Given the ubiquity of interfaces on computing devices, it is essential for future Information Systems (IS) professionals to understand the ramifications of good user interface (UI) design. This article provides instructions on how to efficiently and effectively teach IS students about "fit," a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) concept,…

In modern video games, music can come in different shapes: it can be developed on a very high compositional level, with sophisticated sound elements like in professional film music; it can be developed on a very coarse level, underlying special situations (like danger or attack); it can also be automatically generated by sound engines. However, in…

Educating our future citizens in science and engineering is vitally important to ensure future advancement. Presently, in the light of environmental sustainability, it is critical that students learn concepts relating to energy, its consumption and future demands. In this article, we harness the state of the educational technology, namely…

Technological advances over the last decade have had a significant impact on the teaching and learning experiences students encounter today. We now take technologies such as Web 2.0, mobile devices, cloud computing, podcasts, social networking, super-fast broadband, and connectedness for granted. So what about the student use of these types of…

The SMILI? (Student Models that Invite the Learner In) Open Learner Model Framework was created to provide a coherent picture of the many and diverse forms of Open Learner Models (OLMs). The aim was for SMILI? to provide researchers with a systematic way to describe, compare and critique OLMs. We expected it to highlight those areas where there…

The problem of human-computer interface design was brought to the foreground with the emergence of the personal computer, the increasing complexity of electronic systems, and the need to accommodate the human operator in these systems. With each new technological generation discovering the interface design problems of its own technologies, initial…

Knowledge of fundamentals of human-computer interaction resp. usability engineering is getting more and more important in technical domains. However this interdisciplinary field of work and corresponding degree programs are not broadly known. Therefore at the Hochschule Ruhr West, University of Applied Sciences, a program was developed to give…

A "user interface" is the part of an interactive system that bridges the user and the underlying functionality of the system. But people sometimes forget that the best interfaces will provide a platform to optimize the users' interactions so that they support and extend the users' activities in effective, useful, and usable ways. To look at it…

In this article we describe long-standing user interface issues with Dynamic Geometry Software and common approaches to address them. We describe first prototypes of multi-touch-capable DGS. We also give some hints on the educational benefits of proper user interface design.

Even in the age of Google, digital repositories can add tremendous value to an institution. Yet creating and maintaining these collections is no small task. Digital repository advocates will concede that the challenges in building and maintaining these collections can daunt even the most intrepid supporters. Three repository directors share their…

India is home to a large number of individuals with significant speech and motion impairments. Many of these individuals are children and neo-literates who have little proficiency in their language of communication. In order to cater to such individuals in India, we have developed Sanyog, an icon-based communication aid. Sanyog accepts a sequence…

It is interesting to note how technology has changed the way that people communicate with one another. Several of the major historical developments of communication are: (1) language; (2) alphabet; and (3) writing. These early forms of communication enabled humans to go beyond verbal and symbolic communication and on to such technologies as the…

This article proposes a mathematical model of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS), based on observations of the behaviour of these systems. One of the most important problems of pedagogical software is to establish a common language between the knowledge areas involved in their development, basically pedagogical, computing and domain areas. A…

Rapid proliferation of different types of interaction devices that use more natural channels (voice, touch, gesture) for interfacing with the digital medium illustrates the trend towards the creation of more "humane" interaction mechanisms. However, the current historical paradox is that modern technological advances are dramatically…

The development of safety-critical systems (aircraft cockpits and reactor control rooms) is qualitatively different from that of other interactive systems. These differences impose burdens on design teams that must ensure the development of human-machine interfaces. Analyzes strengths and weaknesses of formal methods for the design of user…