Development and Evaluation of a Distance Learning System Based on CSCW

This paper described a distance learning system, which allows Internet users to conduct a lesson in real time from any kinds attached computers. Participants can jointly view and edit relevant multimedia information distributed through Internet. Teachers and students can also simultaneously communicate by voice and text to discuss the problems. Teacher can broadcast streaming PowerPoint presentation in real time to network users. In addition to sliders, presenters can broadcast video and audio simultaneously to deliver a live multimedia show online, and store their presentations for on demand playback. Teachers distributed in different places can also use cooperative editing tool to edit and encode existing digital content. We discussed some important design principles of the system. Then, the system configuration and the results of evaluation are also presented. The system has proved to be applicable to the distance learning based on CSCW (Computer Support Cooperative Work) in Internet.

Detection of Learner’s Concentration in Distance Learning System with Multiple Biological Information

The trend of distance learning education has increased year by year because of the rapid advancement of information and communication technologies. Distance learning system can be regarded as one of ubiquitous computing applications since the learners can study anywhere even in mobile environments. However, the instructor cannot know if the learners comprehend the lecture or not since each learner is physically isolated. Therefore, a framework which detects the learners’ concentration condition is required. If a distance learning system obtains the information that many learners are not concentrated on the class due to the incomprehensible lecture style, the instructor can perceive it through the system and change the presentation strategy. This is a context-aware technology which is widely used for ubiquitous computing services. In this paper, an efficient distance learning system, which accurately detects learners’ concentration condition during a class, is proposed. The proposed system uses multiple biological information which are learners’ eye movement metrics, i.e. fixation counts, fixation rate, fixation duration and average saccade length obtained by an eye tracking system. The learners’ concentration condition is classified by using machine learning techniques. The proposed system has performed the detection accuracy of 90.7% when Multilayer Perceptron is used as a classifier. In addition, the effectiveness of the proposed eye metrics has been confirmed. Furthermore, it has been clarified that the fixation duration is the most important eye metric among the four metrics based on the investigation of evaluation experiment.

A Reliable Adaptive High-Definition Transmission System for Distance Learning

There is an increasing demand for supporting high-quality real-time audiovisual services for the next generation wired and wireless networks. However, due to variety of bandwidths of different networks, it is a great challenge for deployment. In this paper, a novel high-definition (HD) video transmission system was proposed which depends upon reliable compound multicast protocols and QoS control over the various kinds of networks. This system detects client's network condition and assigns it to a proper proxy. Each proxy is capable of detecting network parameters and adaptively tuning such transport parameters as bit rate, video resolution, frame rate and QoS mechanisms to this condition. It also provides FEC error recovery under consideration of characteristics of MPEG4 video codec. Our simulation demonstrates that different network clients such as ADSL, CERNET, and CERNET2 can receive more video reliability with less delay.

Study on Distance Learning Support Services Strategy Based on Effective Interaction

Achieving effective interaction can the students get good learning results,and enhance the quality of distance learning.The paper firstly analyzes the research on distance learning support services and the problems of distance learning interaction in order to clarify the significance of implementing effective interaction.Then it puts forward the learning support services strategies based on effective interaction,which means to promote distance learning interaction and enhance the students'self-learning ability.

LoColms： an innovative approach of enhancing traditional classroom form of education by promoting web-based distance learning in the poorer countries

There have been numerous attempts recently to promote technology based education (Shrestha, 1997) in the poorer third world countries, but so far all these have not provided a sustainable solution as they are either centered and controlled from abroad and relying solely on foreign donors for their sustenance or they are not web-based, which make distribution problematic, and some are not affordable by most of the local population in these places. In this paper we discuss an application, the Local College Learning Management System (LoColms) , which we are developing, that is both sustainable and economical to suit the situation inthese countries. The application is a web-based system, and aims at improving the traditional form of education by empowering the local universities. Its economicability comes from the fact that it is supported by traditional communication technology, the public switching telephone network system, PSTN, which eliminates the need for packet switched or dedicated private virtual networks (PVN) usually required in similar situations. At a later stage, we shall incorporate ontology and paging tools to improve resource sharability and storage optimization in the Proxy Caches (ProCa) and LoColms servers. The system is based on the client/server paradigm and its infrastructure consists of the PSTN, ProCa, with the learning centers accessing the universities by means of point-to-point protocol (PPP) .

A Culturally-Sensitive Model for CME Distance Learning Demonstratesa Way Forward： Kenya＇s Experience with ACME-IT （Advancing Continuing Medical Education Through Information Technology）

A distance learning Continuing Medical Education （CME） project based on live interactive presentations and a group participatory model demonstrated that important strides can be made in the quality of CME available to health care professionals in African rural settings. Implementers choose a communication model consistent with the fundamental orality of Kenyan and other sub-Saharan African countries. The project involved four hospitals and one training institution in rural Kenya. The testing of learners and focus group discussions with learners, facilitators and presenters indicated that the project＇s methodologies, that strove to be culturally and work place friendly, contributed to gains in knowledge, competencies including case management, the continuity of patient care, team work, staff morale and other issues of expressed importance to the hospital healthcare work force and hospital administrators. The learning system, known as Advancing Continuing Medical Education through Information Technology （ACME-IT）, was implemented by the Kenyan Ministry of Medical Services, EC Associates and the US-funded Aphia2 Western initiative implemented by PATH. The findings of this pilot suggests that the ACME-IT methodology that set up learning centers at the participating institutions is a promising viable alternative to the traditional and relatively expensive workshop training that characterizes much of CME in lower and middle income countries.

Inspiration from Comparative Study of Distance-education Learning Support Services of China and UK

The theory and practice of OUUK learning support service has been widely praised, from the study of composition and dominantof OUUK learning support service system, and as Jiangyin Open Studying center, Wuxi, Jiangsu example, in-depth investigation and analysis ofthe present situation of China＇s distance-education learning support services, explore the reference value of the successful experience of OUUKand inspiration to the distance education in China.

The Influence of Distance Cue on Learning andMetacognitive Monitoring in Classroom

The teaching context is highly related to student’s learning process and the corresponding performance. The current study exploredthe influence of distance cue (the front seats or the back seats in a classroom) on individual’s metacognition and performance. Theresults showed that participants seated in the front seats had higher JOLs and better perform than those in the back seats, and seatinghabits seem to have little impact on these scores. However, this superiority is only related to the participants who believed in that“position of the seat affects learning performance”. The results demonstrated that cognitive process and metacognitive process areaffected by the distance cues in the classroom. Importantly, individual’s belief plays a moderating role.

Extracts of Children’s Books as a Basis for Creative Writing Activities Within the Framework of Distance Learning:An Elementary School Case Study

Literature can be used in education as basis for creative writing activities not only in traditional classroom learning but also in distance learning.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a four-month online creative writing program on the utilization of literary texts in elementary school through collaborative activities.The research sample consisted of 15 students of the 5th grade of elementary school.Evaluation of program activities was performed by completing a structured improvised questionnaire on the asynchronous education platform“e-class”of the Panhellenic School Network,where students were asked to fill in fields regarding(a)literary excerpts,(b)creative writing activities,and(c)online groups.Based on the results,students responded in a positive manner to the use of literature in the context of online collaborative writing groups.The majority of students expressed their satisfaction both with regard to the creative writing activities,having literary excerpts as a stimulus,but also with regard to the effectiveness of online groups.In conclusion,it seems that literature can be used creatively through playful group creative writing activities and distance learning.

The Model of Open and Distance Learning for Teaching Indonesian Through Socio-Cultural Approach and Psychological Aspects to Students of Indonesian for Foreign

This study aims to find out the effect of the model of ODL （Open and Distance Learning） for teaching Indonesian for foreign and whether this model of ODL implements socio-cultural and psychological approaches. The students＇ learning of Indonesian for foreign is in so many aspects that it must be considered from both psychological aspects of students＇ language and cultural aspects. The research was carried out on foreign students＇ studying Indonesian language. The research method used action research. ODL model developed this concerning how the students are anxious in foreign language learning and language use in accordance with Indonesian culture. The model of ODL for teaching foreign Indonesian uses the Internet facilities such as email, Skype, VolP, Google Talk, circulating document with comments, chat, forum, CD, audio-video, stream media player, and e-learning system. Based on the results of this study which is that students study the model ODL for teaching Indonesian through socio-cultural approach and psychological aspects and students of Indonesian for foreign improve their ability to use the Indonesian language, students are able to converse fluently in Indonesian in accordance with Indonesian culture

Metric Learning with Relative Distance Constraints:A Modified SVM Approach

Distance metric learning plays an important role in many machine learning tasks. In this paper, we propose a method for learning a Mahanalobis distance metric. By formulating the metric learning problem with relative distance constraints, we suggest a Relative Distance Constrained Metric Learning (RDCML) model which can be easily implemented and effectively solved by a modified support vector machine (SVM) approach. Experimental results on UCI datasets and handwritten digits datasets show that RDCML achieves better or comparable classification accuracy when compared with the state-of-the-art metric learning methods.

Topological distance-constrained feature descriptor learning model for vessel matching in coronary angiographies

Background Feature matching technology is vital to establish the association between virtual and real objects in virtual reality and augmented reality systems.Specifically,it provides them with the ability to match a dynamic scene.Many image matching methods,of which most are deep learning-based,have been proposed over the past few decades.However,vessel fracture,stenosis,artifacts,high background noise,and uneven vessel gray-scale make vessel matching in coronary angiography extremely difficult.Traditional matching methods perform poorly in this regard.Methods In this study,a topological distance-constrained feature descriptor learning model is proposed.This model regards the topology of the vasculature as the connection relationship of the centerline.The topological distance combines the geodesic distance between the input patches and constrains the descriptor network by maximizing the feature difference between connected and unconnected patches to obtain more useful potential feature relationships.Results Matching patches of different sequences of angiographic images are generated for the experiments.The matching accuracy and stability of the proposed method is superior to those of the existing models.Conclusions The proposed method solves the problem of matching coronary angiographies by generating a topological distance-constrained feature descriptor.

Research on Autonomous Learning in Translation Teaching for English Majors Based on Distance Education

The study is based on a new translation training model-a di-process-controlled training model to study the effects of autonomous learning in a distance translation classroom. The author carried out an empirical study by using the collected data from a one-year-long distance translation classroom of 318 learners, including qualitative analysis on questionnaires and a case study. The results shows that autonomous learning is effective to improve the transaction proficiency and enhance learners learning motivation of distance translation.

The Application of E-learning and Distance Learning Technologies to Crew Education and Training in the Russian Federation

The article examines the world experience of e-learning as well as distance education technologies within the education process organization on higher and post-higher education programs.There have been listed the results of the most popular e-learning platforms analysis.Furthermore,there have been looked through the core legislative background of the development of the mentioned technologies in Russia and worldwide among the universities,specialized in seafarers training.There have been also drawn up the points of the Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping(Admiral Makarov SUMIS)design of the distance education system LMS"FARWATER"in compliance with the International Convention on Standards of Training,Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers(STCW Convention).The practical application of distance education system to the advanced professional training has been discussed in the article.

A Regional Comparative Study of Distance Learning MBA Programmes in Selected Asian Countries

Distance learning MBA programmes have increased tremendously in the past decade in selected Asian countries. This paper uses a stakeholders approach to conduct research on distance learning MBA programmes in Asian. Conclusions of the research are then given.

Study on the Strategies of Distance Learning Support Services Based on Effective Interaction

The paper firstly analyzes the problems of distance learning interaction in order to clarify the significance of implementing effective interaction.Then it puts forward the learning support services strategies based on effective interaction,which means to design strategies from the perspective of effective interaction to improve the effect of distance learning.

Face Mask and Social Distance Monitoring via Computer Vision and Deployable System Architecture

The coronavirus(COVID-19)is a lethal virus causing a rapidly infec-tious disease throughout the globe.Spreading awareness,taking preventive mea-sures,imposing strict restrictions on public gatherings,wearing facial masks,and maintaining safe social distancing have become crucial factors in keeping the virus at bay.Even though the world has spent a whole year preventing and curing the disease caused by the COVID-19 virus,the statistics show that the virus can cause an outbreak at any time on a large scale if thorough preventive measures are not maintained accordingly.Tofight the spread of this virus,technologically developed systems have become very useful.However,the implementation of an automatic,robust,continuous,and lightweight monitoring system that can be efficiently deployed on an embedded device still has not become prevalent in the mass community.This paper aims to develop an automatic system to simul-taneously detect social distance and face mask violation in real-time that has been deployed in an embedded system.A modified version of a convolutional neural network,the ResNet50 model,has been utilized to identify masked faces in peo-ple.You Only Look Once(YOLOv3)approach is applied for object detection and the DeepSORT technique is used to measure the social distance.The efficiency of the proposed model is tested on real-time video sequences taken from a video streaming source from an embedded system,Jetson Nano edge computing device,and smartphones,Android and iOS applications.Empirical results show that the implemented model can efficiently detect facial masks and social distance viola-tions with acceptable accuracy and precision scores.

Surviving the shift: College student satisfaction with emergency online learning during COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)epidemic disrupted education systems by forcing systems to shift to emergency online leaning.Online learning satisfaction affects academic achievement.Many factors affect online learning satisfaction.However there is little study focused on personal characteristics,mental status,and coping style when college students participated in emergency online courses.regression analyses were performed to identify factors that affected online learning satisfaction.RESULTS Descriptive findings indicated that 62.9%(994/1580)of students were satisfied with online learning.Factors that had significant positive effects on online learning satisfaction were online learning at scheduled times,strong exercise intensity,good health,regular schedule,focusing on the epidemic less than one hour a day,and maintaining emotional stability.Positive coping styles were protective factors of online learning satisfaction.Risk factors for poor satisfaction were depression,neurasthenia,and negative coping style.CONCLUSION College students with different personal characteristics,mental status,and coping style exhibited different degrees of online learning satisfaction.Our findings provide reference for educators,psychologists,and school adminis-trators to conduct health education intervention of college students during emergency online learning.

基于M-learning的远程自主学习模型建构

随着信息技术的快速发展，人们对知识的渴求更加强烈。为了适应当前终身学习的大趋势，移动学习应运而生。文章阐述了关于移动学习的几种不同概念表述，并根据现有技术条件下移动学习的运行方案，提出了基于M-learning的远程自主学习模型。