Education is one among the many social services that enjoyed information technology as an enabler... more Education is one among the many social services that enjoyed information technology as an enabler. The digital media and e-learning systems have played significant role as a learning content as well as learning platform with the aim to enhance access to education and quality of learning. In this paper, we investigate the practice of adopting digital media (combination of text, images, audio and video) into the school curricula (taking Ethiopia as a case study). We surveyed the accessibility of multimedia-rich e-learning resources; the experiences of students and teachers on using multimedia technologies; and their experiences on adopting multimedia in teaching learning process. Our findings indicated that the experiences of teachers and students on using advanced digital technologies is fair. However, there is only limited access to multimedia rich e-learning resources, and premature practice of adopting the technologies into the teaching learning. The mapping of these results to the existing models of adopting e-learning into the curricula showed that the schools’ status correspond to the initial phases and further recommendations on successful e-learning adoption is provided. In addition, we proposed an agile model to continuously catch the evolving technological innovation and for large scale e-learning adoption into a curricula.
Internet of Things, Infrastructures and Mobile Applications, 2020
In today’s modern age, it is almost impossible to exist without the Information Communication Tec... more In today’s modern age, it is almost impossible to exist without the Information Communication Technologies that makes our life easier.
Advanced information and communication technologies provide great potential for creating new lear... more Advanced information and communication technologies provide great potential for creating new learning environments. The learning process becomes more authentic and educationally entertaining with the help of modern advanced technologies (Shadiev, Hwang, & Huang, 2017). For example, learners experience authentic learning situations with educationally entertaining features, both in the classroom and outside of school, when using advanced technologies. As a result, learning becomes more attractive, effective, and meaningful (Kiernan & Aizawa, 2004; Kramsch, 1993).
2019 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Networks and Telecommunications Systems (ANTS), 2019
Information Centric Network (ICN) focuses on shifting the current architecture of internet from h... more Information Centric Network (ICN) focuses on shifting the current architecture of internet from host oriented to data oriented. It emphasizes on the location of contents rather than producer of the same. ICN accomplishes it's objectives by supporting caching of content at internal nodes in the network. It also focuses on proper routing of content requests towards a suitable data source for efficient and timely delivery. Hence, routing and caching are two prominent areas of research in ICN. In this paper, a dynamic routing mechanism is proposed that utilizes the concept of likelihood time and betweenness centrality. In order to improve content retrieval latency, the content requests are routed to the nearest content locations, determined by the likelihood time of requested content and betweenness centrality of a node in the network. The routing strategy of the proposed scheme extends native Dijkstra's algorithm and works with the available caching mechanism. The performance of the proposed strategy is evaluated through exhaustive simulations in ndnSIM-2.0, which is a ns-3 driven NDN simulator. The observed simulation results depict that in realistically simulated network topology, the new protocol shows 5-8% of performance improvement over existing ICN routing strategy in terms of cache hit ratio, latency and packet overhead.
Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, 2015
Rural and remote areas, particularly in emerging countries, often lack broadband connectivity mai... more Rural and remote areas, particularly in emerging countries, often lack broadband connectivity mainly due to economic constraints. This limits the access to existing and novel application and services, which often require a high connection speed. At the same time satellite systems have evolved significantly during the last decade leading to a tremendous decrease in cost per bit. In fact, satellite systems can provide very high bandwidth links. However, mainly due to the high signal propagation time, the latency on those links is significantly higher than in terrestrial networks. Simultaneously using terrestrial access technologies, such as, or cooperatively, in parallel to new high speed broadband satellite systems is believed to be a promising option to enable broadband connectivity to rural and remote regions. However, typically used load distributing methods, commonly used multi-homing environments might do more harm than good due to the heterogeneity of the technologies and in particular the higher latency of the satellite systems. This could affect service quality for especially latency sensitive applications. In this work we identify the key building blocks required to realize a converged satellite terrestrial network. Moreover, we present an easy to implement approach based on packet sizes that takes the satellite specifics into account and allows for providing broadband connectivity while maintaining a high QoS for the user.
Education is one among the many social services that enjoyed information technology as an enabler... more Education is one among the many social services that enjoyed information technology as an enabler. The digital media and e-learning systems have played significant role as a learning content as well as learning platform with the aim to enhance access to education and quality of learning. In this paper, we investigate the practice of adopting digital media (combination of text, images, audio and video) into the school curricula (taking Ethiopia as a case study). We surveyed the accessibility of multimedia-rich e-learning resources; the experiences of students and teachers on using multimedia technologies; and their experiences on adopting multimedia in teaching learning process. Our findings indicated that the experiences of teachers and students on using advanced digital technologies is fair. However, there is only limited access to multimedia rich e-learning resources, and premature practice of adopting the technologies into the teaching learning. The mapping of these results to the existing models of adopting e-learning into the curricula showed that the schools’ status correspond to the initial phases and further recommendations on successful e-learning adoption is provided. In addition, we proposed an agile model to continuously catch the evolving technological innovation and for large scale e-learning adoption into a curricula.
Internet of Things, Infrastructures and Mobile Applications, 2020
In today’s modern age, it is almost impossible to exist without the Information Communication Tec... more In today’s modern age, it is almost impossible to exist without the Information Communication Technologies that makes our life easier.
Advanced information and communication technologies provide great potential for creating new lear... more Advanced information and communication technologies provide great potential for creating new learning environments. The learning process becomes more authentic and educationally entertaining with the help of modern advanced technologies (Shadiev, Hwang, & Huang, 2017). For example, learners experience authentic learning situations with educationally entertaining features, both in the classroom and outside of school, when using advanced technologies. As a result, learning becomes more attractive, effective, and meaningful (Kiernan & Aizawa, 2004; Kramsch, 1993).
2019 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Networks and Telecommunications Systems (ANTS), 2019
Information Centric Network (ICN) focuses on shifting the current architecture of internet from h... more Information Centric Network (ICN) focuses on shifting the current architecture of internet from host oriented to data oriented. It emphasizes on the location of contents rather than producer of the same. ICN accomplishes it's objectives by supporting caching of content at internal nodes in the network. It also focuses on proper routing of content requests towards a suitable data source for efficient and timely delivery. Hence, routing and caching are two prominent areas of research in ICN. In this paper, a dynamic routing mechanism is proposed that utilizes the concept of likelihood time and betweenness centrality. In order to improve content retrieval latency, the content requests are routed to the nearest content locations, determined by the likelihood time of requested content and betweenness centrality of a node in the network. The routing strategy of the proposed scheme extends native Dijkstra's algorithm and works with the available caching mechanism. The performance of the proposed strategy is evaluated through exhaustive simulations in ndnSIM-2.0, which is a ns-3 driven NDN simulator. The observed simulation results depict that in realistically simulated network topology, the new protocol shows 5-8% of performance improvement over existing ICN routing strategy in terms of cache hit ratio, latency and packet overhead.
Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, 2015
Rural and remote areas, particularly in emerging countries, often lack broadband connectivity mai... more Rural and remote areas, particularly in emerging countries, often lack broadband connectivity mainly due to economic constraints. This limits the access to existing and novel application and services, which often require a high connection speed. At the same time satellite systems have evolved significantly during the last decade leading to a tremendous decrease in cost per bit. In fact, satellite systems can provide very high bandwidth links. However, mainly due to the high signal propagation time, the latency on those links is significantly higher than in terrestrial networks. Simultaneously using terrestrial access technologies, such as, or cooperatively, in parallel to new high speed broadband satellite systems is believed to be a promising option to enable broadband connectivity to rural and remote regions. However, typically used load distributing methods, commonly used multi-homing environments might do more harm than good due to the heterogeneity of the technologies and in particular the higher latency of the satellite systems. This could affect service quality for especially latency sensitive applications. In this work we identify the key building blocks required to realize a converged satellite terrestrial network. Moreover, we present an easy to implement approach based on packet sizes that takes the satellite specifics into account and allows for providing broadband connectivity while maintaining a high QoS for the user.
Proceedings of the 18th ACM Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Jul 3, 2013
Contemporary psychology has shown that self-theories can have a profound influence on affect and ... more Contemporary psychology has shown that self-theories can have a profound influence on affect and behavior. Entity-theorists, believing their traits are fixed, adopt maladaptive learning strategies in the face of difficulty. In contrast, incremental-theorists, believing their qualities can change, often adopt mastery-orientated strategies. However, can this concept be domain-specific? This presentation challenges the notion of a single dominant mindset. People can nurture a variety of beliefs about different traits, so in the minds of learners, programming aptitude may not be the same as intelligence. The results from a confirmatory factor analysis of 94 responses to an undergraduate programming experience survey indicate that beliefs towards aptitude are empirically distinct from those towards intelligence, suggesting that alternate self-traits should be considered when extending self-theories into specific domains.
Proceedings of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, Mar 6, 2013
It has been claimed that learning can be facilitated by a positive academic self-concept. Therefo... more It has been claimed that learning can be facilitated by a positive academic self-concept. Therefore, reinforcing this construct may benefit students and the application of 'projective identity' in educational multimedia could be a means of achieving this. To test this hypothesis, two versions of a debugging exercise were developed, with one incorporating elements of fantasy role-play. They were compared through a double-blind parallel-group randomised trial using a sample of 36 undergraduate computing students. Factor scores for academic self-concept in programming were imputed from responses to a 5-point Likert scale, validated through a confirmatory factor analysis of 91 responses. An ANCOVA revealed that students using the fantasy role-play learning activity developed a stronger self-concept than the control group, with respective gains of 2.4% and 1.1%. However, further work is required to determine if such modest gains are practically significant, can be further enhanced and maintained.
Proceedings of the 10th ACM International Workshop on Computing Education Research, Aug 11, 2014
Educational research shows that self-beliefs can have profound influences on learning behavior an... more Educational research shows that self-beliefs can have profound influences on learning behavior and achievement. It follows, then, that beliefs about the nature of programming aptitude (mindset) and the way individuals perceive themselves as programmers (self-concept) could have a salient impact on their programming practice. As such, new teaching methods could be used to support student self-beliefs and thereby encourage practice. However, valid measurement is needed to test this hypothesis. This paper presents the assembly and validation of a measurement instrument to support research into self-enrichment within the introductory programming context. An evaluation shows that the reliability and construct validity of the instrument are adequate, while the concurrent validity of the evaluation framework is satisfactory in the higher education context. However, future validation is required to establish cross-context validity.
Proceedings of the 23rd ACM International Conference on Multimedia, Oct 26, 2015
Perception of multimedia quality is shaped by a rich interplay between system, context, and human... more Perception of multimedia quality is shaped by a rich interplay between system, context, and human factors. While system and context factors are widely researched, few studies in this area consider human factors as sources of systematic variance. This paper presents an analysis on the influence of personality (Five-Factor Model) and cultural traits (Hofstede Model) on the perception of multimedia quality. A set of 144 video sequences (from 12 short movie excerpts) were rated by 114 participants from a cross-cultural population, producing 1232 ratings. On this data, three models are compared: a baseline model that only considers system factors; an extended model that includes personality and culture as human factors; and an optimistic model in which each participant is modeled as a random effect. An analysis shows that personality and cultural traits represent 9.3% of the variance attributable to human factors while human factors overall predict an equal or higher proportion of variance compared to system factors. In addition, the quality-enjoyment correlation varied across the movie excerpts. This suggests that human factors play an important role in perceptual multimedia quality, but further research to explore moderation effects and a broader range of human factors is warranted.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (HCI International 2015), Aug 5, 2015
Testing is important to promote accessibility. However, within the games industry, this sometimes... more Testing is important to promote accessibility. However, within the games industry, this sometimes only consists of minimal testing with the use of heuristics and external assistive devices, with limited input from impaired users. Efficiency would be improved if designers could readily evaluate their designs with the assistance of virtual users. The VERITAS framework simulates and systematically analyses the impact of impairments. Thus, facilitating an efficient approach to inclusive design. This article reports insights into the use of the framework by 31 assessors from the serious games field. A log-file analysis highlights areas of concern, which are further explored through a questionnaire. The findings suggest that the knowledge and needs of designers needs to be addressed to improve acceptance and usability.
Proceedings of the 20th Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Jul 6, 2015
It is of paramount importance that formative feedback is meaningful in order to drive student lea... more It is of paramount importance that formative feedback is meaningful in order to drive student learning. Achieving this, however, relies upon a clear and constructively aligned model of quality being applied consistently across submissions. This poster presentation raises concerns about the inter-rater reliability of code reviews conducted by teaching assistants in the absence of such a model. Five teaching assistants each reviewed 12 purposely selected programs submitted by introductory programming students. An analysis of their reliability revealed that while teaching assistants were self-consistent, they each assessed code quality in different ways. This suggests a need for standard models of program quality and rubrics, alongside supporting technology, to be used during code reviews to improve the reliability of formative feedback.
Proceedings of the 44th IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Oct 22, 2014
Games are a popular form of entertainment. However, many computer games present unnecessary barri... more Games are a popular form of entertainment. However, many computer games present unnecessary barriers to players with sensory, motor and cognitive impairments. In order to overcome such pitfalls, an awareness of their impact and a willingness to apply inclusive design practice is necessary. The Global Game Jam offers a potential avenue to promote inclusive design practices to students of game development. As such, this paper evaluates the impact of an initiative to promote inclusive design practices during the 2014 Global Game Jam. An attitude questionnaire was distributed to both participants and non-participants at one event venue. The results indicate that, having enrolled in the initiative, students' attitudes improved. Furthermore, all attendees reported they were likely to pursue further learning opportunities and consider accessibility issues in their future games. This suggests that the Global Game Jam, and other similar events, present an attractive avenue to promote inclusive design practice within the context of digital game development. However, further analysis of submitted games, additional qualitative inquiry and a large-scale trial are needed to determine impact on practice and to form recommendations for future events.
Proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on Quality of Multimedia Experience, May 26, 2015
Perception of quality and affect are subjective, driven by a complex interplay between system and... more Perception of quality and affect are subjective, driven by a complex interplay between system and human factors. Is it, however, possible to model these factors to predict subjective perception? To pursue this question, broader collaboration is needed to sample all aspects of personality, culture, and other human factors. Thus, an appropriate dataset is needed to integrate such efforts. Here, the CP-QAE-I is proposed. This is a video dataset containing 144 video sequences based on 12 short movie clips. These vary by: frame rate; frame dimension; bit-rate; and affect. An evaluation by 76 participants drawn from the United Kingdom, Singapore, India, and China suggests adequate distinction between the video sequences in terms of perceived quality as well as positive and negative affect. Nationality also emerged as a significant predictor, supporting the rationale for further study. By sharing the dataset, this paper aims to promote work modeling human factors in multimedia perception.
Computer programming is notoriously difficult to learn. To this end, regular practice in the form... more Computer programming is notoriously difficult to learn. To this end, regular practice in the form of application and reflection is an important enabler of student learning. However, educators often find that first-year B.Sc. students do not readily engage in such activities. Providing each student with a programmable robot, however, could be used to facilitate application and reflection since, potentially, robots facilitate engaging learning experiences while providing immediate and intuitive feedback. This paper explores whether an introductory course centered upon programming personal robots in preparation for an end-of-course event day---a Robot Olympics---can help students to firstly, engage in programming practice more frequently and secondly, improve the quality of their code. A survey was conducted to examine the students' programming practice behavior and students' final coursework submissions were also reviewed for aspects of program quality. The findings from this cohort were compared to a reference group from a previous cohort that shared similar learning objectives and entry requirements, but had focused on web programming instead of using robots. The results reveal statistically significant increases in programming practice compared to the reference group. Furthermore, being enrolled on the course that culminated in the Robot Olympics was a significant predictor of two aspects of program quality: functional coherence and sophistication. This suggests that robot-centered courses can promote engagement with, and enhance some aspects of, programming practice.
Multisensory effects devices have been increasingly developed by research groups and companies wi... more Multisensory effects devices have been increasingly developed by research groups and companies with the aim of creating more immersive experiences for users by generating tactile, olfactory, and gustatory sensations. These technologies have been applied to areas such as entertainment, healthcare, education, culture, and marketing. This article brings recent efforts of haptic, olfactory, and gustatory displays integrated for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Additionally, it gets down to the nitty-gritty of how to create a multisensory environment for a desktop and a 360° VR application and evaluate it from the users' viewpoint.
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Papers by George Ghinea