Proceedings
Online ISSN: 1535-0703
Open Education Resources (OERs) are defined as “technology-enabled, open provision of educational resources for consultation, use and adaptation by a community of users for noncommercial purposes. They are typically made freely available over the Web or the Internet. Their principal use is by teachers and educational institutions to support course development, but they can also be used directly by ...
After a short introduction on socio-technical theory, the experiences the author made in the planning and carrying out of web sites and information systems for research and teaching are reported. The results from those experiences are analyzed with a special attention to knowledge development at three different levels: individuals, communities, and organizations (society), and the author’s hypothe ...
Collaboration is a learning strategy used in various domains such as e-health, e-business, e-education, e-government and e-research. In e-learning and under a constructivist approach, collaboration is expected to increase the performance of students. Although it can be used without digital media, given the pervasiveness of technology, their systematic application by educational institutions as ins ...
The present project “Technological diagnosis for Firms” offers a practical experience for the transfer pf knowledge between the university and business firms. It implies an agreement between the University and a group of firms operating near the University locations. The main objective of this project is to develop business consultancy in a group of 15 firms established in the south of Madrid, nex ...
This paper describes a model for studying collaborative knowledge building (CKB) as a group activity. We integrate the model described by Stahl (2000a) with an analysis based on the principles of cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), using the analysis of a self reflective case study to guide the description. The concept of the CKB activity system is developed, and the role of contradictions ...
The limitations of each security technology combined with the growth of cyber attacks impact the efficiency of information security management and increase the activities to be performed by network administrators and security staff. Therefore, there is a need for the increase of automated auditing and intelligent reporting mechanisms for the cyber trust. Intelligent systems are emerging computing ...
Security and information systems are intertwined. The costs of secure systems are in the billions of dollars. In the digital world, security vulnerabilities and threats work contrary to the security goals of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information systems. The essay describes a view of organizations and their policies, network systems, operating systems, software applications, ...
Threat modeling, which is the process of identifying, quantifying and analyzing potential threats of computer-based systems, has become a significant consideration towards designing secure software systems. Despite the previous methods adopted for threat modeling, there are still many systems that are probable to attack. In this work, a fuzzy logic-based threat modeling technique is designed. The ...
This paper aims to investigate the need for and contents of a course in forensic Information Systems and Computer Science at UCT. In order to do this, the reader is introduced to computer crime and shown how the forensic process of identifying, preserving, recovering, analyzing, and documenting computer data supposedly used in crimes committed using computers is helping in investigating and solvin ...
It is common to find final or near final year undergraduate Information Technology students undertaking a substantial development project; a project where the students have the opportunity to be fully involved in the analysis, design, and development of an information technology service or product. This involvement has been catalyzed and prepared for during their previous studies where the student ...
Engineering programs in Australian Universities are accredited by Engineers Australia (EA) based on certain strict guidelines. This paper discusses the undergraduate SE curriculum and accreditation effort undertaken over the last ten years at Monash University in order to achieve a successful outcome. The paper describes how the SE curriculum has evolved over this period at Monash and maintained i ...
As information resources of all types and disciplines are being stored and retrieved in digital form, libraries are responding to the demands for more effective retrieval of such documents and to provide even more digital access to scholarly and recreational library materials. This has led schools of library and information science to develop special programs, degrees, and certificates in digital ...
Bauxite is mined and transported by conveyor to a processing plant, screened and washed, then placed into blended stockpiles to feed the alumina refinery. While being stacked to the stockpile, the ore is sampled. Completed stockpiles must be acceptably close to target grade (composition), not only in alumina, but also in residual silica, carbon and sodium carbonate. The mine is an open-cut pit. Ea ...
This research concerns a practical on-line analytic processing (OLAP) project given to 2nd year information systems major students. They were required to analyse two sets of sales data with two different OLAP software tools, and report both on their findings and on their experiences of working with the two products. Students then completed a validated instrument with questions about each OLAP tool ...
The article aims at describing processes of building Business Intelligence (BI) systems. Taking the BI systems specifics into consideration, the authors present a suggested methodology of the systems creation and implementation in organisations. The considerations are focused on objectives and functional areas of the BI in organisations. Hence, in this context the approach to be used while buildin ...
This research explores prisoners’ attitudes for undertaking distance-learning courses whilst in prison, and considers both the benefits and the difficulties experienced by prisoners as a result of their academic work. It is based on over 35 questionnaires completed by 300 current prisoners. The research was conducted in three prisons throughout the country in three different provinces. In addition ...
This article presents a virtual course with the topic mobile and wireless communication systems. The structure of the tree sections of the course material content, the generic technology section, the wireless technology section, and the mobility management section, is presented. The main didactical approach of the virtual course is a guided excursion to which students enroll. The task sets, consis ...
TECH 621 is a graduate level course in Automatic Identification and Data Capture at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Typically, it is offered to a cohort of students in a weekend masters program. The course meets on campus three times a semester for two four-hour periods; the course is updated each semester. In the fall of 2006, the instructor decided to incorporate a project componen ...
Academic institutions invest considerable resources in improving the website quality of their MBA courses, in the hope of increasing student retention and willingness to recommend the programs to others. Despite this investment, it seems that the old "keep it simple" rule is also true for e-learning. Data collected from students enrolled in a blended distance learning MBA program at the Open Unive ...
In this paper will be present a snapshot of the situation of teaching and learning Mathematics in Portugal, as well as some statistics which pose the reality of this subject in the school rooms and homes of this country. Further will be present some applications of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to improve the teaching and learning activities of Mathematics, in the school roo ...
E-Learning provides a potentially powerful tool for implementing educational requirements rooted in learning theories. But still, much of the development of e-Learning is carried out without a true understanding of how learning theories can be translated into pedagogical requirements that can be implemented using learning technologies. This is because e-Learning lacks a systematic approach to the ...
In this paper the background, the context and the main challenges of introducing e-leaming at vocational college for business secretaries will be examined. The presented data were gathered from surveys considering all phases of experimental project that took place in the academic year 2005/06 at vocational college Leila in Ljubljana, Slovenia. This article begins with a brief description of circum ...
This paper presents the practical issues involved in introducing e-leaming for the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics (FMF) at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. It begins with a short history of e-learning at FMF and is followed by a discussion about the choice of the open source software (Moodle, svn, wiki platform) as the foundation for the web based learning; its advantages and disadvantag ...
With rapid expansion of the transnational education market, more and more universities join the ranks of transnational education providers, or expand their transnational education offerings. Many of those providers regard online provision of their programs as an economic alternative to face-to-face teaching. Do the transnational students support this view? This paper discusses the prospects of ful ...
The execution of academic researches - such as Undergraduate work, Master’s or PhD Thesis - is often supervised by a research advisor. The development process of such works could be characterized as face-to-face, remote or blended orientation, which combines both of former ones. The construction of a proposal for blended academic orientation involves mapping and analysis of elements, as well as di ...
Web-based courses are being introduced by higher education institutions at an increasing rate, such that a systematic shift from face-to-face teaching to web-based teaching has become evident. This enthusiasm in web-based education is primarily driven by cost savings and bottom line net profits to institutions. However, research work in the field still has a long way to demonstrate the effectivene ...
In recent years, more and more higher education institutions have interests of integrating internet-based technologies in the classroom as part of the learning environment. Compared to studies on other information technologies, users’ behavior towards this type of systems, however, has not been assessed and understood thoroughly. In order to get more experience about human behaviors on multimedia ...
In the paper we tried to present online tutoring as a solution to quality issues of e-leaming that e-leaming providers from all over the world are facing. We also briefly presented different roles of online tutors and the skills needed to perform these roles successfully. The online tutoring system was introduced to support students of e-learning courses at our faculty. Through various researches ...
The detrimental health and economic impacts due to the growth of chronic condition sufferers worldwide is well documented. The practical application of electronic information systems is expected to provide valuable support to this predicament. The purpose of this study is to develop an information systems implementation framework for the management and prevention of chronic diseases (CD) in genera ...
An interoperability gap exists between Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Learning Ob ject Repositories (LOR). LORs are responsible for the storage and management of Learning Objects and the associated Learning Object Metadata (LOM). LOR(s) adhere to various LOM standards depending up the requirements established by user groups and LOR administrators. Two common LOM standards found in LORs are ...
The research problem that this study will address is the limited CRM success of Web-based customer support systems. The first goal of this research will be to develop the Information Systems Hierarchy of Needs Actualization (ISHNA) framework based on Maslow’s general theory of Hierarchy of Needs. The second goal of this research will be to empirically assess and validate the End User Perceived Inf ...
Technological advances and the increasing popularity of the Internet have enabled post-secondary institutions to implement e-learning technologies as a teaching environment. Students’ enrollment in e-learning courses has proliferated over the past decade. However, ethical issues with students’ conduct in e-learning courses have been raised by several scholars and were noted as a major concern. Mor ...
The purpose of this paper is to create a study model or framework for dealing with social isolation in doctoral programs. Previous studies have focused on the issue of attrition among doctoral students and the factors that cause doctoral students to drop out prior to completing their degrees. Among the factors that affect students’ decisions to leave doctoral programs is the feeling of social isol ...
As universities become increasingly research driven and funded on a research-basis, there is an increased need to attract graduate research students. The easiest way of doing this is to draft highly-talented undergraduate students into the research programmes. However, in a booming industrial job market, this is no easy task for Information Systems and Information Technology programmes. Recognizin ...
In this paper we will relate some of our experiences in building and using simple Decision Support Systems (DSS) for use in two postgraduate subjects at Victoria University in Melbourne. These subjects are not about Decision Support Systems, but are Information Systems (IS) subjects that introduce, amongst other things, concepts of decision support and DSS. It has been our experience that the comp ...
According to the Euronet mobile Banking Guide, there are currently close to 400 Mobile Operators in over 133 countries who are signing up 4 to 6 new customers every second. This implies that more people are going mobile like never before. The novel method presented in this paper is an Interactive SMS Banking Agent that is incrementally scalable for banking operations. Hence, a mobile banking solut ...
Nowadays the product warranty is considered to be a valuable attribute of the product. It is a tool to enforce the competing power of the producer on the market place. There are two types of problems the product warranty addresses. Firstly, warranty deals with the malfunctioning of the product and, secondly, it addresses the information asymmetry, i.e., the misunderstanding and misinterpretation o ...
America has been, historically, the leading edge of much of the world’s engineering and IT innovations. However, with the current trends of Offshore Outsourcing high tech and high paying employment, the questions arise: why go into these fields at all. Why involve yourself with the rigorous academic requirements demanded of these disciplines; especially when one considers the real possibility of b ...
This article describes a study that examined the lifelong learning of information systems academics in relation to their normal work. It begins by considering the concept of lifelong learning, its relationship to real-life learning and that lifelong learning should encompass the whole spectrum of formal, non-formal and informal learning. Most world governments had recognised the importance of supp ...
This study concerns the teaching/leaming experience of Data Analysis at the Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences (ISCSP), Technical University of Lisbon, first in Sociology course, and next in Social Communication course. In both cases, Data Analysis subject was teaching/leaming of the discipline of Mathematics and Statistics for the Social Sciences. This study aims to find the effect ...
The paper introduces the concept of engagement as a way of modeling and implementing flexible learning processes. The paper particularly addresses new learning demands, such as personalized learning, and defines ways of defining learning processes to support such new demands. It then shows how engagements can be used to provide guidelines for selecting information technology services that meet suc ...
With the current development of the Internet and its growing use it is necessary to satisfy the needs of all users including those with disabilities causing accessibility problems. The paper deals with these categories of users and how much web designers take care of their abilities to access web locations they create. The W3C organization has created a list of checkpoints regarding accessibility, ...
This paper presents an Academic Literacy course designed for first year students in our department. The course is based on a set of relevant reading materials and covers knowledge levels and classification systems, logical and physical library organization principles, physical and virtual search for publications, bibliographic citations and referencing methods and purposes. The paper describes two ...
In Australia, the national initiative known as Learning in an Online World, focuses school jurisdictions across the country meet the challenge of achieving the national vision of all schools “... confidently using ICT in their everyday practices to improve learning, teaching and administration” (MCEETYA, 2005, p. 3). One strategy in reaching this goal is the effective preparation of pre-service te ...
There are many initiatives to train people in using Information and Communication Technology but several international studies have shown that despite adequate computing experience, many users do not make efficient use of computer applications. This may be caused by a lack of strategic knowledge that is difficult to acquire just by knowing how to use commands. Research by Bhavnani and others indic ...
The problems encountered by students in first year computer programming units are a common concern in many universities including Victoria University. A fundamental component of a computer science curriculum, computer programming is a mandatory unit in a computing course. It is also one of the most feared and hated units by many novice computing students who, having failed or performed poorly in a ...
The present work is a follow-up of the papers presented at the Northern Arizona University, USA - “Accommodating soft skills in Software project Management” and the one presented at Salford University, Manchester, UK - “ The ontogeny of memory of learning: Natural Intelligence versus Artificial Intelligence in Information Technology Education”. Several interrogations cropped up during and after th ...
Students often find that learning to program is hard. Introductory programming courses have high drop-out rates and students do not learn to program well. This paper presents experiences from three educational institutions where introductory programming courses were improved by adopting Python as the first programming language and roles of variables as an aid in understanding program behavior. As ...
This paper explores the cognitive difficulty of assessment tasks in six first year computing courses within an Information Technology (IT) degree. Bloom’s taxonomy is used as an analytical framework. A Bloom rating is calculated for each of the courses involved in the study and the results are presented and analysed. A wide variation in the cognitive level and style of assessment is revealed. Thes ...
This paper is about the challenges IT instructors face due to the rapid development of the information technology. IT instructors need to continuously update their own skills and knowledge through self-education. They also need to frequently update course syllabuses and make major changes in the course textbooks if they write them. In order to understand and evaluate these challenges, we conducted ...
Expert programmers possess schemas, abstractions of concrete experiences, which help them solve programming problems. Stereotypes of variable use in computer programs can be characterized using roles of variables, which can be taught to novices in order to support schema formation. This paper describes the ’lightweight’ adoption of roles of variables in our teaching of introductory programming. We ...
In order to develop computer competence, users need to understand principles of its operation in addition to memorizing where a particular operation is located in menus. Understanding a principle ease transfer of learning, hence the understanding helps learning a new application. These principles, e.g. functional dependency, are based in computer science, and are thereby precise and general. Two c ...
An alarming number of learners in Accounting at a large distance teaching university fail an introductory course in computer literacy. The lecturers proposed over a period of three years various methods of studying and preparing for the examination in the subject, but with limited success. The problem seems to start at school level even as early on as primary school education. Distance-teaching in ...
Much research has been published which attests to desire felt by educators to improve the quality of student reflection, and engagement with learning, through processes of assessment. This paper describes how research in Systems Analysis is being transformed and applied to educational practice. Staff considered that methods were needed to stimulate students to reflect and engage in higher orders o ...
This paper summarizes findings of teaching eight sections of the same information systems college course in the same format with one major exception. Five sections had notes available for reference during the final exam whereas three sections did not. The author’s primary hypothesis that students in the five sections using notes would perform significantly better than the other sections on the exa ...
In tertiary institutions in Australia, and no doubt elsewhere, there is increasing pressure for accountability. No longer are academics assumed a priori to be responsible and capable of self management in teaching and assessing the subjects they run. Procedures are being dictated more from the ‘top down’. Although academics may not always appreciate ‘top down’ policies on teaching and learning, th ...
Over recent decades, the process of teaching/leaming has become ever more complex. The increasing school population, and the advent of new IT applications and of networking, together with the requirement for continuous training, have comprehensively overturned the simplistic approach to the process that had previously been pursued. As a result, the evaluation of the process has also been overhaule ...
It is unquestionably essential for students to gather their previous knowledge of specific subjects when they are about to learn new and more complex ones. The gaps left by the absence of well-defined learning prerequisites not only contribute to the increase in the learning difficulties, but also lead many students to fail in school. This situation gets even more serious when students are not awa ...
Assessment of student learning outcomes plays an important role in educational effectiveness, improvement, and sustainability that is increasingly being recognized and required by accrediting bodies (Buzzetto-More, 2006; Haken, 2006). A form of performance-based assessment that is growing in popularity and is heralded for its purposeful, dynamic, and integrated nature is the portfolio (Cooper, 199 ...
Norm-based assessment is under fire from some quarters because it is often unfair and is out of touch with the demands of the job market. Criterion-referenced assessment is touted as the answer by others but problems remain, in particular with regards to the maintenance of standards. This study examines the use of competency-based assessment in an undergraduate database course. The findings sugges ...
Starting with the introduction of Visual Studio .NET (VS .NET) application developers can write programs that may be used for different languages listed in VS .NET globalization. However, the list of languages is incomplete and is missing many. One of these missing languages from VS .NET globalization is the Kurdish: a language written and spoken by millions of Kurds around the world. Previous res ...
Print-media needs of Hispanics in non-metropolitan areas of America are often overlooked. One newspaper editor in Idaho found Hispanics to be invisible in her small community and its newspaper, except in crime reports. So she began publishing the bilingual Idaho Unido. This study addresses the publisher’s business model and motivation for publication. It is based on two research streams: theories ...
A research conception is developed to enable qualitative and quantitative research on the affect of culture on the curricular content of business and information systems degree programs. The frame raises the interconnected issue of globalizing business and information systems education (theories of organization, management, and employees’ motivation, and the use of information systems) and the aff ...
In a world of expanding information and technological resources, there is increasingly a need for a citizenry that is able to access and use information and technology effectively (American Library Association, 2000). An information and technologically literate person should have access to, and be able to use, a host of available resources that include libraries, databases, and the internet in ord ...
When an information systems (IS) development project exceeds time, budget and functional constraints a point is reached where the decision has to be made to abandon it or attempt to save it. Some systems are of such value that management is prepared to take extraordinary measures to save them. This paper examines a case study of one such system whose development was saved from likely failure by a ...
Organizations attempting to attract more women to the Information Technology field often focus on convincing young women that the computer field is not composed primarily of geeks and loners. However, relatively little prior research focuses on whether the geek or loner image is in fact a reality in the minds of young women. This research reports on the results of a study of 412 girls, ages sixtee ...
With the increasing levels of multiculturalism in today’s business and the proliferation and essentiality of information systems, development and management of IS needs to be considered in light of the cultural factors which impact upon its utility. Hofstede’s work on culture is the most widely cited in existence. His observations and analysis provide scholars and practitioners a valuable insight ...
While there has been a great deal of research on the application and implementation of Information Technology (IT), there is less research on the variables which can contribute to the successful diffusion and implementation of IT within an organization. This paper looks at the relationship between the cultural/work values of the people involved and IT adoption. Three cultures and the correlation o ...
From a business perspective, the political and economic effectiveness of the United States in the global market-place will depend on individual abilities to communicate with people from other cultures. Most multinational corporations have one individual from one culture managing employees from other cultures. This has led to conflict, law-suits, and reduced productivity. To date, US business peopl ...
This paper explores tacit knowledge sharing. This case demonstrates the significance of knowledge sharing to organizational performance, by exploring the contribution of tacit knowledge sharing to the success of projects in the Australian Film Industry (AFI). The differences between knowledge sharing, collaboration and communication, and their interrelations are addressed. We also explore the conc ...
Information technology has led to the fact that much of the information that earlier was produced on paper is now being produced in electronic form. E-government services, where the whole idea is to exchange information electronically, will radically redirect paperbound information towards electronically generated and managed information and documents. Earlier on, long-term preservation was all ab ...
Knowledge recognition as an organizational asset of strategic importance has generated growing interest on absorptive capacity. Surprisingly enough, research on the factors that originate this capacity has been rather scarce. Thus, existing knowledge on the matter suffers relevant omissions. One significant factor that has been excluded from the identified set of antecedents is the collection of r ...
A recently established university in the United Arab Emirates has shifted from an input-based teaching model to an outcome-based learning model. The outcome based academic model is new in the Gulf region and is designed to allow students and faculty members to work together to foster learning. This model is a dramatic departure from the traditional input model where students in the Gulf have learn ...
Management of the cognitive context—understood as the reconstruction of the fabric of concepts and relations, representation in the form of a concept map and management of interactive functions that are inherent to or can be situated within the context itself—is a significant exigency both within the learning environment, and in particular for e-learning, as well as within the corporate environmen ...
Organizational learning is a scientific field of growing importance. It has developed from classic and foundational works to the two disparate perspectives today: the acquisition and the participation perspective. The first understands knowledge as a substance, mind as a container, and learning as a transfer of a substance from one mind to another. The second perspective focuses on communities of ...
This paper describes the use the Information Orientation (IO) Maturity Model as the basis of a MBA course-based project. The IO model explicitly draws the relationship between business performance and several information and technology management concepts. More importantly, the IO Model is accompanied by a specific method of gathering and analyzing data, and includes general recommendations on how ...
ICT training courses have recently undergone some important changes. These changes are made possible by new pedagogical approaches to ICT training. As a result, the focus has changed from memorizing, recall and reproduction of knowledge to conceptual understanding of the underlying software. One of these approaches is the Herskin’s understanding-oriented ICT training method. This paper assesses st ...
This paper reports on the findings from a qualitative research study into the use of a technology-facilitated part-complete solution method (PCSM) that was used to support the learning of computer programming. The use of part-complete solutions to programming problems is one way in which the cognitive load that students experience during learning can be reduced. A code restructuring tool, CORT, wa ...
This paper describes the potential use of a SMS crossword puzzle system to promote interaction and learning activities in a large classroom environment. While personal response systems (PRS) have been used in the classroom environment to foster interaction, it is not an ideal tool with respect to cost and functionality. These limitations prompted the need for an alternative solution. A SMS crosswo ...
In this paper, we describe the characteristics of Project Based Learning, a derivative of problem based learning and report on a multimedia course where this methodology was pursued. The instructional materials are reported on and the artefacts/documentation developed by students discussed. A factor analysis was performed on questionnaire data that was collected at the end of the semester to evalu ...
As the popularity of video game playing has increased, educators have sought to co-opt video games as an instructional tool. However, educational games have made little impact in either the commercial market place or the average game player’s home library. The modification, or modding, of video games using in-game editors may be used by instructors to introduce educational content to professionall ...
Wikis are one of many Web 2.0 components that can be used to enhance the learning process. A wiki is a web communication and collaboration tool that can be used to engage students in learning with others within a collaborative environment. This paper explains wiki usage, investigates its contribution to various learning paradigms, examines the current literature on wiki use in education, and sugge ...
Genetic algorithms (GAs) are a problem solving strategy that uses stochastic search. Since their introduction (Holland, 1975), GAs have proven to be particularly useful for solving problems that are ‘intractable’ using classical methods. The language of genetic algorithms (GAs) is heavily laced with biological metaphors from evolutionary literature, such as population, chromosome, crossover, cloni ...
During the course Implementation of Information Systems in Organizational Context we experimented with a reflexive and participative teaching method called eXtreme Teaching. This method proposes a consideration for values, such as respect, communication, feedback, courage, and simplicity, in teaching. We wanted to experiment with an informal teaching method to gain more interaction. During the cou ...
The emergence of learning objects for teachers as a focus of educational concentration is relatively new and much of the discussion has not been based on the actual development of objects, but different definitions, learning theories, properties and standards or decorative packages of learning objects (LOs). Also, in many teacher education programs, prospective teachers take a computer literacy cl ...
This paper discusses the concept of Open Educational Resources (OERs). The discussion then shift to OER sustainability, a fundamental element essential for the success of OER. Special attention is given to the following as they relate to the OER sustainability: instructional design & presentation; cost of production and maintenance; support; and OER communities of practice as relate to scalability ...
The changes that computers have introduced to society include the way and speed in which humans acquire knowledge and process information. The use of computers has been driven by academic research, and it is within academic settings where the use of computers has been felt stronger by society. This paper identifies the different types of learning objects and determines the factors that should be t ...
Learning objects-driven approaches for the development of instructional content have been widely used to structure entire courses and repositories for distinct learning contexts. Nonetheless, their use is still done in a static, non-adaptive manner, since students are presented to prebuilt compilations of learning object having few or none relationship with its learning current conditions, history ...
This paper presents an adaptation scenario for tailoring instructional content towards individual learner characteristics taking into consideration his/her learning style type and subject matter motivation level. Learning resources are organized through shareable content objects (SCOs) - a small digital chunks of knowledge, independent and self described pieces of instructional material delivered ...
Learning objects-based architectures often allows the creation of coarse-granular learning resources by aggregating learning objects retrieved mainly from well-structured public repositories. Nonetheless, the learning resource building process is not exactly trivial, since proper selecting and sequencing strategies must be applied in order to make it useful for learning purposes, as well as to mak ...
In order to detect plagiarism, comparisons must be made between a target document (the suspect) and reference documents. Numerous automated systems exist which check at the text-string level. If the scope is kept constrained, as for example in within-cohort plagiarism checking, then performance is very reasonable. On the other hand if one extends the focus to a very large corpus such as the WWW th ...
Software piracy or ‘softlifting’, the unauthorized use or illegal copying of computer software seems to be a persistent and truly global phenomenon, in spite of international efforts to reduce it. Could the battle against it be won by just merely accepting international standards for the protection of intellectual property rights? The answer to this question is the main focus of this research. Thi ...
Different studies in the context of information systems and information technologies (IS/IT) support the idea that these resources may contribute to develop competitive advantages and to improve organizational performance. To accomplish such benefits, IS/IT resources must be combined with some other organizational elements. Although the necessary relationships are recognized in literature, integra ...
Modeling multimedia traffic is an important issue in performance analysis and design of communication networks. With introduction of new applications, the characteristics of data traffic changes. In this paper, a measurement study of ATM Network traffic has been carried out and it is shown that the recorded data exhibit self-similar features. The conclusions are supported by a comprehensive analys ...
This research is an exploratory study of students’ approaches to studying histology and pathology. With the introduction of virtual microscopes in Health Science at Murdoch University, Australia, in 2006, it was crucial to investigate how this new technology impacted on students’ approaches to learning. The ASSIST survey was implemented at the beginning and end of the semester to identify any chan ...
The cardiovascular disease is one of the serious and life-threatening diseases in the developed world. One aspect of medical treatment is using drugs with blood pressure reducing or cholesterol lowering functions. Importantly, such treatment needs to be individually tailored and is significantly correlated to the particular conditions of individual patients. However, such pathologies and mechanism ...
Staying competitive in today’s fast changing markets and business environments has become a big issue in organizations these days. To be able to foresee the future of the industry and have insight into customer’s articulated and unarticulated needs are critical capabilities that organizations need to acquire in order to stay competitive. The objective of this research project is to provide a conce ...
This study adds to the body of knowledge in research of ICTs in organizations by exploring the relevance of alignment between ICT users and managers responsible for the ICT strategy and ICT project processes. Alignment research is usually conducted at an organizational analytical level, but this study explores alignment between individuals by addressing ICT managers and ICT users, considering both ...
The extensive literature on business process management suggests that organizations can enhance their overall performance by adopting a process view of business. It has been shown in previous studies that the companies which have reached higher business process maturity level consistently outperform those that have not reached them. The paper presents the results of the empirical research that con ...
The paper provides a survey of some of the international journal publishers that can be found in internet. Provided also is a survey of some of the free and commercial publishers in internet.
This paper presents an inquiry and a proposal of a structured way of thinking about informing as a separate field of scientific inquiry and practical endeavors and possibly a separate academic discipline. Informing is the science and art of practical endeavors to increase its effectiveness and efficiency; it is an interdisciplinary applied science with some components of universal validity, which ...
The essential elements of an informing system are a sender, a communications pathway, and a client. Academic informing systems, however, are best viewed as two interacting informing systems, one that informs clients of a discipline, one that informs clients of the institution. The paper proposes that the greater the degree of overlap between the clients of these two systems, the stronger the posit ...
There are identified within the discourse a number of notions regarding the term information. This paper sets out to explore these sometimes-conflicting notions of information. The reason why conflicting notions occur is the result of different perspectives and understanding of the term information. Within the discourse two camps are identified, firstly, those who identify information as a resourc ...
The diversity and interdisciplinarity of computer science and the multiplicity of its uses in other sciences make it hard to define computer science and to prescribe how computer science should be carried out. The diversity of computer science also causes friction between computer scientists from different branches. Computer science curricula, as they stand, have been criticized for being unable t ...
Non-profit organizations such as public sector organizations have some specifics, which make renovation projects significantly different. It is clear that radical changes in the execution of business processes and in the organizational structures are not suitable for the public sector because they are not possible for many, also political, reasons. A business process change in public sector mostly ...
Despite various research efforts originating from both academia and industry, software projects have a high rate of failure, more specific, software projects often do not comply with the traditional standard measurements of success, namely time, cost and requirements specification. Thus, there is a need for new methods and measures to support the software project management process. Globalisation ...
Software project management is a relatively recent discipline that emerged during the second half of the 20th century (Kwak, 2003). Many of the software project management methodologies available today were developed in Western/European countries and research showed that there was a need to formalise a software project management framework for developing countries, in particular Africa (Muriithi & ...
Several studies have suggested a significant relationship between finger length and aspects of personality. In this study the ratio between second and fourth digit lengths, known as digit ratio, was correlated with sensation seeking and Internet self-efficacy. In addition the relationship between the fourth and fifth digits, i.e. the little finger and ring finger, and these two constructs was also ...
Literature relating to personality and entrepreneurship has focused primarily on personality characteristics of traditional entrepreneurs. The focus of this study was on personality characteristics and temperaments of potential ICT entrepreneurs. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of personality characteristics as identifiers of potential ICT entrepreneurship. In order to m ...
With the damaging influence of systems implementation failure, it is vital to distinguish the issues surrounding large-scale software selection, construction and operations. Using the work by Markus (1983) as a touchstone, this paper spotlights the question of resistance towards a new system and the impact policy has on minimising confrontation. A case study delving into the lines of conflict asso ...
The paper presents results of studies among computer users, demonstrating a remarkable relation between history of computer use (computer experience) and readiness to access Internet resources (Internet access). The observed relation, referred to as ‘Internet entry delay syndrome’, may be described as follows: the greater the user’s computer experience, the longer it takes him/her to decide on acc ...
In this article a human centered approach for Information Retrieval IR systems is offered. The focus of this article is on human users of IR systems, who are given the opportunity to offer enhanced relevance feedback. A novel approach is offered to capture the back-propagated feedback of human users during IR sessions. According to this approach the IR system is developed to accept human bidirecti ...
The success or otherwise of Software Engineering (SE) activities depends on the interactions among software engineers. Consequently, effective interactions depend largely on personality traits, which is a consistent and long-lasting tendency in behaviour. In psychology, five major trait factors (The Big Five Factors) have been generally used to assess personality of people. But, these might not be ...
The ICT profession is characterised by constant change, uncertainty and innovation. It is widely postulated that ICT professionals should be adaptable and enjoy new challenges and opportunities. This exploratory study uses an appropriate scale to examine the adaptability of several cohorts of undergraduate ICT students. The findings suggest that ICT students are less adaptable than might be expect ...
Government organizations and universities are traditional and bureaucratic institutions. One government-sponsored graduate-level college undertook a transformation to develop agility in spite of academic traditions and a risk-averse culture to take advantage of Information Age concepts, opportunities, and tools. As a result, the college, dedicated to developing information leaders who can leverage ...
The main focus of this paper is to evaluate the provision of ICT in three rural communities in Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) in South Africa to determine how the needs of these communities can be addressed. Both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies were applied to address this focus. Results are compared and recommendations are presented that may best meet the needs of the rural communities.
The deployment of new technologies such as the Internet is often understood to positively change the way that business works. However it is important to realise that success is not automatic and a number of other factors must also be considered. In this paper it is argued that a wider range of skills is needed than just technical skills, and a wider vision is needed than just the vision of one bus ...
The objective of this paper is to report findings from simulating and testing local area network (LAN) connectivity using Windows XP operating system and Cisco Networking Academy network devices. In this study, a simple routing protocol, RIP, is used as routing protocol. Two different techniques, Cisco Networking Academy hardware lab and Cisco Packet Tracer 4, were used to compare their performanc ...
This paper focuses on a process of simulation software packages selection in the context of business process change projects. The paper presents discrete event simulation, its relation to business process modelling and examples of its practical applications in business process change projects. Features of business process simulation tools are examined, the most important simulation features are id ...
This paper presents an approach for analysing and prototyping urban road network routes based on multiple criteria, such as spatial quality, transportation cost and aesthetics, in order to evaluate the quality of people’s use of road networks. A prototype is developed to analyse routes and accessibility in road layouts from a number of design and user related perspectives. A case study is used to ...
In most cases today information systems development involves the use of multiple development tools. The developer has the choice of many competing vendor tools to choose from, and the choices to be made are complex. Will the various tools work together, and which tool should be chosen for which task? This paper describes the development of a business simulation game, and the role various developme ...
The aim of this paper is to define the architecture of the information analysis towards a proposal of methodology on systematic information analysis. First, the author shows the dimensions that state the architecture of information management. Second, the work explores the concept of indicator, as the measurement of the relation between data, and presents the results of a theoretical study of the ...
This paper seeks to address a problem ubiquitous in many software development environments today, namely, building software from requirements that are incomplete and not fully understood, thereby creating products that are either faulty or ultimately not being used at all. This gap that exists between software engineers and clients is highlighted in this paper and suggestions on how to overcome th ...
Persistence is the term used in computer science to describe a capability to store data structures in non-volatile storage such as a file system or a relational database (Wikipedia, 2003). There is a growing need to simplify the interactions among separate systems and to build complex software systems that are made out of components with well-defined services. At the base-level of such complex sys ...
This paper proposes a multi-criteria based approach for the analysis of building layouts, from space quality and cost related perspectives. A computational prototype is developed to analyse a building layout from various accessibility related measures in order to evaluate the quality of the building special layout. A case study is used to demonstrate the assessment of a building layout based on a ...
An unstructured book is defined as a set of digital multimedia files called items, together with ordered subsets of them presented to its readers. Thus different readings of the same set of items are possible. Additionally, items may be shown in different versions and languages. The functionality of the software package SPRP used to publish and read such books is described with an overview of what ...
The growing popularity of mobile devices, coupled with the ever-increasing number of high-quality e-books available for free download is causing a re-examination of core curriculum and instructional philosophies. Perhaps the most - making “great books” programs available and accessible - newly interesting, despite misgivings and political correctness of the last few decades. Distance learning via ...
Video as a tool for teaching and learning in higher education is a multimedia application with considerable promise. Including video within the online support material for a module can help students to gain an understanding of the material and prepare for assessment. We have experimented with using short videos that summarise the lectures given, as an aid for students to use when revising. An inte ...
