suggest that collaboration may be especially difficult in asynchronous online communication. Although differences were noted in the actual interactions, teacher perception remained fairly consistently positive across the three formats. Research beyond this exploratory study is needed to make findings generalizable.

Developing On-line Exams.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartsell, Taralynn S.; Yuen, Steve Chi-Yin

2003-01-01

Discusses advantages and limitations of online exams, describes available software tools for creating computer-based tests (CGI, JavaScript, commercial programs, course authoring tools), and offers suggestions for implementation. (JOW)

Interactive Storytelling: Opportunities for Online Course Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baldwin, Sally; Ching, Yu-Hui

2017-01-01

Compelling interactive stories can be used to get and keep learners' interest in online courses. Interactive storytelling presents information in a manner that involves learners by allowing them to connect with the content. Incorporating interactive storytelling into online education offers the potential to increase student interest and knowledge…

Online communication and adolescent relationships.

PubMed

Subrahmanyam, Kaveri; Greenfield, Patricia

2008-01-01

Over the past decade, technology has become increasingly important in the lives of adolescents. As a group, adolescents are heavy users of newer electronic communication forms such as instant messaging, e-mail, and text messaging, as well as communication-oriented Internet sites such as blogs, social networking, and sites for sharing photos and videos. Kaveri Subrahmanyam and Patricia Greenfield examine adolescents' relationships with friends, romantic partners, strangers, and their families in the context of their online communication activities. The authors show that adolescents are using these communication tools primarily to reinforce existing relationships, both with friends and romantic partners. More and more they are integrating these tools into their "offline" worlds, using, for example, social networking sites to get more information about new entrants into their offline world. Subrahmanyam and Greenfield note that adolescents' online interactions with strangers, while not as common now as during the early years of the Internet, may have benefits, such as relieving social anxiety, as well as costs, such as sexual predation. Likewise, the authors demonstrate that online content itself can be both positive and negative. Although teens find valuable support and information on websites, they can also encounter racism and hate messages. Electronic communication may also be reinforcing peer communication at the expense of communication with parents, who may not be knowledgeable enough about their children's online activities on sites such as the enormously popular MySpace. Although the Internet was once hailed as the savior of education, the authors say that schools today are trying to control the harmful and distracting uses of electronic media while children are at school. The challenge for schools is to eliminate the negative uses of the Internet and cell phones in educational settings while preserving their significant contributions to education and social connection.

Exploring Engineering instructors' views about writing and online tools to support communication in Engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howard, Sarah K.; Khosronejad, Maryam; Calvo, Rafael A.

2017-11-01

To be fully prepared for the professional workplace, Engineering students need to be able to effectively communicate. However, there has been a growing concern in the field about students' preparedness for this aspect of their future work. It is argued that online writing tools, to engage numbers of students in the writing process, can support feedback on and development of writing in engineering on a larger scale. Through interviews and questionnaires, this study explores engineering academics' perceptions of writing to better understand how online writing tools may be integrated into their teaching. Results suggest that writing is viewed positively in the discipline, but it is not believed to be essential to success in engineering. Online writing tools were believed to support a larger number of students, but low knowledge of the tools limited academics' understanding of their usefulness in teaching and learning. Implications for innovation in undergraduate teaching are discussed.

Branch: an interactive, web-based tool for testing hypotheses and developing predictive models.

PubMed

Gangavarapu, Karthik; Babji, Vyshakh; Meißner, Tobias; Su, Andrew I; Good, Benjamin M

2016-07-01

Branch is a web application that provides users with the ability to interact directly with large biomedical datasets. The interaction is mediated through a collaborative graphical user interface for building and evaluating decision trees. These trees can be used to compose and test sophisticated hypotheses and to develop predictive models. Decision trees are built and evaluated based on a library of imported datasets and can be stored in a collective area for sharing and re-use. Branch is hosted at http://biobranch.org/ and the open source code is available at http://bitbucket.org/sulab/biobranch/ asu@scripps.edu or bgood@scripps.edu Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Interactions and Learning Outcomes in Online Language Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Chin-Hsi; Zheng, Binbin; Zhang, Yining

2017-01-01

Interactions are the central emphasis in language learning. An increasing number of K-12 students take courses online, leading some critics to comment that reduced opportunities for interaction may affect learning outcomes. This study examined the relationship between online interactions and learning outcomes for 466 students who were taking…

Effects of Website Interactivity on Online Retail Shopping Behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Islam, Hafizul

Motivations to engage in retail online shopping can include both utilitarian and hedonic shopping dimensions. To cater to these consumers, online retailers can create a cognitively and esthetically rich shopping environment, through sophisticated levels of interactive web utilities and features, offering not only utilitarian benefits and attributes but also providing hedonic benefits of enjoyment. Since the effect of interactive websites has proven to stimulate online consumer’s perceptions, this study presumes that websites with multimedia rich interactive utilities and features can influence online consumers’ shopping motivations and entice them to modify or even transform their original shopping predispositions by providing them with attractive and enhanced interactive features and controls, thus generating a positive attitude towards products and services offered by the retailer. This study seeks to explore the effects of Web interactivity on online consumer behavior through an attitudinal model of technology acceptance.

Language at a Distance: Sharpening a Communication Tool in the Online Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hannan, Annika

2009-01-01

Both immensely powerful and entirely fickle, language in online instruction is a double-edged sword. A potent intermediary between instructor and students, and among students themselves, language is a key tool in online learning. It carries and cultivates information. It builds knowledge and self-awareness. It brings learners together in a…

A Synthesized Coding Framework for Asynchronous Online Discussion Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weltzer-Ward, Lisa Michelle

2014-01-01

Online classroom discussion is ubiquitous in higher education today, with both online and hybrid courses. As a result, tools need to be created that enable an in-depth assessment of this medium, thereby facilitating the establishment and support of best practices in education. Such an assessment requires tools for consistent, efficient analysis of…

Effects of Online Interaction and Instructor Presence on Students' Satisfaction and Success with Online Undergraduate Public Relations Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Jensen

2014-01-01

This study examined student success, failure, withdrawal, and satisfaction in online public relations courses based on instructor-student interaction, student-student interaction, and instructor presence. Student passing rates, D/F rates, withdrawal rates, and evaluations of instruction were compiled from fifty-one online PR courses run over the…

Factors of Learner-Instructor Interaction Which Predict Perceived Learning Outcomes in Online Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kang, M.; Im, T.

2013-01-01

Interaction in the online learning environment has been regarded as one of the most critical elements that affect learning outcomes. This study examined what factors in learner-instructor interaction can predict the learner's outcomes in the online learning environment. Learners in K Online University participated by answering the survey, and data…

Social Presence and Interactivity in Online Courses: Enhancing the Online Learning Environment through Discussion and Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrigan, Anne M.

2010-01-01

This study explored social presence and interactivity in an online undergraduate program designed for adult students. Although social presence and interactivity have been shown to be important contributors to student satisfaction, and therefore essential to student recruitment and retention in online programs, the ultimate goal for the examination…

Comparing Student Interaction in Asynchronous Online Discussions and in Face-to-Face Settings: A Network Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Javadi, Elahe; Gebauer, Judith; Novotny, Nancy L.

2017-01-01

Online discussions enable peer-learning by allowing students to communicate ideas on what they have learned in and beyond the classroom. Peer-learning through online discussions is fostered when online discussions are interactive. Interactivity occurs when students refer to and use perspectives shared by peers, and elaborate, respond to, or…

NetCooperate: a network-based tool for inferring host-microbe and microbe-microbe cooperation.

PubMed

Levy, Roie; Carr, Rogan; Kreimer, Anat; Freilich, Shiri; Borenstein, Elhanan

2015-05-17

Host-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions are often governed by the complex exchange of metabolites. Such interactions play a key role in determining the way pathogenic and commensal species impact their host and in the assembly of complex microbial communities. Recently, several studies have demonstrated how such interactions are reflected in the organization of the metabolic networks of the interacting species, and introduced various graph theory-based methods to predict host-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions directly from network topology. Using these methods, such studies have revealed evolutionary and ecological processes that shape species interactions and community assembly, highlighting the potential of this reverse-ecology research paradigm. NetCooperate is a web-based tool and a software package for determining host-microbe and microbe-microbe cooperative potential. It specifically calculates two previously developed and validated metrics for species interaction: the Biosynthetic Support Score which quantifies the ability of a host species to supply the nutritional requirements of a parasitic or a commensal species, and the Metabolic Complementarity Index which quantifies the complementarity of a pair of microbial organisms' niches. NetCooperate takes as input a pair of metabolic networks, and returns the pairwise metrics as well as a list of potential syntrophic metabolic compounds. The Biosynthetic Support Score and Metabolic Complementarity Index provide insight into host-microbe and microbe-microbe metabolic interactions. NetCooperate determines these interaction indices from metabolic network topology, and can be used for small- or large-scale analyses. NetCooperate is provided as both a web-based tool and an open-source Python module; both are freely available online at http://elbo.gs.washington.edu/software_netcooperate.html.

Supporting self-efficacy through interactive discussion in online communities of weight loss.

PubMed

Wang, Ye; Willis, Erin

2016-06-01

By conducting a content analysis of online communities connected by the Weight Watchers' online message boards, this study examined the relationship between conversational interactivity and consumer-generated content about consumer health information, self-efficacious content, and experiences with dieting and physical activities. The results showed that discussion about successful experiences with weight loss tended to be more interactive. Discussion about consumer health information tended to be non-interactive. The findings suggest that online communities generate social support through interactive discussion about successful experiences, and the interactive discussion, in return, sustains active participation in the community.

Performance Monitoring Of A Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Lathe Using Pattern Recognition Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daneshmend, L. K.; Pak, H. A.

1984-02-01

On-line monitoring of the cutting process in CNC lathe is desirable to ensure unattended fault-free operation in an automated environment. The state of the cutting tool is one of the most important parameters which characterises the cutting process. Direct monitoring of the cutting tool or workpiece is not feasible during machining. However several variables related to the state of the tool can be measured on-line. A novel monitoring technique is presented which uses cutting torque as the variable for on-line monitoring. A classifier is designed on the basis of the empirical relationship between cutting torque and flank wear. The empirical model required by the on-line classifier is established during an automated training cycle using machine vision for off-line direct inspection of the tool.

Information-seeking behavior and the use of online resources: a snapshot of current health sciences faculty.

PubMed

De Groote, Sandra L; Shultz, Mary; Blecic, Deborah D

2014-07-01

The research assesses the information-seeking behaviors of health sciences faculty, including their use of online databases, journals, and social media. A survey was designed and distributed via email to 754 health sciences faculty at a large urban research university with 6 health sciences colleges. Twenty-six percent (198) of faculty responded. MEDLINE was the primary database utilized, with 78.5% respondents indicating they use the database at least once a week. Compared to MEDLINE, Google was utilized more often on a daily basis. Other databases showed much lower usage. Low use of online databases other than MEDLINE, link-out tools to online journals, and online social media and collaboration tools demonstrates a need for meaningful promotion of online resources and informatics literacy instruction for faculty. Library resources are plentiful and perhaps somewhat overwhelming. Librarians need to help faculty discover and utilize the resources and tools that libraries have to offer.

A Web simulation of medical image reconstruction and processing as an educational tool.

PubMed

Papamichail, Dimitrios; Pantelis, Evaggelos; Papagiannis, Panagiotis; Karaiskos, Pantelis; Georgiou, Evangelos

2015-02-01

Web educational resources integrating interactive simulation tools provide students with an in-depth understanding of the medical imaging process. The aim of this work was the development of a purely Web-based, open access, interactive application, as an ancillary learning tool in graduate and postgraduate medical imaging education, including a systematic evaluation of learning effectiveness. The pedagogic content of the educational Web portal was designed to cover the basic concepts of medical imaging reconstruction and processing, through the use of active learning and motivation, including learning simulations that closely resemble actual tomographic imaging systems. The user can implement image reconstruction and processing algorithms under a single user interface and manipulate various factors to understand the impact on image appearance. A questionnaire for pre- and post-training self-assessment was developed and integrated in the online application. The developed Web-based educational application introduces the trainee in the basic concepts of imaging through textual and graphical information and proceeds with a learning-by-doing approach. Trainees are encouraged to participate in a pre- and post-training questionnaire to assess their knowledge gain. An initial feedback from a group of graduate medical students showed that the developed course was considered as effective and well structured. An e-learning application on medical imaging integrating interactive simulation tools was developed and assessed in our institution.

Brain network: social media and the cognitive scientist.

PubMed

Stafford, Tom; Bell, Vaughan

2012-10-01

Cognitive scientists are increasingly using online social media, such as blogging and Twitter, to gather information and disseminate opinion, while linking to primary articles and data. Because of this, internet tools are driving a change in the scientific process, where communication is characterised by rapid scientific discussion, wider access to specialist debates, and increased cross-disciplinary interaction. This article serves as an introduction to and overview of this transformation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Coming Full Circle with Boyd’s OODA Loop Ideas: An Analysis of Innovation Diffusion and Evolution

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-03-01

answer “what” and “how” exploratory questions and was focused on the discovery of aspects of complex ideas, a qualitative methodology was used. A... discovery rather than explanation (Maykut & Morehouse, 1994). This thesis research followed the Miles and Huberman (1994) interactive model of...conducted using the research tools FirstSearch and EBSCO and the on-line search engine Google (www.google.com). Within FirstSearch, academic and business

Social Anxiety and Loneliness in Adults Who Solicit Minors Online.

PubMed

Schulz, Anja; Bergen, Emilia; Schuhmann, Petya; Hoyer, Jürgen

2017-09-01

This study examined the association of social anxiety, loneliness, and problematic Internet use (PIU) with the online solicitation of minors. Within a convenience sample of adult Internet users from Germany, Finland, and Sweden ( N = 2,828), we compared the responses of participants who had not interacted sexually with strangers online ( n = 2,049) with participants who sexually interacted with unknown adults online ( n = 642), and both groups with adults who sexually solicited unknown minors online ( n = 137). Online sexual interaction with adults was associated with higher levels of social anxiety, loneliness, and PIU compared with not sexually interacting with strangers online. Sexually soliciting minors online was associated with higher levels of social anxiety, loneliness, and PIU compared with sexually interacting with adults and not sexually interacting with strangers at all. Interestingly, compared with those with adult contacts, loneliness was specifically pronounced for participants who solicited children, whereas social anxiety and PIU were pronounced for participants soliciting adolescents. These findings suggest that social anxiety, loneliness, and PIU may be among the motivators for using the Internet to solicit individuals of different age groups for sexual purposes. These factors emerged as specifically relevant for adults who sexually solicited minors and who reported greater impairments compared with adults who sexually interacted with adults. These characteristics may thus be important to consider for assessment and treatment procedures for individuals soliciting minors online.

A study of the use of a social media learning tool in a face-to-face college biology class

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grasso, SandraJean M.

This study endeavors to elucidate how students are using the social media tool, Piazza, in their study of biology and which aspects do they find most valuable. Student perceptions of factors contributing to a community of practice through the use of Piazza were also explored. Students used Piazza primarily to communicate online with their classmates on both conceptual and administrative issues. Student use of Piazza varied according to the needs of the student with the majority of students accessing the site at least once a week. Students highly valued the ability to read posts left by other students to clarify questions. They especially appreciated the 24/7 online access of the site. Another dimension of accessibility that the students cited was that they often found explanations provided by peers easier to understand and therefore more accessible than from content experts. Students tended to post questions anonymously, however reported a strong sense of community although not a true sense of collaboration. Students took from the interactions what they individually needed even if it was a different way of looking at content, or finding out how a lab report needed to be formatted while still maintaining a sense of "being in this together". Social media allows for interactivity and content creation although most students in this study participated primarily as observers. Recommendations and suggestions for further study were provided.

The quality of online antidepressant drug information: an evaluation of English and Finnish language Web sites.

PubMed

Prusti, Marjo; Lehtineva, Susanna; Pohjanoksa-Mäntylä, Marika; Bell, J Simon

2012-01-01

The Internet is a frequently used source of drug information, including among people with mental disorders. Online drug information may be narrow in scope, incomplete, and contain errors of omission. To evaluate the quality of online antidepressant drug information in English and Finnish. Forty Web sites were identified using the search terms antidepressants and masennuslääkkeet in English and Finnish, respectively. Included Web sites (14 English, 8 Finnish) were evaluated for aesthetics, interactivity, content coverage, and content correctness using published criteria. All Web sites were assessed using the Date, Author, References, Type, Sponsor (DARTS) and DISCERN quality assessment tools. English and Finnish Web sites had similar aesthetics, content coverage, and content correctness scores. English Web sites were more interactive than Finnish Web sites (P<.05). Overall, adverse drug reactions were covered on 21 of 22 Web sites; however, drug-alcohol interactions were addressed on only 9 of 22 Web sites, and dose was addressed on only 6 of 22 Web sites. Few (2/22 Web sites) provided incorrect information. The DISCERN score was significantly correlated with content coverage (r=0.670, P<.01), content correctness (r=0.663, P<.01), and the DARTS score (r=0.459, P<.05). No Web site provided information about all aspects of antidepressant treatment. Nevertheless, few Web sites provided incorrect information. Both English and Finnish Web sites were similar in terms of aesthetics, content coverage, and content correctness. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Webinar Software: A Tool for Developing More Effective Lectures (Online or In-Person)

PubMed Central

Mayorga, Eduardo P.; Bekerman, Jesica G.; Palis, Ana G.

2014-01-01

Purpose: To describe the use of online seminars (webinars) to improve learning experience for medical residents and fostering critical thinking. Materials and Methods: Sixty-one online seminars (webinars) for residents were developed from April 2012 to February 2013. Residents attended the lectures in the same room as the presenter or from distant locations. Residents interacted with the presenter using their personal computers, tablets, or smartphones. They were able to ask questions and answer the instructor's multiple choice or open-ended questions. The lecture dynamics consisted of: (1) The presentation of a clinical case by an expert on the clinical topic; (2) the instructor asked open-ended and multiple-choice questions about the problem-resolution process; (3) participants responded questions individually; (4) participants received feedback on their answers; (5) a brief conference was given on the learning objectives and the content, also fostering interactive participation; (6) lectures were complemented with work documents. Results: This method allowed for exploration of learning of scientific knowledge and the acquisition of other medical competences (such as patient care, interpersonal and communication skills, and professionalism). The question-and-answer activity and immediate feedback gave attendees the chance to participate actively in the conference, reflect on the topic, correct conceptual errors, and exercise critical thinking. All these factors are necessary for learning. Conclusions: This modality, which facilitates interaction, active participation, and immediate feedback, could allow learners to acquire knowledge more effectively. PMID:24791102

PANDA-view: An easy-to-use tool for statistical analysis and visualization of quantitative proteomics data.

PubMed

Chang, Cheng; Xu, Kaikun; Guo, Chaoping; Wang, Jinxia; Yan, Qi; Zhang, Jian; He, Fuchu; Zhu, Yunping

2018-05-22

Compared with the numerous software tools developed for identification and quantification of -omics data, there remains a lack of suitable tools for both downstream analysis and data visualization. To help researchers better understand the biological meanings in their -omics data, we present an easy-to-use tool, named PANDA-view, for both statistical analysis and visualization of quantitative proteomics data and other -omics data. PANDA-view contains various kinds of analysis methods such as normalization, missing value imputation, statistical tests, clustering and principal component analysis, as well as the most commonly-used data visualization methods including an interactive volcano plot. Additionally, it provides user-friendly interfaces for protein-peptide-spectrum representation of the quantitative proteomics data. PANDA-view is freely available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/panda-view/. 1987ccpacer@163.com and zhuyunping@gmail.com. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Knowledge maps: a tool for online assessment with automated feedback.

PubMed

Ho, Veronica W; Harris, Peter G; Kumar, Rakesh K; Velan, Gary M

2018-12-01

In higher education, most assessments or examinations comprise either multiple-choice items or open-ended questions such as modified essay questions (MEQs). Online concept and knowledge maps are potential tools for assessment, which might emphasize meaningful, integrated understanding of phenomena. We developed an online knowledge-mapping assessment tool, which provides automated feedback on student-submitted maps. We conducted a pilot study to investigate the potential utility of online knowledge mapping as a tool for automated assessment by comparing the scores generated by the software with manual grading of a MEQ on the same topic for a cohort of first-year medical students. In addition, an online questionnaire was used to gather students' perceptions of the tool. Map items were highly discriminating between students of differing knowledge of the topic overall. Regression analysis showed a significant correlation between map scores and MEQ scores, and responses to the questionnaire regarding use of knowledge maps for assessment were overwhelmingly positive. These results suggest that knowledge maps provide a similar indication of students' understanding of a topic as a MEQ, with the advantage of instant, consistent computer grading and time savings for educators. Online concept and knowledge maps could be a useful addition to the assessment repertoire in higher education.

Standing in the Middle of a Cyclone: Online Education Comes of Age.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maeroff, Gene I.

2002-01-01

Discusses online learning and the possible impact on classroom-based courses. Highlights include profits and online courses; problems with classroom learning; hybrid courses; potential for interactivity; adult learners and online courses; policies regarding the implementation of online learning; and a sidebar on the nature of interaction. (LRW)

Qualities of Peer Relations on Social Networking Websites: Predictions from Negative Mother-Teen Interactions

PubMed Central

Szwedo, David E.; Mikami, Amori Yee; Allen, Joseph P.

2010-01-01

This study examined associations between characteristics of teenagers’ relationships with their mothers and their later socializing behavior and peer relationship quality online. At age 13, teenagers and their mothers participated in an interaction in which mothers’ and adolescents’ behavior undermining autonomy and relatedness was observed, and indicators of teens’ depressive symptoms and social anxiety were assessed. At age 20, youth self-reported on their online behaviors, youths’ social networking webpages were observationally coded to assess peer relationship quality online, and symptoms of depression and social anxiety were reassessed. Results suggested that problematic mother-teen relationships were predictive of youths’ later preference for online communication and greater likelihood of forming a friendship with someone met online, yet poorer quality in online relationships. Findings are discussed within a developmental framework suggesting the importance of considering youths’ family interactions during early adolescence as predictors of future online socializing behavior and online interactions with peers. PMID:21860584

Qualities of Peer Relations on Social Networking Websites: Predictions from Negative Mother-Teen Interactions.

PubMed

Szwedo, David E; Mikami, Amori Yee; Allen, Joseph P

2011-09-01

This study examined associations between characteristics of teenagers' relationships with their mothers and their later socializing behavior and peer relationship quality online. At age 13, teenagers and their mothers participated in an interaction in which mothers' and adolescents' behavior undermining autonomy and relatedness was observed, and indicators of teens' depressive symptoms and social anxiety were assessed. At age 20, youth self-reported on their online behaviors, youths' social networking webpages were observationally coded to assess peer relationship quality online, and symptoms of depression and social anxiety were reassessed. Results suggested that problematic mother-teen relationships were predictive of youths' later preference for online communication and greater likelihood of forming a friendship with someone met online, yet poorer quality in online relationships. Findings are discussed within a developmental framework suggesting the importance of considering youths' family interactions during early adolescence as predictors of future online socializing behavior and online interactions with peers.

COPD360social Online Community: A Social Media Review.

PubMed

Stellefson, Michael; Paige, Samantha R; Alber, Julia M; Stewart, Margaret

2018-06-01

People living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) commonly report feelings of loneliness and social isolation due to lack of support from family, friends, and health care providers. COPD360social is an interactive and disease-specific online community and social network dedicated to connecting people living with COPD to evidence-based resources. Through free access to collaborative forums, members can explore, engage, and discuss an array of disease-related topics, such as symptom management. This social media review provides an overview of COPD360social, specifically its features that practitioners can leverage to facilitate patient-provider communication, knowledge translation, and community building. The potential of COPD360social for chronic disease self-management is maximized through community recognition programming and interactive friend-finding tools that encourage members to share their own stories through blogs and multimedia (e.g., images, videos). The platform also fosters collaborative knowledge dissemination and helping relationships among patients, family members, friends, and health care providers. Successful implementation of COPD360social has dramatically expanded patient education and self-management support resources for people affected by COPD. Practitioners should refer patients and their families to online social networks such as COPD360social to increase knowledge and awareness of evidence-based chronic disease management practices.

Characterizing and modeling an electoral campaign in the context of Twitter: 2011 Spanish Presidential election as a case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borondo, J.; Morales, A. J.; Losada, J. C.; Benito, R. M.

2012-06-01

Transmitting messages in the most efficient way as possible has always been one of politicians' main concerns during electoral processes. Due to the rapidly growing number of users, online social networks have become ideal platforms for politicians to interact with their potential voters. Exploiting the available potential of these tools to maximize their influence over voters is one of politicians' actual challenges. To step in this direction, we have analyzed the user activity in the online social network Twitter, during the 2011 Spanish Presidential electoral process, and found that such activity is correlated with the election results. We introduce a new measure to study political sentiment in Twitter, which we call the relative support. We have also characterized user behavior by analyzing the structural and dynamical patterns of the complex networks emergent from the mention and retweet networks. Our results suggest that the collective attention is driven by a very small fraction of users. Furthermore, we have analyzed the interactions taking place among politicians, observing a lack of debate. Finally, we develop a network growth model to reproduce the interactions taking place among politicians.

Characterizing and modeling an electoral campaign in the context of Twitter: 2011 Spanish Presidential election as a case study.

PubMed

Borondo, J; Morales, A J; Losada, J C; Benito, R M

2012-06-01

Transmitting messages in the most efficient way as possible has always been one of politicians' main concerns during electoral processes. Due to the rapidly growing number of users, online social networks have become ideal platforms for politicians to interact with their potential voters. Exploiting the available potential of these tools to maximize their influence over voters is one of politicians' actual challenges. To step in this direction, we have analyzed the user activity in the online social network Twitter, during the 2011 Spanish Presidential electoral process, and found that such activity is correlated with the election results. We introduce a new measure to study political sentiment in Twitter, which we call the relative support. We have also characterized user behavior by analyzing the structural and dynamical patterns of the complex networks emergent from the mention and retweet networks. Our results suggest that the collective attention is driven by a very small fraction of users. Furthermore, we have analyzed the interactions taking place among politicians, observing a lack of debate. Finally, we develop a network growth model to reproduce the interactions taking place among politicians.

Utilizing Online Connectivity to Combat Reduced Federal Spending

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayall, T.

2013-12-01

With a diminishing grant pool and increasing competition for federal funding, utilizing free online resources to collaborate with other scientists, share information and insights, and promote your research is critical to success. As budgets tighten, efficient use of both time and money is becoming more and more important. Tools such as Mendeley, ResearchGate, and Science Exchange enable scientists to promote their own work while gaining valuable connections and collaborations. Additionally, scientists can build their online presence to increase visibility for potential funding. Through intelligent use of these online tools, scientists can increase their chances of funding and minimize wasted time and resources. For this session, I will examine how to adapt to the changing landscape of federal funding through the effective use of social media and online tools.

Faculty Choice and Student Perception of Web-Based Technologies for Interaction in Online Economics Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Olivia

2012-01-01

This research investigated faculty choice of web-based technologies for interaction in online economics courses and students' perception of those technologies. The literature review of online interaction has established the importance of learner-learner, learner-instructor and learner-content interaction in distance learning. However, some…

Visual analysis of online social media to open up the investigation of stance phenomena

PubMed Central

Kucher, Kostiantyn; Schamp-Bjerede, Teri; Kerren, Andreas; Paradis, Carita; Sahlgren, Magnus

2015-01-01

Online social media are a perfect text source for stance analysis. Stance in human communication is concerned with speaker attitudes, beliefs, feelings and opinions. Expressions of stance are associated with the speakers' view of what they are talking about and what is up for discussion and negotiation in the intersubjective exchange. Taking stance is thus crucial for the social construction of meaning. Increased knowledge of stance can be useful for many application fields such as business intelligence, security analytics, or social media monitoring. In order to process large amounts of text data for stance analyses, linguists need interactive tools to explore the textual sources as well as the processed data based on computational linguistics techniques. Both original texts and derived data are important for refining the analyses iteratively. In this work, we present a visual analytics tool for online social media text data that can be used to open up the investigation of stance phenomena. Our approach complements traditional linguistic analysis techniques and is based on the analysis of utterances associated with two stance categories: sentiment and certainty. Our contributions include (1) the description of a novel web-based solution for analyzing the use and patterns of stance meanings and expressions in human communication over time; and (2) specialized techniques used for visualizing analysis provenance and corpus overview/navigation. We demonstrate our approach by means of text media on a highly controversial scandal with regard to expressions of anger and provide an expert review from linguists who have been using our tool. PMID:29249903

Visual analysis of online social media to open up the investigation of stance phenomena.

PubMed

Kucher, Kostiantyn; Schamp-Bjerede, Teri; Kerren, Andreas; Paradis, Carita; Sahlgren, Magnus

2016-04-01

Online social media are a perfect text source for stance analysis. Stance in human communication is concerned with speaker attitudes, beliefs, feelings and opinions. Expressions of stance are associated with the speakers' view of what they are talking about and what is up for discussion and negotiation in the intersubjective exchange. Taking stance is thus crucial for the social construction of meaning. Increased knowledge of stance can be useful for many application fields such as business intelligence, security analytics, or social media monitoring. In order to process large amounts of text data for stance analyses, linguists need interactive tools to explore the textual sources as well as the processed data based on computational linguistics techniques. Both original texts and derived data are important for refining the analyses iteratively. In this work, we present a visual analytics tool for online social media text data that can be used to open up the investigation of stance phenomena. Our approach complements traditional linguistic analysis techniques and is based on the analysis of utterances associated with two stance categories: sentiment and certainty. Our contributions include (1) the description of a novel web-based solution for analyzing the use and patterns of stance meanings and expressions in human communication over time; and (2) specialized techniques used for visualizing analysis provenance and corpus overview/navigation. We demonstrate our approach by means of text media on a highly controversial scandal with regard to expressions of anger and provide an expert review from linguists who have been using our tool.

The Use of a Metacognitive Tool in an Online Social Supportive Learning Environment: An Activity Theory Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martinez, Ray Earl

2010-01-01

This investigation is an exploratory study of the use of a metacognitive software tool in a social supportive learning environment. The tool combined metacognitive knowledge and regulation functionality embedded within the content of an eight week online graduate education course. Twenty-three learners, who were practicing teachers, used the tool.…

How Much Professional Development Is Enough? Meeting the Needs of Independent Music Teachers Learning to Use a Digital Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Upitis, Rena; Brook, Julia

2017-01-01

Even though there are demonstrated benefits of using online tools to support student musicians, there is a persistent challenge of providing sufficient and effective professional development for independent music teachers to use such tools successfully. This paper describes several methods for helping teachers use an online tool called iSCORE,…

Integrating continental-scale ecological data into university courses: Developing NEON's Online Learning Portal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wasser, L. A.; Gram, W.; Lunch, C. K.; Petroy, S. B.; Elmendorf, S.

2013-12-01

'Big Data' are becoming increasingly common in many fields. The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will be collecting data over the 30 years, using consistent, standardized methods across the United States. Similar efforts are underway in other parts of the globe (e.g. Australia's Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network, TERN). These freely available new data provide an opportunity for increased understanding of continental- and global scale processes such as changes in vegetation structure and condition, biodiversity and landuse. However, while 'big data' are becoming more accessible and available, integrating big data into the university courses is challenging. New and potentially unfamiliar data types and associated processing methods, required to work with a growing diversity of available data, may warrant time and resources that present a barrier to classroom integration. Analysis of these big datasets may further present a challenge given large file sizes, and uncertainty regarding best methods to properly statistically summarize and analyze results. Finally, teaching resources, in the form of demonstrative illustrations, and other supporting media that might help teach key data concepts, take time to find and more time to develop. Available resources are often spread widely across multi-online spaces. This presentation will overview the development of NEON's collaborative University-focused online education portal. Portal content will include 1) interactive, online multi-media content that explains key concepts related to NEON's data products including collection methods, key metadata to consider and consideration of potential error and uncertainty surrounding data analysis; and 2) packaged 'lab' activities that include supporting data to be used in an ecology, biology or earth science classroom. To facilitate broad use in classrooms, lab activities will take advantage of freely and commonly available processing tools, techniques and scripts. All NEON materials are being developed in collaboration with labs and organizations across the globe. Integrating data analysis and processing techniques, early in student's careers will support and facilitate student advancement in the sciences - contributing to a larger body of knowledge and understanding of continental and global scale issues. Facilitating understanding of data use and empowering young ecologists with the tools required to process the data, is thus as integral to the observatory as the data itself. In this presentation, we discuss the integral role of freely available education materials that demonstrate the use of big data to address ecological questions and concepts. We also review gaps in existing educational resources related to big data and associated tools. Further, we address the great potential for big data inclusion into both an existing ecological, physical and environmental science courses and self-paced learning model through engaging and interactive multi-media presentation. Finally, we present beta-versions of the interactive, multi-media modules and results from feedback following early piloting and review.

Affordances of Telecollaboration Tools for English for Specific Purposes Online Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sevilla-Pavón, Ana

2016-01-01

This paper explores students' perceptions of the affordances of different telecollaboration tools used in an innovation project for English for Specific Purposes online learning carried out between the University of Valencia (Spain) and Wofford College (South Carolina, United States) during the school year 2015-2016. Different tools for…

Bolstering Teaching through Online Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, Anil; Mangalaraj, George; Taneja, Aakash

2010-01-01

This paper offers a compilation of technologies that provides either free or low-cost solutions to the challenges of teaching online courses. It presents various teaching methods the outlined tools and technologies can support, with emphasis on fit between these tools and the tasks they are meant to serve. In addition, it highlights various…

Interactive 3D visualization for theoretical virtual observatories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dykes, T.; Hassan, A.; Gheller, C.; Croton, D.; Krokos, M.

2018-06-01

Virtual observatories (VOs) are online hubs of scientific knowledge. They encompass a collection of platforms dedicated to the storage and dissemination of astronomical data, from simple data archives to e-research platforms offering advanced tools for data exploration and analysis. Whilst the more mature platforms within VOs primarily serve the observational community, there are also services fulfilling a similar role for theoretical data. Scientific visualization can be an effective tool for analysis and exploration of data sets made accessible through web platforms for theoretical data, which often contain spatial dimensions and properties inherently suitable for visualization via e.g. mock imaging in 2D or volume rendering in 3D. We analyse the current state of 3D visualization for big theoretical astronomical data sets through scientific web portals and virtual observatory services. We discuss some of the challenges for interactive 3D visualization and how it can augment the workflow of users in a virtual observatory context. Finally we showcase a lightweight client-server visualization tool for particle-based data sets, allowing quantitative visualization via data filtering, highlighting two example use cases within the Theoretical Astrophysical Observatory.

Adapting Web content for low-literacy readers by using lexical elaboration and named entities labeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watanabe, W. M.; Candido, A.; Amâncio, M. A.; De Oliveira, M.; Pardo, T. A. S.; Fortes, R. P. M.; Aluísio, S. M.

2010-12-01

This paper presents an approach for assisting low-literacy readers in accessing Web online information. The "Educational FACILITA" tool is a Web content adaptation tool that provides innovative features and follows more intuitive interaction models regarding accessibility concerns. Especially, we propose an interaction model and a Web application that explore the natural language processing tasks of lexical elaboration and named entity labeling for improving Web accessibility. We report on the results obtained from a pilot study on usability analysis carried out with low-literacy users. The preliminary results show that "Educational FACILITA" improves the comprehension of text elements, although the assistance mechanisms might also confuse users when word sense ambiguity is introduced, by gathering, for a complex word, a list of synonyms with multiple meanings. This fact evokes a future solution in which the correct sense for a complex word in a sentence is identified, solving this pervasive characteristic of natural languages. The pilot study also identified that experienced computer users find the tool to be more useful than novice computer users do.

Designing and Implementing an Online GIS Tool for Schools: The Finnish Case of the PaikkaOppi Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riihelä, Juha; Mäki, Sanna

2015-01-01

This article describes initiatives implemented in Finland to create an online learning environment for studying geographic information systems (GIS). A development project produced an online GIS tool called PaikkaOppi, aimed at promoting GIS studies and spatial thinking skills in upper secondary schools. The project is reviewed through analysis of…

Using the Cognitive Apprenticeship Model with a Chat Tool to Enhance Online Collaborative Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodríguez-Bonces, Mónica; Ortiz, Kris

2016-01-01

In Colombia, many institutions are in the firm quest of virtual learning environments to improve instruction, and making the most of online tools is clearly linked to offering quality learning. Thus, the purpose of this action research was to identify how the Cognitive Apprenticeship Model enhances online collaborative learning by using a chat…

Teaching Dance with Online Course Management Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colombi, Erika; Knosp, Suzanne

2017-01-01

As a result of easier access to and functionality of the Internet, online course management systems (CMSs) began to be developed in the mid-1990s. These technological tools were created to fill a need in the growing field of teaching through online courses.Most notable of these course tools are Blackboard (2015) and Desire2Learn (1999). Both of…

The Effectiveness of Web-Based Learning Environment: A Case Study of Public Universities in Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirui, Paul A.; Mutai, Sheila J.

2010-01-01

Web mining is emerging in many aspects of e-learning, aiming at improving online learning and teaching processes and making them more transparent and effective. Researchers using Web mining tools and techniques are challenged to learn more about the online students' reshaping online courses and educational websites, and create tools for…

Reading Actively Online: An Exploratory Investigation of Online Annotation Tools for Inquiry Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lu, Jingyan; Deng, Liping

2012-01-01

This study seeks to design and facilitate active reading among secondary school students with an online annotation tool--Diigo. Two classes of different academic performance levels were recruited to examine their annotation behavior and perceptions of Diigo. We wanted to determine whether the two classes differed in how they used Diigo; how they…

Design Requirements for Communication-Intensive Interactive Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolchini, Davide; Garzotto, Franca; Paolini, Paolo

Online interactive applications call for new requirements paradigms to capture the growing complexity of computer-mediated communication. Crafting successful interactive applications (such as websites and multimedia) involves modeling the requirements for the user experience, including those leading to content design, usable information architecture and interaction, in profound coordination with the communication goals of all stakeholders involved, ranging from persuasion to social engagement, to call for action. To face this grand challenge, we propose a methodology for modeling communication requirements and provide a set of operational conceptual tools to be used in complex projects with multiple stakeholders. Through examples from real-life projects and lessons-learned from direct experience, we draw on the concepts of brand, value, communication goals, information and persuasion requirements to systematically guide analysts to master the multifaceted connections of these elements as drivers to inform successful communication designs.

Designing Interactive Online Nursing Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jain, Smita; Jain, Pawan

2015-01-01

This study empirically tests the relation between the instructional design elements and the overall meaningful interactions among online students. Eighteen online graduate nursing courses are analyzed using bivariate and multivariate analysis techniques. Findings suggest that the quantity of meaningful interaction among learners can be improved by…

Biopython: freely available Python tools for computational molecular biology and bioinformatics

PubMed Central

Cock, Peter J. A.; Antao, Tiago; Chang, Jeffrey T.; Chapman, Brad A.; Cox, Cymon J.; Dalke, Andrew; Friedberg, Iddo; Hamelryck, Thomas; Kauff, Frank; Wilczynski, Bartek; de Hoon, Michiel J. L.

2009-01-01

Summary: The Biopython project is a mature open source international collaboration of volunteer developers, providing Python libraries for a wide range of bioinformatics problems. Biopython includes modules for reading and writing different sequence file formats and multiple sequence alignments, dealing with 3D macro molecular structures, interacting with common tools such as BLAST, ClustalW and EMBOSS, accessing key online databases, as well as providing numerical methods for statistical learning. Availability: Biopython is freely available, with documentation and source code at www.biopython.org under the Biopython license. Contact: All queries should be directed to the Biopython mailing lists, see www.biopython.org/wiki/_Mailing_listspeter.cock@scri.ac.uk. PMID:19304878

Rethinking library service to distance education students: analyzing the embedded librarian model.

PubMed

Sullo, Elaine; Harrod, Tom; Butera, Gisela; Gomes, Alexandra

2012-01-01

Since fall 2009, reference librarians at The George Washington University's Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library have been embedded in online classes through Blackboard within the School of Nursing and School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The authors sought to determine the types of questions asked of the librarian, with the goal of informing future interactions with distance education classes to help develop a standard "protocol" for working with this population of students. Eighty-two questions were categorized and qualitatively analyzed. The findings have prompted librarians to explore tools such as Elluminate Live!, a tool that allows librarians to provide synchronous instruction within the Blackboard environment. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Facilitating interpersonal interaction and learning online: linking theory and practice.

PubMed

Sargeant, Joan; Curran, Vernon; Allen, Michael; Jarvis-Selinger, Sandra; Ho, Kendall

2006-01-01

An earlier study of physicians' perceptions of interactive online learning showed that these were shaped both by program design and quality and the quality and quantity of interpersonal interaction. We explore instructor roles in enhancing online learning through interpersonal interaction and the learning theories that inform these. This was a qualitative study using focus groups and interviews. Using purposive sampling, 50 physicians were recruited based on their experience with interactive online CME and face-to-face CME. Qualitative thematic and interpretive analysis was used. Two facilitation roles appeared key: creating a comfortable learning environment and enhancing the educational value of electronic discussions. Comfort developed gradually, and specific interventions like facilitating introductions and sharing experiences in a friendly, informative manner were helpful. As in facilitating effective small-group learning, instructors' thoughtful use of techniques that facilitated constructive interaction based on learner's needs and practice demands contributed to the educational value of interpersonal interactions. Facilitators require enhanced skills to engage learners in meaningful interaction and to overcome the transactional distance of online learning. The use of learning theories, including behavioral, cognitive, social, humanistic, and constructivist, can strengthen the educational design and facilitation of online programs. Preparation for online facilitation should include instruction in the roles and techniques required and the theories that inform them.

Direct observation of children's preferences and activity levels during interactive and online electronic games.

PubMed

Sit, Cindy H P; Lam, Jessica W K; McKenzie, Thomas L

2010-07-01

Interactive electronic games have recently been popularized and are believed to help promote children's physical activity (PA). The purpose of the study was to examine preferences and PA levels during interactive and online electronic games among overweight and nonoverweight boys and girls. Using a modification of the SOFIT, we systematically observed 70 Hong Kong Chinese children (35 boys, 35 girls; 50 nonoverweight, 20 overweight), age 9 to 12 years, during 2 60-minute recreation sessions and recorded their game mode choices and PA levels. During Session One children could play either an interactive or an online electronic bowling game and during Session Two they could play an interactive or an online electronic running game. Children chose to play the games during 94% of session time and split this time between interactive (52%) and online (48%) versions. They engaged in significantly more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during interactive games than their online electronic versions (70% vs. 2% of game time). Boys and nonoverweight children expended relatively more energy during the interactive games than girls and overweight children, respectively. New-generation interactive games can facilitate physical activity in children, and given the opportunity children may select them over sedentary versions.

On-line Monitoring for Cutting Tool Wear Condition Based on the Parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Fenghua; Xie, Feng

2017-07-01

In the process of cutting tools, it is very important to monitor the working state of the tools. On the basis of acceleration signal acquisition under the constant speed, time domain and frequency domain analysis of relevant indicators monitor the online of tool wear condition. The analysis results show that the method can effectively judge the tool wear condition in the process of machining. It has certain application value.

The Effects of Social Anxiety and Online Privacy Concern on Individual Differences in Internet-Based Interaction Anxiety and Communication Preferences.

PubMed

Shaughnessy, Krystelle; Rocheleau, Jessica N; Kamalou, Somayyeh; Moscovitch, David A

2017-04-01

Social anxiety (SA) and online privacy concerns (OPCs) are conceptually distinct fears, but both may be activated by Internet-based social contexts. Whereas SA is focused on being the object of interpersonal evaluation, OPC is focused on preventing others from gaining unauthorized access to private personal information. No research to date has investigated how SA and OPCs may uniquely or interactively predict individual differences in online interaction anxiety or attitudes and preferences about online communication. Participants (N = 374) completed the Social Phobia Inventory and measures of OPCs, online interaction anxiety, and attitudes related to online communication. The results revealed that SA and OPCs were not correlated with one another; however, they each uniquely predicted significant variance in particular outcomes, with no interactive effects. Findings help to illuminate the ways in which online communication preferences may be differentially shaped by people's levels of SA and OPCs, respectively. Theoretical implications and applications are discussed.

ChooseMyPlate.gov

MedlinePlus

... Resources for Students Resources for Adults Resources for Professionals Multi-Language Check Out Our Online Tools EATING ON A BUDGET MYPLATE TIP SHEETS MYPLATE QUIZZES SUPERTRACKER WHAT'S COOKING Check Out Our Online Tools Eating on a ...

bioWeb3D: an online webGL 3D data visualisation tool.

PubMed

Pettit, Jean-Baptiste; Marioni, John C

2013-06-07

Data visualization is critical for interpreting biological data. However, in practice it can prove to be a bottleneck for non trained researchers; this is especially true for three dimensional (3D) data representation. Whilst existing software can provide all necessary functionalities to represent and manipulate biological 3D datasets, very few are easily accessible (browser based), cross platform and accessible to non-expert users. An online HTML5/WebGL based 3D visualisation tool has been developed to allow biologists to quickly and easily view interactive and customizable three dimensional representations of their data along with multiple layers of information. Using the WebGL library Three.js written in Javascript, bioWeb3D allows the simultaneous visualisation of multiple large datasets inputted via a simple JSON, XML or CSV file, which can be read and analysed locally thanks to HTML5 capabilities. Using basic 3D representation techniques in a technologically innovative context, we provide a program that is not intended to compete with professional 3D representation software, but that instead enables a quick and intuitive representation of reasonably large 3D datasets.

On-Line Monitoring the Growth of E. coli or HeLa Cells Using an Annular Microelectrode Piezoelectric Biosensor.

PubMed

Tong, Feifei; Lian, Yan; Han, Junliang

2016-12-18

Biological information is obtained from the interaction between the series detection electrode and the organism or the physical field of biological cultures in the non-mass responsive piezoelectric biosensor. Therefore, electric parameter of the electrode will affect the biosensor signal. The electric field distribution of the microelectrode used in this study was simulated using the COMSOL Multiphysics analytical tool. This process showed that the electric field spatial distribution is affected by the width of the electrode finger or the space between the electrodes. In addition, the characteristic response of the piezoelectric sensor constructed serially with an annular microelectrode was tested and applied for the continuous detection of Escherichia coli culture or HeLa cell culture. Results indicated that the piezoelectric biosensor with an annular microelectrode meets the requirements for the real-time detection of E. coli or HeLa cells in culture. Moreover, this kind of piezoelectric biosensor is more sensitive than the sensor with an interdigital microelectrode. Thus, the piezoelectric biosensor acts as an effective analysis tool for acquiring online cell or microbial culture information.

Preparation for an online asynchronous university doctoral course. Lessons learned.

PubMed

Milstead, J A; Nelson, R

1998-01-01

This article addresses the development of the initial course in the first completely online doctoral program in nursing. Synchronous and asynchronous methods of distance education were assessed. Planning focused at the university, school, and course levels. University planning involved the technical infrastructure, registration, student services, and library services. School planning examined administrative commitment and faculty commitment and willingness. Course planning focused on marketing, precourse information, time frame, modular design, planned interaction, and professor availability and support. Implementation issues centered on getting students connected, learning the software, changing instructional methods, and managing chats. Traditional methods of evaluating student learning and course evaluation were supplemented with the development of qualitative and quantitative tools to gather data for making administrative decisions. The Dean and faculty agreed that the internet was an effective method of delivering content in the initial Health Policy course. The Dean and faculty agreed to continue the PhD program online for one cohort and continue to evaluate student progress and faculty and student satisfaction.

WWC Review of the Report "Interactive Learning Online at Public Universities: Evidence from a Six-Campus Randomized Trial." What Works Clearinghouse Single Study Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2014

2014-01-01

The 2013 study, "Interactive Learning Online at Public Universities: Evidence From a Six-Campus Randomized Trial," examined the impact of interactive learning online (ILO) on the pass rates of 605 students enrolled in introductory statistics courses at six public universities. ILO is a form of online course instruction in which…

Database resources of the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

PubMed

Sayers, Eric W; Barrett, Tanya; Benson, Dennis A; Bolton, Evan; Bryant, Stephen H; Canese, Kathi; Chetvernin, Vyacheslav; Church, Deanna M; DiCuccio, Michael; Federhen, Scott; Feolo, Michael; Fingerman, Ian M; Geer, Lewis Y; Helmberg, Wolfgang; Kapustin, Yuri; Landsman, David; Lipman, David J; Lu, Zhiyong; Madden, Thomas L; Madej, Tom; Maglott, Donna R; Marchler-Bauer, Aron; Miller, Vadim; Mizrachi, Ilene; Ostell, James; Panchenko, Anna; Phan, Lon; Pruitt, Kim D; Schuler, Gregory D; Sequeira, Edwin; Sherry, Stephen T; Shumway, Martin; Sirotkin, Karl; Slotta, Douglas; Souvorov, Alexandre; Starchenko, Grigory; Tatusova, Tatiana A; Wagner, Lukas; Wang, Yanli; Wilbur, W John; Yaschenko, Eugene; Ye, Jian

2011-01-01

In addition to maintaining the GenBank® nucleic acid sequence database, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) provides analysis and retrieval resources for the data in GenBank and other biological data made available through the NCBI Web site. NCBI resources include Entrez, the Entrez Programming Utilities, MyNCBI, PubMed, PubMed Central (PMC), Entrez Gene, the NCBI Taxonomy Browser, BLAST, BLAST Link (BLink), Primer-BLAST, COBALT, Electronic PCR, OrfFinder, Splign, ProSplign, RefSeq, UniGene, HomoloGene, ProtEST, dbMHC, dbSNP, dbVar, Epigenomics, Cancer Chromosomes, Entrez Genomes and related tools, the Map Viewer, Model Maker, Evidence Viewer, Trace Archive, Sequence Read Archive, Retroviral Genotyping Tools, HIV-1/Human Protein Interaction Database, Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), Entrez Probe, GENSAT, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (OMIA), the Molecular Modeling Database (MMDB), the Conserved Domain Database (CDD), the Conserved Domain Architecture Retrieval Tool (CDART), IBIS, Biosystems, Peptidome, OMSSA, Protein Clusters and the PubChem suite of small molecule databases. Augmenting many of the Web applications are custom implementations of the BLAST program optimized to search specialized data sets. All of these resources can be accessed through the NCBI home page at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

Basic actions to reduce dropout rates in distance learning.

PubMed

Gregori, Pablo; Martínez, Vicente; Moyano-Fernández, Julio José

2018-02-01

Today's society, which is strongly based on knowledge and interaction with information, has a key component in technological innovation, a fundamental tool for the development of the current teaching methodologies. Nowadays, there are a lot of online resources, such as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and distance learning courses. One aspect that is common to all of these is a high dropout rate: about 90% in MOOCs and 50% in the courses of the Spanish National Distance Education University, among other examples. In this paper, we analyze a number of actions undertaken in the Master's Degree in Computational Mathematics at Universitat Jaume I in Castellón, Spain. These actions seem to help decrease the dropout rate in distance learning; the available data confirm their effectiveness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Computer applications making rapid advances in high throughput microbial proteomics (HTMP).

PubMed

Anandkumar, Balakrishna; Haga, Steve W; Wu, Hui-Fen

2014-02-01

The last few decades have seen the rise of widely-available proteomics tools. From new data acquisition devices, such as MALDI-MS and 2DE to new database searching softwares, these new products have paved the way for high throughput microbial proteomics (HTMP). These tools are enabling researchers to gain new insights into microbial metabolism, and are opening up new areas of study, such as protein-protein interactions (interactomics) discovery. Computer software is a key part of these emerging fields. This current review considers: 1) software tools for identifying the proteome, such as MASCOT or PDQuest, 2) online databases of proteomes, such as SWISS-PROT, Proteome Web, or the Proteomics Facility of the Pathogen Functional Genomics Resource Center, and 3) software tools for applying proteomic data, such as PSI-BLAST or VESPA. These tools allow for research in network biology, protein identification, functional annotation, target identification/validation, protein expression, protein structural analysis, metabolic pathway engineering and drug discovery.

Discovering the Motivations of Students When Using an Online Learning Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saadé, Raafat George; Al Sharhan, Jamal

2015-01-01

In an educational setting, the use of online learning tools impacts student performance. Motivation and beliefs play an important role in predicting student decisions to use these learning tools. However, IT-personality entailing playfulness on the web, perceived personal innovativeness, and enjoyment may have an impact on motivations. In this…

Coping While Connected: The Association among Cybervictimization, Privacy Settings, and Reporting Tools in Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hudson, Chloe C.; Lambe, Laura; Pepler, Debra J.; Craig, Wendy M.

2016-01-01

The current study explored online preventive coping (privacy settings) and reactive coping (reporting tools) among youth and how the use of these online safety tools related to the frequency of cybervictimization. Surveys were administered to youth in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary school. Results indicated that the prevalence of…

SWDYT: So What Do You Think? Canadian Students' Attitudes about "peerScholar," an Online Peer-Assessment Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collimore, Lisa-Marie; Paré, Dwayne E.; Joordens, Steve

2015-01-01

Middle- and high-school students' attitudes towards online peer-assessment were described and examined in this study. One hundred and eighty-four (184) students answered a 16-item questionnaire about their experiences with an online peer-assessment tool called peerScholar. Overall, students in Canada converged with those in other countries with…

He Asked Me What!?--Using Shared Online Accounts as Training Tools for Distance Learning Librarians

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Kelly; Casey, Anne Marie; Citro, Kathleen

2017-01-01

This study explores the idea of creating a knowledge base from shared online accounts to use in training librarians who perform distance reference services. Through a survey, follow-up interviews and a case study, the investigators explored current and potential use of shared online accounts as training tools. This study revealed that the…

Student Perceptions of Online Homework Use for Formative Assessment of Learning in Organic Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richards-Babb, Michelle; Curtis, Reagan; Georgieva, Zornitsa; Penn, John H.

2015-01-01

Use of online homework as a formative assessment tool for organic chemistry coursework was examined. Student perceptions of online homework in terms of (i) its ranking relative to other course aspects, (ii) their learning of organic chemistry, and (iii) whether it improved their study habits and how students used it as a learning tool were…