Increasing Adoption of Smart Learning Content for Computer Science Education

Peter Brusilovsky, Stephen Edwards, Amruth Kumar, Lauri Malmi, Luciana Benotti, Duane Buck, Petri Ihantola, Rikki Prince, Teemu Sirkiä, Sergey Sosnovsky, Jaime Urquiza-Fuentes, Arto Vihavainen, Michael Wollowski. Working groups reports at ACM ITiCSE - Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education Conference 2014.

Abstract: Computer science educators are increasingly using interactive learning content to enrich and enhance the pedagogy of their courses. A plethora of such learning content, specifically designed for computer science education, such as visualization, simulation, and web-based environments for learning programming, are now available for various courses. We call such content smart learning content. However, such learning content is seldom used outside its host site despite the benefits it could offer to learners everywhere. In this paper, we investigate the factors that impede dissemination of such content among the wider computer science education community. To accomplish this we surveyed educators, existing tools and recent research literature to identify the current state of the art and analyzed the characteristics of a large number of smart learning content examples along canonical dimensions. In our analysis we focused on examining the technical issues that must be resolved to support finding, integrating and customizing smart learning content in computer science courses. Finally, we propose a new architecture for hosting, integrating and disseminating smart learning content and discuss how it could be implemented based on existing protocols and standards.

Trending Breakthroughs in Human-Computer Interaction

Sandra Baldassarri, José A. Macías, Jaime Urquiza-Fuentes. Journal of Universal Computer Science, vol. 20, no. 7 (2014), 941-943.

Abstract: There has been an increasing role of computers and machines in society over the last years. This has motivated Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) to become an important field for both industry and academy. In fact, there is currently an especial interest in the design, development and implementation of applications highlighting user-friendly interfaces.

This special issue aims at a full discussion on new trends in Human-Computer Interaction, bringing together trending papers and breakthroughs in this field.

In particular, we invited authors of best papers presented at the XIV International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (Interacción 2013) to submit thoroughly revised versions of their contributions to this special issue. Interacción Conference provides an annual forum for disseminating the results of innovative research in Human-Computer Interaction concerning usability, accessibility, evaluation of interactive systems, hypermedia and web, affective computing, computer supported collaborative work, interaction for people with disabilities, context-aware systems, end-user development and other related areas. In addition, an open call for submissions was also launched, receiving other contributions from around the worlds.